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Huntsville + Yuka Honda, Nels Cline, Darin Gray, Glenn Kotche.: Bow Shoulder
ByThe album's four tracks, ranging in length from seven to twenty-one minutes were all improvised. With two guitarists, two bassists, two drummers and a keyboardist, there was clearly a risk of the cocktail-party-effect here, everyone speaking at once, trying to be heard above the others. In the end, thanks to the restraint of those involved and also to the way it was recorded and mixed, the music maintains an equilibrium between the seven players.
Throughout, the music is recognisably Huntsville, with the guests fitting into their sound and methodology. As a result, the soundscape is full and rich without any instrument coming to the fore to play anything resembling a solo. Instead, within the overall ensemble sound, individual instruments will occasionally attract attention for a period before being subsumed into the collective whole. Along the way, there are frequent rhythmic passages which bubble to the surface, seeming to evolve rather than being pre-planned; when such passages do emerge, all the players seem happy to reinforce them to create a groove which is sustained for a while, notably Ingar Zach, whose tabla machine is much in evidence and used to good effect.
In complete contrast, "The Unshot," the album's closing track and its shortest, is slow, reflective and atmospheric, maybe intended to be a chill-out after some of the energy that has preceded it. Be that as it may, it makes a very effective ending to an album which has to be judged one of Huntsville's best and puts pressure on the threesome to come up with a newly-recorded album to match it.
Track Listing
Side Wind; Higher; Lower; The Unshot.
Personnel
Additional Instrumentation
Ivar Grydeland: acoustic guitar, pedal steel guitar, banjo, electronics; Ingar Zach: percussion, tabla machine, drone commander; Yuka Honda: keyboards; Nels Cline: electric guitar, effects; Darin Gray: double bass, preparations; Glenn Kotche: drums, percussion, electronics.
Album information
Title: Bow Shoulder | Year Released: 2020 | Record Label: Hubro Music
Comments
About Ivar Grydeland
Instrument: Guitar, electric
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