Phill
Niblock
"A Young Person's Guide to Phill Niblock"
2 CD
Experimental
Intermedia
Genres: minimalism, drone
XI Records
PO Box 1754, Canal Street Station NY, NY 10013
Dec 16 - 22 2002 |
Phill
Niblock is, without a doubt, one of the most esteemed experimental
composers around today. Musically active since the sixties (he was
born in 1933), his music has inspired a whole slew of modern
avant-garde composers around today.
A Young Person's Guide to Phill Niblock was originally
released in 1995 as a co-project between the Blast First label and
British publication The Wire. Comprised of recordings from 1978 to
1994, it is largely considered to be the definitive introduction to Niblock's
music. 2002 marks Experimental Intermedia's reissue of this album,
under the shortened title of YPGPN. The release is contained on
two discs, comprising a total of seven long pieces.
It starts off with "Held Tones," a twenty-two minute
flute drone piece that is completely mesmerizing. As the flute tone
passes by endlessly, you start to notice the minor imperfections in
the sound, little drops or waivers that lend the track a sense of
depth and personality. This adds much depth to the piece, and enhances
the listening experience greatly.
Second on the block is "Didgeridoos and Don'ts," a
shorter (thirteen and a half minute) track that features Ulrich
Krieger on the didgeridoos. Its dense, dark sound is apocalyptic.
The almost industrial shifts in sound are devastating, and though the
track is, in a grand sense, merely a minimal drone, it's effects are
intensely frightening. One can feel Krieger's breath
going into the instrument, and as the track progresses, the sound
becomes less and less organic; at the start, you are completely aware
of the didgeridoo's presence, but by the end, it's merely a dark,
noisy beast - even though nothing has really changed.
After these two pieces come the two performances of "Ten
Auras," a live rendition and a studio recording, both performed
by Ulrich Kreiger on the tenor saxophone. Both versions are
similar, featuring long, held drones that are constantly evolving -
they gradually shift in tone and sound intensity, lending the track a
sense of grungy depth. Contrasting between the two is difficult,
though small differences do appear upon detailed observation. The live
rendition ends the first of the two discs.
The second disc houses three more tracks, the first of which is
"A Trombone Piece," a twenty-two minute trombone composition
played by James Fulkerson. Its lengthy drone is at times
mysterious and at other occasions comical, depending on which frame of
reference you're listening to it with.
"A Third Trombone," meanwhile, is much lower than "A
Trombone Piece." It's sound is so low, in fact, that the
recording actually rings from the excess of bass. Performed by Jon
English, it is characterized by three trombones, the third of
which offers it a more dense, layered sound.
The collection's last track, "Unmentionable Piece for Trombone
and Sousaphone," ends things off well. Featuring some of the most
subdued drones on the entire album, it is a decidedly challenging
listen. The trombones establish a dark, grimy atmosphere, which is
then enhanced when the sousaphone comes in. The sousaphone is
lifeless, merely a tone, and this nearly mechanical impersonality
serves the track well.
YPGPN is valuable to both Niblock devotees and those
just discovering his music. The musicians all play their instruments
perfectly, and Niblock's multi-channel dubbing is carried out
with seamless mastery. Though definitely not for everyone (one
listener I presented this to likened it to the type of droning tones
used for torture practices), to those interested in this style of
music, YPGPN is a classic.
91%
Matt Shimmer [Vitals:
7 tracks; distributed by Forced
Exposure; orig. released 1995, reissued 2002] |