Brian
Osborne
"Music Concatenate" CD
Self-released
Genres: experimental
Mar 8 - 14 2004 |
This time I won't try to be pretentious and avant-garde. Brian
Osborne's Music Concatenate bores me. I wouldn't have
expected to like seven compositions of percussion-only experimental
music, and in the end I didn't. I suppose I lack worldliness and
'culture', but there's no way I'll ever want to listen to this disc
again.
Which is probably unfair. After all, these sparse, quiet
pieces of music aren't all bad. Osborne's minimal use of
discreet, hushed percussive instruments is sometimes enlightening in
its subtlety. The opening number, "Iae, tired of darkness,
thoughts begin to crescent," for example, is surprisingly
pleasant in its clinky, mystical quietness. But when you get
accustomed to the album's novelty, you begin to realize its
problems. Melodies? No. Gripping rhythm?
Hardly. Structure? Err...
Obviously, Music Concatenate is the type of album that only
appeals to experimental diehards. If you like stuff like The
Glass Orchestra, or some of Cage's quieter, less structured
stuff, then this album [and others from the Microearth
collective] may be a winner.
76%
Matt Shimmer
[Vitals: 7 tracks, distributed by Microearth, released 2003] |