SMITH, CHAS — Descent
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Drei lange Stücke, aufgenommen 2003-2005. CHAS SMITH spielt seine hyper-kontemplativen Drones auf einer "steel guitar" (d.h. eine Gitarre, die mit einem "slide" gespielt wird) und auf diversen selbstgebauten Instrumenten metallischen Ursprungs ein (z.B. Stainless Steel Sheet, Copper Box, Guitarzilla), und hat so über die Jahre sein ganz eigenes Klang-Universum aufgebaut. Die Drones schimmern ambivalent licht-hell, harmonisch & metallisch sirrend und haben doch eine abgründige & dunkle Komponente, die durch Tonhöhenveränderungen & tief wallende Frequenzen entsteht... Auf dem zweiten Stück "Endless Mardi Grass" (über 20 Min. lang) kommen auch noch Aufnahmen von entfernt vorbeiwallenden Flugzeugen dazu, sowie Flöten & Zithersounds. Absolut illuminierende Drones, zum versinken wie geschaffen... das wunderbare letzte Stück "False Clarity" atmet tiefe Sehnsucht. TIP !!
"Southern California-based composer Chas Smith's sound constructions occupy a paradoxical place between drifting lightness and dense gravity. They move slowly, accruing and shedding sonic elements as they develop within – and ultimately define – their own aural shapes. Perhaps it is, in part, Smith's practical grasp of metallurgy, fabrication, and structural engineering that help lend his music its unique sense of physical mass within space. Indeed, he designs and builds himself many of the musical instruments used in his compositions, and I suspect that those ringing metals and vibrating strings have a lot to do with the density and depth preserved at the root of this, ultimately, electronically- processed music. The two long pieces that make up most of Smith's new release, Descent, are his most powerful and focused work yet." [Kevin Macneil Brown, Dusted Mag.]
"Chas Smith is one of the most unique musicians working today. He has created his own musical world—complete with its own instruments and "language." It is a world of expansive musical tapestries and carefully sculpted textures that never sit absolutely still, but evolve via a slow, constant change of aural perspective. Smith's soundworld, however, it is not an altogether alien one, and critics, in their praise of Smith’s work, have repeatedly compared his compositions—some resonantly beautiful, some darkly brooding, some sonically overpowering—to those of Ligeti. With Descent, Smith continues to create the great, sometimes clangorous soundscapes that have fed the popularity of his earlier Cold Blue releases. The central pitch and structural ideas for the three pieces that comprise this CD were originally conceived for an evening of music that Smith presented at Los Angeles' historic Schindler House. Here, those initial ideas are expanded and developed. On this recording, Smith utilizes his large sculptural instruments, which are all made of various metals (and go by such unusual names as Copper Box, Que Lastas, Pez Eater and Jr. Blue), steel guitar, the recorded sounds of jet engines, and Smith's self-designed-and-built three-neck steel guitar, "guitarzilla," which he prepares (a la John Cage’s prepared piano) with metal rods and plays with hammered dulcimer hammers.
The composer/performer: Chas Smith is a Los Angeles-based composer, performer, and instrument designer and builder who, in the spirit of Harry Partch, creates much of his music for his own exotic instruments. His compositions, which always display his dualistic fascination with the scientific and the sensual, might owe their split personalities to the diverse collection of composers he studied with in the 1970s: Morton Subotnick, Mel Powell, James Tenney, and Harold Budd. As a performer, Smith regularly appears on feature film scores, playing both pedal steel guitar and his personally designed instruments. He may be heard on such popular film scores by Thomas Newman as The Shawshank Redemption, The Horse Whisperer, and American Beauty. (He has also worked for film composers Christopher Young, Charlie Clouser, Mark Mothersbaugh, Jeff Danna, and John Williams.) Smith, who has been featured on recordings by composers Harold Budd and Rick Cox (and with numerous country-western bands), has performed his own works at various new music festivals and art galleries. His music has been recorded on the Arc Light, Cold Blue, Cantil, MCA, and Straw Dog labels. Although Smith’s music is sometimes sonically harsh, it is always extremely engaging. As one critic put it when reviewing one of Smith’s earlier recordings: "If the house band on the Titanic sounded this gorgeous when the ship went down, you might have been tempted to stay aboard." [label info]
www.coldbluemusic.com
"Southern California-based composer Chas Smith's sound constructions occupy a paradoxical place between drifting lightness and dense gravity. They move slowly, accruing and shedding sonic elements as they develop within – and ultimately define – their own aural shapes. Perhaps it is, in part, Smith's practical grasp of metallurgy, fabrication, and structural engineering that help lend his music its unique sense of physical mass within space. Indeed, he designs and builds himself many of the musical instruments used in his compositions, and I suspect that those ringing metals and vibrating strings have a lot to do with the density and depth preserved at the root of this, ultimately, electronically- processed music. The two long pieces that make up most of Smith's new release, Descent, are his most powerful and focused work yet." [Kevin Macneil Brown, Dusted Mag.]
"Chas Smith is one of the most unique musicians working today. He has created his own musical world—complete with its own instruments and "language." It is a world of expansive musical tapestries and carefully sculpted textures that never sit absolutely still, but evolve via a slow, constant change of aural perspective. Smith's soundworld, however, it is not an altogether alien one, and critics, in their praise of Smith’s work, have repeatedly compared his compositions—some resonantly beautiful, some darkly brooding, some sonically overpowering—to those of Ligeti. With Descent, Smith continues to create the great, sometimes clangorous soundscapes that have fed the popularity of his earlier Cold Blue releases. The central pitch and structural ideas for the three pieces that comprise this CD were originally conceived for an evening of music that Smith presented at Los Angeles' historic Schindler House. Here, those initial ideas are expanded and developed. On this recording, Smith utilizes his large sculptural instruments, which are all made of various metals (and go by such unusual names as Copper Box, Que Lastas, Pez Eater and Jr. Blue), steel guitar, the recorded sounds of jet engines, and Smith's self-designed-and-built three-neck steel guitar, "guitarzilla," which he prepares (a la John Cage’s prepared piano) with metal rods and plays with hammered dulcimer hammers.
The composer/performer: Chas Smith is a Los Angeles-based composer, performer, and instrument designer and builder who, in the spirit of Harry Partch, creates much of his music for his own exotic instruments. His compositions, which always display his dualistic fascination with the scientific and the sensual, might owe their split personalities to the diverse collection of composers he studied with in the 1970s: Morton Subotnick, Mel Powell, James Tenney, and Harold Budd. As a performer, Smith regularly appears on feature film scores, playing both pedal steel guitar and his personally designed instruments. He may be heard on such popular film scores by Thomas Newman as The Shawshank Redemption, The Horse Whisperer, and American Beauty. (He has also worked for film composers Christopher Young, Charlie Clouser, Mark Mothersbaugh, Jeff Danna, and John Williams.) Smith, who has been featured on recordings by composers Harold Budd and Rick Cox (and with numerous country-western bands), has performed his own works at various new music festivals and art galleries. His music has been recorded on the Arc Light, Cold Blue, Cantil, MCA, and Straw Dog labels. Although Smith’s music is sometimes sonically harsh, it is always extremely engaging. As one critic put it when reviewing one of Smith’s earlier recordings: "If the house band on the Titanic sounded this gorgeous when the ship went down, you might have been tempted to stay aboard." [label info]
www.coldbluemusic.com