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Jonty Harrison — Évidence Matérielle
(Empreintes DIGITALes IMED 0052, 2000, CD)

by Henry Schneider, Published 2016-12-29

Évidence Matérielle Cover art

Jonty Harrison is another British electroacoustic composer and his CD may be the most accessible of three recent DiM releases (Sources / Scènes, Traces, and Évidence Matérielle). This CD contains five compositions spanning the past ten years. The first piece, "Klang," uses the sounds of two earthenware casseroles to which Jonty adds the ingredients of cow-bells, metal rods, and aluminum bars to prepare an eerie meal of reverberating tones. "Sorties" is about fleeing an interior space for an exterior one, only to find that you are mysteriously trapped in a much larger interior space, like being inside one of those Russian dolls. The sonic sources are recognizable (cars, trucks, trains, walking shoes, children at play) and only add to the dark and brooding atmosphere of the composition. "Surface Tension" is constructed literally from the dry brittle sounds of packing material (Styrofoam and cardboard) that, after processing, have a somewhat organic texture as the material is put under greater and greater stress. Shifting now to wood and its varied sounds as it is twisted, tapped, burned, and otherwise strained is the subject matter for "Splintering." Clocking in at almost 20 minutes, it might be overlong. The final piece is "Streams," with the obvious water reference. Water can be so melodic and Jonty wrings out all of its nuances in "Streams." If you are interested in cutting edge electroacoustic music, check out the DiM label and, especially, Jonty Harrison.

Filed under: New releases, 2000 releases

Related artist(s): Jonty Harrison

 

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