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Miller Twins — Early Compositions
(Cuneiform Rune 3368, 2023, DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2023-12-23

Early Compositions Cover art

Some of the music produced by the Miller Twins (Benjamin and Laurence) in the 70s has been released on the two Fourth World Quartet albums that have recently come out (1975 and Grand Bland Vapid Rapids, both on Cuneiform), but a significant portion of their work was never recorded at the time and existed only in printed form. For Early Compositions 1973-1976, they’ve pulled out those scores and performed the music in a studio. Most of the parts are played by the twins, utilizing various saxophones and clarinets along with guitar, bass, and drums, plus occasional keyboards, percussion, toys, and field recordings. On a few of the tracks, additional parts are played by Frank Pahl (euphonium), Denman Maroney (piano), Mike List (tabla), and Donnie Davis (alto sax), and both brothers sing from time to time. By today’s standards, the music resembles RIO and what has come to be called Chamber Rock, but at the time of writing, even the term “Rock in Opposition” hadn’t been coined. In 1973, the idea of a wind ensemble backed with bass guitar and drums was quite revolutionary, and I can’t think of any other examples outside of jazz — which this clearly isn’t, although there’s a bit of influence. Stylistically, it presages such groups as Univers Zero and Birdsongs of the Mesozoic. There is a difficulty in placing the Miller Twins’ compositions in historical context, however, since these recordings were done in the 2020s, and it’s impossible to say whether they sound exactly as they would have if they’d been performed in the 70s. Be that as it may, I find Early Compositions 1973-1976 to be a great listen. The production is very naturalistic, without anything in the way of studio effects to beef up the sound, so it’s a lot like an intimate live performance in spite of all the overdubs. Each of the 30 tracks is relatively short, with only two slipping above the five minute mark and many coming in under two. There’s an underlying playful spirit to the music, and the lyrics are often amusing, certainly far from what would be considered normal for pop songs. If this music had been recorded at the time of its writing, no doubt it would have been met by bafflement from the music industry, especially in the United States, but we’re lucky to have it now, regardless of its history.

Filed under: New releases, 2023 releases

Related artist(s): Frank Pahl, Miller Twins

More info
http://cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.com/album/early-compositions-1973-1976

 

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