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Izumi Kimura & Cora Venus Lunny: Invisible Resistances
by Ian Patterson
Take two of contemporary music's most versatile improvising musicians, give them free reign to play and something of real worth is likely to arise. That is the philosophy of Farpoint Recordings, an Irish label founded by Anthony Kelly and David Stalling in 2004. Their trust in pianist Izumi Kimura and violinist/viola player Cora Venus Lunny is well founded. Fearless performers both, they work in a wide variety of improvised, genre-fluid settings that draw variously from folk, jazz and beyond. On ...
Continue ReadingGayle Young: As Trees Grow
by John Eyles
Born in St Catharines, Ontario, in 1950, Gayle Young has had an abundance of eclectic music-related roles during her career. In addition to her being a composer and performer, these have included designing and building new musical instruments, sound sculpting and installations, journalism (she wrote for Musicworks from 1978 and was its managing editor-in-chief from 1987 to 2007) and other writing--notably, The Sackbut Blues (1990), a biography of electronic music pioneer Hugh Le Caine. Given all ...
Continue ReadingIzumi Kimura, Cora Venus Lunny, Anthony Kelly: Folding
by Ian Patterson
Inspired by environmental sounds in the townlands surrounding Dún Laoghaire, County Dublin, Folding brings together Irish sound artist Anthony Kelly and two of Ireland's preeminent contemporary musicians, Yokohama-born pianist Izumi Kimura and violinist Cora Venus Lunny, reunited here following their memorable performance at Improvised Music Company's Ban Bam festival in 2017. The song titles reflect the bucolic nature of this project, though there is plenty of passion in Kimura and Lunny's interplay. With his pristine recordings of the sea, wind, ...
Continue ReadingBenjamin Dwyer / Pete Gomes / Helen Kindred: KnowingUnknowing
by John Eyles
The Dublin-based label Farpoint Recordings always takes great pride in its releases, lavishing time and love on their artwork, packaging, documentation and quality control. Never has that been truer than on KnowingUnknowing by guitarist-composer-writer Benjamin Dwyer, dancer Helen Kindred and film-maker Pete Gomes. In addition to its impressive artwork by graphic designer Nathan Somers, the sleeve also contains a thirteen-page academic paper by Dwyer as well as two pages each from Kindred and Gomes, all three being linked academically to ...
Continue ReadingQuiet Music Ensemble: The Mysteries Beyond Matter
by John Eyles
The latest release from the redoubtable Farpoint Recordings is the debut recording from Cork-based experimental music group Quiet Music Ensemble (QME)--what a great group name, eh? The group consists of double bassist Dan Bodwell, cellist Ilse De Ziah, clarinetist Seán Mac Erlaine, trombonist Roddy O'Keeffe with ensemble founder and musical director John Godfrey on electric guitar. QME was launched in 2008 at the Quiet Music Festival where they premiered works they had commissioned by Alvin Lucier, David Toop ("Night leaves ...
Continue ReadingPaul Kane and Katie O’Looney: Seven Catastrophes in Four Movements
by John Eyles
Seven Catastrophes in Four Movements continues the distinguished and eclectic history of collaborations combining poetry with jazz or improvised music. It is a meeting between US poet Paul Kane (also Professor of English at Vassar College) and the Irish improvising sonic & visual artist Katie O'Looney. When the two met at a poetry reading in the south of France, they casually spoke about working together. After agreeing to work on a project centred on the number seven, they began experimenting ...
Continue ReadingKaren Power: Is it raining while you listen
by John Eyles
Is it raining while you listen is the first CD release by the award-winning Irish composer Karen Power. It consists of eight compositions dating back to 2007, including one stereo tape-only piece, “Forever ricefields," created specially for the CD release, based on field recordings made in southern Laos. Other tracks combine tape with live musicians, recorded in Ireland or at events around the world. Judging by the locations--including Japan, Germany, Portugal--it is clear that Power is much in demand and ...
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