Clang has released Ngelo by Danish guitarist and composer Mikkel Ploug and the Danish musical chameleon Lars Graugaard.
All tracks on Ngelo are edited improvisations that provide a listening experience that combines the liveliness of the moment with a concise structure, either with a well-defined atmosphere or of a particular compositional aim.
The three ballad-style tracks are highly interactive with Lars’ computer generating all accompaniment through real-time analysis of the guitar, including bass-lines and the various counterpoints. A second group of recordings of which only two are included in the final release, center on rhythms. They are made up of parallel, extended periodicities of similar pulsation and different length that regularly coincide, but never all at once. This produces a flexible, and attractive yet slightly enigmatic and unsettling groove that continuously morphs without ever losing its grounding.
Mikkel Ploug resorts to some very attractive melodic playing that convincingly combines with the abstract and evocative synthetic world of Lars Graugaard’s self-programmed computer. The album title is a reference to the distinct African colouring that is easily appreciated within the modern guise of beats, chords and textures.
All tracks on Ngelo are edited improvisations that provide a listening experience that combines the liveliness of the moment with a concise structure, either with a well-defined atmosphere or of a particular compositional aim.
The three ballad-style tracks are highly interactive with Lars’ computer generating all accompaniment through real-time analysis of the guitar, including bass-lines and the various counterpoints. A second group of recordings of which only two are included in the final release, center on rhythms. They are made up of parallel, extended periodicities of similar pulsation and different length that regularly coincide, but never all at once. This produces a flexible, and attractive yet slightly enigmatic and unsettling groove that continuously morphs without ever losing its grounding.
Mikkel Ploug resorts to some very attractive melodic playing that convincingly combines with the abstract and evocative synthetic world of Lars Graugaard’s self-programmed computer. The album title is a reference to the distinct African colouring that is easily appreciated within the modern guise of beats, chords and textures.
