Hearing Landscapes/Hearing Icescapes
New Focus, 2023
8/10
Listen to Hearing Landscapes/Hearing Icescapes
An extremely detailed listen, the composer Lei Liang treats us to a multidisciplinary affair that touches on Chinese landscape painting and folk song, oceanography, software development, earth science and underwater acoustics across these 2 well thought out pieces.
The 3 chapters of “Hearing Landscapes” opens the listen with strategic use of vocals and thickly textured electronics that come in waves of dissonance, droning and noise. The middle portion is just sporadic voices pieced together from famous Chinese comedians from the ‘50s, and it finishes with the nature-esque moments of “Water And Mist” that are quite soothing.
The back half of the disc, “Hearing Icescapes”, recruits David Aguila’s trumpet, Teresa Diaz de Cossio’s flute and Myra Hinrich’s violin that are sparingly used in between the ambient gestures, sci-fi quivering and sparse moments of minute tweaks of sound.
A highly creative display of contemporary classical and artistically manipulated ideas, both synthetic and organic, Hearing Landscapes/Hearing Icescapes uses instruments like tools for a uniquely unclassifiable and fascinating experience.
Travels well with: Scott L. Miller- Coincident; Guy Barash- Killdeer