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Reviews

Cut the Sky — Esz Kodesz
(Bandcamp Aion Records AR001, 2023, CD / DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2024-02-07

Esz Kodesz Cover art

Our previous encounter with Alex Roth was on his remote collaborative album released as MultiTraction Orchestra, which featured Roth with six musicians who contributed their own parts individually without hearing the others. Cut the Sky is very different in its origin, being the result of three musicians working together in a more interactive manner, though in many ways the resulting music shares a similar aesthetic. Wacław Zimpel plays clarinets and handles a variety of electronics and Hubert Zemler utilizes a variety of different percussion instruments to contribute both pulse and texture, while Roth’s guitar ranges widely between atmospheric sounds and more structured parts. The music at times bears a resemblance to post-rock, as on the “sort of” title track, “Esh Kodesh (Piaseczno),” which progresses from a quiet electronic drone with wandering clarinet notes into a stately slow march with a dramatic motif on the guitar — I hesitate to call it a “riff” since it’s so removed from rock or jazz. “Clattering (Kraków),” on the other hand, is built around a gamelan-like percussion part that grooves along over the course of 11 minutes while a low electronic pulse provides a bottom and guitar and clarinet float around on top; eventually the guitar adds a two-note motif that builds the intensity and a drum kit works gradually into the mix. The flow of the piece may resemble a typical post-rock track, but the parts used to construct it are unique. Other parts of the album are more ambient or feature meditative melodies shared between guitar and clarinet. The album finishes with a lovely arrangement for several clarinets. Esz Kodesz is a very satisfying and distinctive album, and succeeds on a variety of levels.

Filed under: New releases, 2023 releases

Related artist(s): Alex Roth / MultiTraction Orchestra, Cut the Sky

More info
http://alexrothmusic.bandcamp.com/album/esz-kodesz

 

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