Object/Animal
Sideband, 2022
8/10
The always exciting and unpredictable Ensemble Dal Niente transform the works of LJ White, Jeff Parker and Murat Colak into unclassifiable and exploratory art-influenced sounds on this chamber focused listen that’s quite unusual in the best ways.
“We Don’t Eat Dead Things” starts the listen with a pair of sopranos, alto sax, horn, harp, violin, cello and electric bass in the LJ White composition that adapts Christopher the Conquered’s lyrics with an atypical groove, an ominous melody, and dreamy singing from Amanda DeBoer Bartlett and Carrie Henneman Shaw.
The middle track, Jeff Parker’s “Water On Glass”, welcomes synth, flute, oboe, clarinet, alto sax, horn, harp, piano, percussion, violin, viola, cello and bass to the chilling, atmospheric 8+ minutes of orchestral, futuristic and oddly pretty sounds.
The final track, “SWAN”, by Murat Colak, makes great use of electronics in its ambient, buzzing climate that recruits flute, oboe, clarinet, percussion, piano, violin, and cello to a very cinematic 3 chapters that emit avant-classical nods, and acoustic meets electric ideas that drone but still get dance friendly, too.
A truly unique body of work that explores experimental, new music, contemporary, electronic, EDM, trance, Musique Concrète, and contemporary classical ideas, Object/Animal is an expressive and imaginative journey.
Travels well with: Claire Cronin- Bloodless; Ensemble Dal Niente- confined. speak.