a r t i s t : Kommando Raumschiff Zitrone
t i t l e : First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
d a t e : 2006
l a b e l : Quincunx QSR001
g e n r e : Avantgarde
r l s. d a t e : Dec/2006
t r a c k s : 06
b i t r a t e : VBRkbps
s i z e : 78,8 MB
_______________________________________________________________________
"Softly strummed acoustic guitar chords, some low, plaintive
moans from a clarinet that seem only tangentially related and
then - Roberta Flack. Not your typical beginning to a
contemporary improv disc. Oh, and the cover as you can see, as
well as one of the inside flaps, features a photo of the
otherwise not notably involved though quite attractive Marisol
Sanchez. Did I mention that the spine and back cover are hot
pink? The days of ascetic eai packaging may be numbered. Then
there's Kommmando Raumschiff Zitrone. I mean, wtf? Commander
Lemon Spaceship?
The utilization of popular song in a free improv format has
always been, for this listener, a double-edged sword. On the
one hand, if the tune thus revivified is well-chosen, thereÆs
the pleasant shock of discovering, 'Damn, that's a really nice
song!' (especially when embedded in a new, hopefully
fascinating context) combined with the undeniable if guilty
frisson of pleasure experienced by virtue of the song itself.
On the other may be the nagging suspicion that the musicians
involved are - cheating, using this piece of candy to sweeten
what may otherwise be a bland concoction that, left on its
own, might fail to hold interest. I found my opinion, not
surprisingly, fluctuating in this regard over the two versions
(the last a 'reprise' - how cute!) of 'Roberta' presented
here. Fagaschinski's clarinet adds a wonderfully bitter and
piquant obbligato to Flack's undeniably gorgeous voice,
simultaneously tracking it and offering divergent possible
pathways. She lasts only a few minutes before being swallowed
by the electronic effluvia and the track (d)evolves for
another 8-9 minutes, maintaining the languid and melancholy
mood of the original song, Kurzmann's lloopp software
generating rounds of soft organ-like flutters, the reed
breathing in and out microtonally. It's a lovely piece
(likewise the reprise) though I sometimes think the lion's
share of the credit goes to the Flack tune for creating the
atmosphere; not that it matters.
The four works sandwiched between the Flacks also bear female
first names (I'm making an assumption on 'Chow') but don't,
with one brief exception, refer to previously existing songs.
'Aisha' and 'Irina' are fine if a tad dry, the former a quiet
series of clarinet puffs and computerized rumblings that get a
bit frantic and sci-fi blippy, the latter also subdued,
sparser though with fewer gripping elements than I would like
to have encountered. 'Marisol', however, is as attractive as
its namesake, a calm though pensive series of distant
foghorn-like tones and breathwork from Fagaschinski. But my
favorite cut on this disc is 'Chow', lady friend or otherwise.
Kurzmann conjures up spare but seemingly vast soundscapes,
near-vacant planes inhabited by the odd sizzle and snap, the
clarinet in the role of nomad, warily traversing the expanse.
Several minutes in, an odd rhythmic figure emerges as well as
what sound like distant muted fuzz guitar samples, each
contributing to the desert-hallucinatory sense. 'Chow' runs 17
minutes, the longest track here, and maintains rapt
fascination throughout, the wastes giving way to dual clarinet
steam-letting, an old Chinese pop tune, harsher reedwork, and
static pulses; strong piece.
As the reprise fades away, I still have a few misgivings
dangling around but, hell, it does actually sound pretty
great. For the time being, I'd say this popsicle is worth the
lick." (Brian Olewnick, Bagatellen)
_______________________________________________________________________
01-Roberta [12:33]
02-Aisha [06:59]
03-Marisol [08:19]
04-Chow [17:01]
05-Irina [06:36]
06-Roberta (Reprise) [04:13]
-------
55:41 min