Phantom Orchard: Orra

Avant Jazz / Free Improvisation / Avant-Garde
premiera polska: 2008-08-06
seria wydawnicza: Oracles Series
kontynent: Ameryka Północna
kraj: USA
opakowanie: Jewelcaseowe etui
opis:
Gazeta Wyborcza; 26/09/2008:
(. . .) Wyprawa w krainę dźwięków niezwykłych, syntetycznych i elektronicznych brzmień oraz nieprzewidywalnych zwrotów akcji.
Najwyższy poziom emocji gwarantują dwie znane z zespołów Johna Zorna, Björk czy Dave'a Douglasa artystki: genialna harfistka Zeena Parkins oraz wydobywająca z laptopa kosmiczny świat dźwięków Ikue Mori. Czołowe postaci nowojorskiej sceny downtown przenoszą nas w świat doświadczeń ze swobodną improwizacją, ale też świat kompozycji nasyconej nieprzeciętnymi harmoniami. Duet zasilają Cyro Baptista i Josh Quillen na instrumentach perkusyjnych, Makigami Koichi, Maja Solveig, Kjelstrup Ratkje - wokal. Magia! (. . .)
autor: Tomasz Handzlik

Editor's info:
Friends and colleagues since 1988, Ikue Mori and Zeena Parkins are two of the strongest musical voices out of the downtown scene. Lynchpins of bands as diverse as DNA, Skeleton Crew, Electric Masada, Hemophiliac and Björk, their duo project Phantom Orchard is the perfect outlet for their unique and personal musical languages and their rapport is evident in each and every track. Here they create eleven compositions of unique cutting edge music with the help of some of the brightest lights in improvised music. Mystery, lyricism and electronic soundscapes from this most dynamic of all dynamic duos.

freejazz-stef.blogspot.com - cena * * * *:
Phantom Orchard is the brainchild of Zeena Parkins (harp, omnichord) and Ikue Mori (electronics). Their first release was issued in 2004, and now they have a new album called Orra on the Composer Series of the Tzadik label. Both artists create a surreal musical environment, which is friendly, warm and accessible on the surface, but the undercurrent is one of displacement, perplexity, mystery, pain and distress. The title of the album refers to a verse by the Scottish poet and dramatist Joanna Baillie.

"Yea, when the cold blood shoots through every vein :
When every pore upon my shrunken skin
A knotted knoll becomes, and to mine ears
Strange inward sounds awake, and to mine eyes
Rush stranger tears, there is a joy in fear"
(Joanna Baillie, 1762-1851 : Orra, A Tragedy)

And this "joy in fear" reflects the sentiment of the whole album well. There is something inevitable in the outcome, an acceptance of fate, which relieves the listener of all anxiety, despite the presence of the fear that a catastrophe will happen. So tension abounds, and a strange beauty too, accompanied by scary sounds, creating an uneasy attractiveness.

The two women are joined by Makigami Koichi on voice and jew's harp, Josh Quillen on steel drum, Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje on voice and real time processing and Cyro Baptista on percussion. The music is slow, subtle, precise with little sounds clustering together to create a whole which has coherence and a direction. The overall effect is a musical world that you will have rarely heard. It is surely not jazz. This is experimental music, yet focused on the emotional expressiveness of music, regardless of the form it takes, not with the experiment itself as a goal, and some of the pieces are of wonderful beauty, sweet and dark and the same time. I've said before that I'm not a fan of electronics, but these two musicians manage to create something unique with it. Not everything works for me, but most of it, and that's already good enough.
by Stef Gissels

All About Jazz - ocena * * * * ½:
Phantom Orchard began as an experimental duo comprised of two innovative figures from the experimental New York downtown scene: Ikue Mori, who exchanged the drummer position in the No Wave band Dna for a unique exploration of electronic sounds; and Zeena Parkins, who has expanded the vocabulary of the harp in acoustic and electric contexts. The duo released its self-titled Mego debut in 2004 and, four years later, hosted other like-minded sonic explorers on their sophomore Orra (Tzadik, 2008).

That same year, this outfit was invited to perform at the New Jazz Meeting in Baden-Baden, Germany. Phantom Orchard was, therefore, expanded into an all-female Orchestra of seven experimental musicians, including violinist Sara Parkins and cellist Maggie Parkins, and the Jean Felix Mailloux duo that is also one-half of Spunk—singer Maja S.K. Ratkje and French hornist Hild Sophie Tafjord. Finally, Tzadik has released the recording of this that serendipitous meeting.

The expanded format blends organically otherworldly electronic blips and washes, vocal acrobatics, avant-garde acoustic explorations and weird beats into nuanced, open-ended orchestral textures. A reserved balance is kept between the colliding elements of electronic-enhanced sounds, string manipulations and the acoustic and electric percussive beats. These elements never strive for an overriding pattern or slide into a chaotic atmosphere, but gently develop a colorful and delicate equilibrium of mysterious tones. On "Red Blue and Green," the supportive interplay sketches a most beautiful cinematic soundscape, with Far Eastern-tinged, fragile and hypnotic sounding strings and liquid, electronic washes. "Sun Metal" begins as a lyrical chamber music interplay, patiently expanded into a dense texture with wordless, whispering vocals and electronic spasms.

Even on the most abstract pieces—"Face," "Inner Reflections" and "House for 7"—the clutter of plucked and rubbed strings, dreamy vocals, nervous electronic noises and disjointed percussive beats eventually gelsinto a cooperative and balanced, kaleidoscopic palettes of arresting sounds. Both stressing the Orcherstra's inventive, rhythmic approach, "Laughter in the Dark" features percussionist Shayna Dunkelman's chirping, resonating sounds, while "Trap" is defined by playful repetition.

The seven musicians of Phantom Orchard Orchestra offer a rare, exotic mystery tour. Hopefully, there will be more journeys of this kind.
By EYAL HAREUVENI

muzycy:
Cyro Baptista: percussion
Makigami Koichi: voice, jewsharp
Ikue Mori: electronics
Zeena Parkins: electric harp, acoustic harp, omnichord
Josh Quillen: steel drum
Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje: voice, real time processing

utwory:
1. Inquisitive Fingers
2. Gypsoflia
3. Omni
4. Cavalcade
5. Ship of the Damned
6. Big Foot
7. Cascade of Joy
8. Green Dome
9. The Well
10. Magnetic Sleep
11. Kiss that Conquers

total time - 50:07
wydano: 2008-05
more info: www.tzadik.com