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Matt Turner: Dada Ear Ink
ByListeners familiar with music for prepared piano might recognize some things, but most of us will be left scratching our heads (or ears) at the sounds produced. Some sounds are clearly pluckings and scrapings, resulting from something being run over the strings; others are notes played normally, except the string has something on it. However, there are still others that mystify me, and one place that really feels like two people "playing together.
Trying to describe these tracks in words is a losing proposition, and only on one track, "Lunaria, do the sounds relate to the title in some obvious way (here, an overall "spacey feel was produced). A more significant criticism is that a sense of development and forward movement in this sound world can be felt at times, but it is rarely maintained for very long. Thus, the one thing that could lend coherence to a performance of this kind is not present, at least to my ears.
By now the inevitable questions"Is it jazz? ; "Is it music? ; "Is it art? ; "What is the point? will surely have come to the fore. I was prepared to dislike this recording after the first minute had elapsed. But, surprisingly, after allowing myself to just go with it, I realized that an hour had gone by. There is more here than just guessing how Turner does it, but how much more will be a very personal thing. If you go to Matt Turner's Page at Fever Pitch Music, you will see that he has a following for this kind improvisation.
Turner has put out a similar effort named Patina for "silent cello.
Track Listing
Realization, Lunaria, Requiem, Naked Nervule Tornado, Blue Smoke, Revolver, Voice in the Grass, Tone Color Junkie, Three Pinwheels, Hillbilly Heroin, Xylo
Personnel
Matt Turner
celloMatt Turner - piano
Album information
Title: Dada Ear Ink | Year Released: 2005 | Record Label: Fever Pitch Records
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