Artist : Christina Vantzou
Album : No. 1
Year : 2011
Genre : Ambient
Quality : 223kbps / 44.1KHz / Joint Stereo
Source : CD
Playtime : 0h 46m
Size : 78.10mb
Label : Kranky
Catalognr : krank 159
Tracklist:
01. Homemade Mountains 3:43
02. Prelude For Juan 4:26
03. Super Interlude Pt.1 1:16
04. Super Interlude Pt.2 4:37
05. Small Choir 3:42
06. Adversary 7:35
07. Your Changes Have Been Submitted 1:43
08. And Instantly Take Effect 7:04
09. 11-11 4:05
10. Joggers 8:27
Releasenotes:
That Christina Vantzou partners with Stars of the Lid's Adam Wiltzie in The Dead
Texan -their collaborative efforts documented on a self-titled album released on
kranky in 2004- provides a natural point of entrance for her solo album. Yet
while the ten pieces on No. 1 do share certain qualities with Stars of the Lid's
ethereal mini-symphonies, there's a major difference: Vantzou's album is a
neo-classical composition performed by a mini-orchestra, with nary a sample,
synthesizer, or electronic element to be found (though a speaking voice sample
does surface near the end of "Super Interlude Pt.2"). Or perhaps I should say
involved in the final product, as the album's production began with the
Brussels-based Vantzou composing the material in isolation over a three-year
stretch and using synthesizers, samples, and her voice to build the tracks into
their originating form. That was followed by a long-distance collaboration with
Magik*Magik Orchestra director Minna Choi who reconfigured Vantzou's
forty-five-minute material into a score for a seven-piece orchestra that
recorded the material in a two-day session in San Francisco. Listening to the
final product, one wonders what post-production might have been done, given that
the orchestra in question sounds much fuller than what one would expect a
chamber-like septet could provide. Though horns and woodwinds are present, it's
strings that are the dominant voice in these assured settings.
A curious tension often emerges between the earthy orchestral arrangements and
the sometimes extra-terrestrial character of the material. That's never more
apparent than during "Prelude for Juan," where Vantzou's material assumes a
powerful Ligeti-esque flavour, and "Adversary" and "And Instantly Take Effect,"
where long swaths of overlapping string tones produce a meditative quality
that's very much in the Stars of the Lid style. Even so, there's no denying that
No. 1 ultimately registers as a full-fledged symphonic work, simply by virtue of
its orchestral arrangements. Best of all, Vantzou, despite having potentially
powerful sonic resources at her disposal, opts for understatement over bombast
in her writing. Percussion is all but absent and when there are horns, they're
more inclined to be presented in a muted form, as happens during the plaintive
setting "Super Interlude Pt.1." Though there are subtle contrasts in arrangement
and form between the ten tracks, they collectively coalesce to form a singular,
long-form suite. All in all, No. 1 impresses as a lovely, largely serene work of
orchestral composition that argues convincingly for Vantzou as a thoroughly
credible neo-classical composer.
textura.org
http://www.kranky.net/artists/christinavantzou.html