Jonathan Coleclough — Period
Period is drone but not as we know it Jim. The main piece is a fifty minute workout made up of very sparse piano notes which are put through a quite majestic reverb and feedback system to create a trail of beatific drone behind every strike of the keys. These tuned microdrones coalesce into dense choral refrains that are quite brilliantly beautiful. The initial piano notes are fully audible and never get buried beneath a mound of uncontrolled feedback.
With it’s classical leanings this work seems to follow a lineage away from electronic drone and into more avant-garde contemporary realms populated by such luminaries as Harold Budd and particularly Morton Feldman, although Period is probably even more sparse than Feldman’s soundscapes of tumbling chords and notes. At fifty minutes Period takes on a role as guided meditational aid more than a direct listening experience (although don’t let that put you off) I just feel that music as liquid and intangible as this is best appreciated almost subconsciously. Allowing the nuances of the tones and textures to wash over you, changing your perceptions without you even knowing it.
The pace of the piece is not constant and several times the slow drip of piano is halted leaving only the wavering shadow of drone behind, floating so delicately in the air for what seems like an eternity before another drop of music is added to the aural ointment and the ripples begin to flow once more. The picture of dark ocean waves that graces the album cover couldn’t be more fitting as the music conjures up images of floating out on a calm sea into darkness never to return (In a good way mind you).
The only other work included on the CD is a remix of the title track by Colin Potter. His approach to the material is more to force an atmosphere onto it rather than allow the music to speak for itself. The notes are not audible and he prefers to work directly with the drone. The space created is wider allowing darker more ominous textures to emerge. Huge dank caverns of sound open up threatening to suck all the beauty away, but the glorious combination of tonality emanating from the tails of those key strikes keeps the piece from falling into melodrama.