HurdAudio Rotation: Smashing Pianos, Finding an Exit and Unstable Additives

Annie Gosfield: Burnt Ivory and Loose Wires. 1998. Tzadik: TZ 7040.

Nickolaievski Soldat (1994)
Annie Gosfield: sampling keyboard
Roger Kleier: electric guitar
Jim Pugliese, Christine Bard: percussion

Freud (1996)
Annie Gosfield: sampling keyboard
Roger Kleier: electric guitar

The Manufacture of Tangled Ivory (1995)
Annie Gosfield: sampling keyboard
Roger Kleier: electric guitar
Jim Pugliese, Christine Bard: percussion

Four Roses (1997)
Annie Gosfield: sampling keyboard
Ted Mook: cello

Blue Serge(1996)
Annie Gosfield: sampling keyboard

Brawl (1998)
Rova Saxophone Quartet:
Bruce Ackley: soprano saxophone
Steve Adams: alto saxophone
Larry Ochs: tenor saxophone
Jon Raskin: baritone saxophone

There's more than a passing shock of recognition in this music as Annie Gosfield's de-tuned piano samples (and score da tura in Ted Mook's cello part) combined with her propulsive rhythmic drive mines a territory similar to my own personal projects. Much of the music on this collection is inspired by images - rendered in aural detail - of ruined pianos and an industrial might of destructive force. Blue Serge, with its source material of analog synthesizer sound, and Brawl, with its saxophone quartet instrumentation, depart from this image to some extent. But there is a unified thread of creative dissembling that makes for a deeply engaging listening.

Mark Feldman: What Exit. 2006. ECM: 1928 B0007361-02.

Mark Feldman: violin
John Taylor: piano
Anders Jormin: bass
Tom Rainey: drums

This disc certainly reinforces the HurdAudio "Tom Rainey rule." Rainey Rule: an project that has Tom Rainey on drums will produce music that is either excellent or better than excellent. There are moments when the same chemistry between Mark Feldman and Tom Rainey from when they were collaborators in New and Used can be heard through the haze of ECM production values. The epic, sweeping arc of "Arcade" is a chamber jazz masterpiece in the range of color drawn out from this quartet. Now in its second spin through the HurdAudio rotation this sound is even more luminous, more infectious to these ears.

Jonathan Zorn: for Rob Powers: Suite no. 2 - additive feedback. 2003. Set-Projects: Set - 03.

Johnathan Zorn: electronics

Additive synthesis is the focal point of this long-form composition. From the liner notes: "Suite no. 2 is an additive feedback loop that grows module by module, track by track, causing the sound to become increasingly unstable." The gradual unfolding of this work adheres to that descriptive process. The first twenty minutes of this music feature the relative stability of a barely audible sine tone. The dynamic extremes of this music is extraordinary and admirable. The ingenious packaging - featuring colored threads as the "patch cables" in the cover art (designed by Rachel Thompson) - reflects the stark creative impulse of every aspect of this production.