Colin Riley, Gareth Davis, Rutger Zuydervelt

1. The wind became an anger I walked into trying to remember her voice
2. Intrigued by the possibilities of her own place she had told me her dreams  
3. Of the visible history of the air around us
4. Of stairways covered with centuries of sleep
5. Of birds with songs of coiled light
6. Secrets only I believed

cd/dl/steam on Squeaky Kate, October 2024

Available here

Colin Riley: composition
Gareth Davis: bass clarinet
Rutger Zuydervelt: processing and electronics

This three-way collaboration blends scored music, improvisation and electronic manipulation. The music takes its original inspiration from a poem by Michael Rattee.

Reviews

Vital Weekly

I had not heard of Colin Riley before. He’s the composer of the pieces here, six in total, performed by Gareth Davies on bass clarinet and Rutger Zuydervelt on processing and electronics. How that works with the improvisation and composition remains a slight mystery here. Riley was inspired by the poem ‘When Grandmother Died’ by Michael Rattee. The cover mentions the recording of the bass clarinet in London, which made me think this is a work of music making via the Internet, and the music was already premiered in 2016 at Sound Scotland. If we take the music more face value, then we have a six-track, 35-minute release with Davies playing more improvised tones than we usually find in Zuydervelt’s companions. Which also means his playing moves along with the free improvising clarinet. Sure, Zuydervelt spins his usual atmospheric magic via sustaining drones but also follows the bends and shapes of the clarinet. I also believe he uses some of the additional sounds a clarinet produces. The result is an oddball for Zuydervelt, but we also know him from diverting into musical terra incognita (for him), so maybe not that much of a surprise. It’s pretty clever, especially when using clicks that sound like skipping CDs, which made me inspect my machines. At times, perhaps too much work of improvisation with atmospheric electronics, but overall a most enjoyable release. I’d be most interested to see the piece’s score and wonder if that changes how I hear the music unless it’s all about the mystery of the creation.

Nieuwe Noten

Of het nu om volledig elektronische muziek gaat of over elektronische muziek in combinatie met akoestische instrumenten, Zuydervelt is eigenlijk altijd aanwezig in een improviserende rol. Als uitvoerder van composities, zoals het geval is in ‘Songs of Coiled Light’ – al biedt Colin Riley de uitvoerders ook de mogelijkheid tot improviseren – hoorde ik hem niet eerder. En hier gaat het echt om een compositie, want Riley zelf horen we op dit album niet als uitvoerend musicus. En ondanks dat het album pas vorig jaar uitkwam, dateert het stuk, gebaseerd op het gedicht ‘When Grandmother Died’ van Michael Rattee al uit 2016, waar het in première ging in Sound Scotland. Stemmen horen we niet in de zes delen waarin dit stuk is geknipt, samen vormen de titels het complete gedicht en dus verklanken de instrumenten de regels. En zo lijkt het alsof we over een grindpad lopen in ‘The wind became an anger I walked into trying to remember her voice’ en heeft de muziek de sfeer van vergetelheid, maar ook, in de bijdrage van Davis, een sfeer van rondzwerven. ‘Intrigued by the possibilities of her own place she had told me her dreams’ gaat het verder en de twee musici creëren mooi dromerige klanken, Davis lage klanken dringen maar met moeite door Zuydervelts klankmist. ‘Of the visible history of the air around us’ krijgt aansluitend vorm in lange lijnen van Davis, min of meer geschaduwd door de bijdrage van Zuydervelt. Een zware, duistere drone geeft vorm aan ‘Of stairways covered with centuries of sleep’, we zinken er in weg. Wat volgt is deze regel: ‘Of birds with songs of coiled light’, dat vorm krijgt in spannend springende klanken. ‘Secrets only I believed’ zijn de laatste woorden, bijzonder ingetogen worden ze verklankt.