Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Furt: Omnium

Furt: Omnium

By Nic Jones
December 7, 2006
Sign in to view read count

Some times the real issues are the ends, and the means they're reached with, as much as anything else. Richard Barrett and Paul Obermeyer, together known as Furt, employ nothing in the way of conventional instrumentation to realise these soundscapes, which are as much about discontinuity as its opposite, and the resulting music can only be dealt with on its own terms. This in itself involves the suspension of many of the usual criteria by which music can be measured.

This music thus dwells in a realm of pure abstraction, and the differences between two pieces like "Ever" and "Us" are as much as anything matters of degree, despite the fact that some shards of Evan Parker's saxophone work turn up on the latter. Even these are subjected to some manipulation, perhaps with the aim in mind of denuding them of overt human input. The human element on "Yet" comes down to the nature of the music's live processing, but then that's true of the whole programme.

If the notion of such purity of abstraction is a daunting one, it has to be said that in this respect some deeper evidence of human presence would have been welcome in this music. Richard Teitelbaum's work with Anthony Braxton is apposite here, not least because the tension between the human and the mechanical or technological always seemed to be a key factor in that work. As it is, the very high demands this music makes could be too high for a lot of listeners. No matter. As long as human beings maintain an exploratory bent, music like this will be out there.

Track Listing

Ever; Obliged; Yet; Us.

Personnel

Furt

Richard Barrett: live electronics; Paul Obermayer: live electronics.

Album information

Title: Omnium | Year Released: 2006 | Record Label: Psi

< Previous
CU Over the Rainbow

Next >
Above The Clouds

Comments

About Furt

Tags

For the Love of Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who create it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

You Can Help

To expand our coverage even further and develop new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for a modest $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination will vastly improve your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.