Sombre nay Sated: Review on Carnage News

Review by Riccardo Gorone for Carnage News

Sombre nay Sated: 'A Closer Listen' review

Fellow drone and field recording lover, Richard Allen reviews, 'Sombre nay Sated', for 

'A Closer Listen'. 

Have a read of Richard's complete thoughts HERE.

"When listening to Tattered Kaylor, we're not just listening to Tattered Kaylor; we're listening to other artists through her aural lens. Sombre nay Sated invites us to consider the subliminal ways in which we translate our own sonic experiences. Would Elieff be honoured if someone were to position these pieces (with attributions, of course!) as the foundations of their own re-imaginings? One suspects so. To this artist, sound interpretation is more important than sound preservation."

Richard Allen

Looking for Cowslips

:: Looking for Cowslips - live performance @ the Salon, Melbourne Recital Centre ::

The final evenings performance for Mira Calix included compositions from British composers Tansy Davies, Larry Groves and Emily Hall. I was not familiar with any of their work but will be keeping my third eye and ear attuned in the future, as I enjoyed and was intrigued by their various approaches in composition. 

By far the piece that shone on the night (in my memories) was 'Wedding List' (Calix) from the contemporary opera piece, 'Dead Wedding'. During rehearsals it did not particularly register with me and yet as the night at the Salon pulled you closer, it rose to the point of becoming a modest yet ideal example of the elements that Calix brings together for her work in contemporary classical/electronic composition. 

Musicians for this piece were:

Zoe Knighton - Cello

Anna Webb - Viola

Aviva Endean - Clarinet

Lotte Betts-Dean - Soprano

Mira Calix - Electronics

Together they generated a sweetness in the air that began with a coy shyness between soprano and clarinet. Timid refrains created a melodic conversation between the two, to be joined by quieter chanting voices and delicate electronics in their sonic background. The piece builds and it's musical elements lose their inhibitions, expressing a release of the emotion 'Love'. It becomes harder to differentiate between the electronic sounds, soprano and strings. Vocals, strings and electronics swirl, layer upon layer, bonding to create a pocket of warmth that you are fortunate enough to be existing in, as they inspire and act as catalyst to the atmosphere growing around them.

At the finish of this piece I believe I became, 'stuck'.

It's lingering impression and mood was such that I could not wholeheartedly focus on those that followed, as my heart was still with, 'Wedding List'.

Fables & Other Works

:: Rehearsal artefacts :: 

The first evening went well and I must admit, I was relieved once it was complete and looking for that glass of red wine. I was struck by how different the pieces sounded when removed from the comfort and somewhat casual but hectic nature of rehearsal. They seemed a lot 'harder' in observation - both in the musicians act of physically playing the pieces and in the challenges of non-conventional composition, presented to the listening audience. 

In the formality of the concert, the boundaries between the expected/accepted and the new - being tampered with in composition methods and creative content, was laid out bare on a stark background to be opposed, accepted or simply observed as one would see fit. 

Personally, I found it exciting but also a little terrifying. 'He Fell Amongst Roses' was a typical example of the above, with  it's crescendo being reached as musicians frantically bowed their instruments with heightened strength and aggression as to evoke a level of volume and intensity that left me feeling exhilarated and oddly enough - frightened. They finish in unison on a single note almost as a vocal shout of triumph (or war-cry), while Mira Calix continues playing the electronic sounds of a thumping beat typically heard through the walls of a club - to fade into a muffled sub frequency that soaks into the sonic surroundings before finally reaching silence.

Tonight is the Salon. 

See you there.

Selected Realities - OndaRock Review

Review from Italian Music/Culture site OndaRock

Apologies for the Google translate.... but you should get the idea

Selected Realities - Review in De:Bug issue #166

'Selected Realities', has a review in De:Bug #166. Translation in English below..........

"It is the perception of sound and thus accompanied perception of space and time which is the topic for Australian sound artist Tessa Elieff, and this combination of CD and DVD presents a good impression on how she is approaching this. Compositions made from sounds of Tibetan singing bowls or samples of singing birds only form the first level, followed by a second in which her sophisticated and diverse playback-recording-mix-procedure is suspended within the play of resonances in city-typical space constellations: E.G. within a six-storey stairwell or a waste water canal system, whose effects can be experienced on the 5.1-Surround DVD. The five concerned works including one live recording, often leave the entire sound experience with some documentary distance: You would just like to be at the locations yourself. However, a full compensation is given by the concluding quarter-hour audio/visual composition of recordings from the construction of a theatre lifting platform - an engaging symphony of heavy steel in cold light and geometrical dance."