It's admittedly a challenge to try to describe sound to someone who hasn't heard what you're hearing, but I still get a giggle when I read certain record reviews. Recently I came across a couple on the All About Jazz site that caught my attention.
First up, from Raul d'Gama Rose's review of Revolutions, a large ensemble recording by Jim Beard:
"Beard is first and foremost a composer of the highest artistic skill. His approach to music is primarily through the classic elements of song. This gives every composition a form. He must then shape the form by twisting the melody and imbuing it with challenging harmonies so that it can take on a shape and life of its own."
OK, I'm not a musician, but isn't that what most composers do (at least those working within any kind of traditional Western framework)?
Later, in the same review:
"Beard's music here is down to earth and echoes with the memory of events that may have been memorable at one time."
Ahh, Memories...(cue the Cat's soundtrack)
Then we have Glen Astarita's review of Live by Marteau Rouge with Evan Parker:
"The foursome generates a sense of urgency amid intriguing dialogues and streaming treatments, and strikes an asymmetrical balance, awash with lucid imagery, that spans catastrophic events and hardcore noise-shaping motifs."
Ummm...what?
Does anyone else ever react in a similar fashion, or do I just need more coffee?
No comments:
Post a Comment