Mark Ellestad — Discreet Angel

Discreet Angel brings together three pieces composed between the late 80s and early 1990s by Calgary, Alberta based Mark Ellestad. One is for solo guitar, one for pump organ and Hardanger fiddle, and one for violin & cello. Ellestad's sound is often starkly wondering in its intent, where hoovering discord is met with flecks of dartingly harmony and dusty earthiness.

Going by discogs Ellestad only has two releases to his name- this release that appeared in February of this year on Another Timbre. And 1994’s (At Desolation Sound),  which appeared on Six-Sided Records, bringing together work for a string trio, a piece for woodwind quartet, and an early version of the title track here.

So first up we have the title track from the year 1990- this runs just over the twenty-minute mark, and is for solo guitar, which is played here by Cristian Alvear. It starts off very loose and sparse- with for the first five minutes or so of wondering & spaced picks. After this point we get a series of patterns- these sit between being barrenly harmonic, hinting at almost Spanish, blues guitar tones- and more delicate picked and wondering forlorn-ness. The first few times I played this track it felt too wondering/ loose for its own good- but as I’ve played it more, I’ve come to enjoy the rather wavering and shifting journey the whole thing goes on, as it shifts between the stark, forlorn, and barren if at times felt sentiment.

Next, we have "Sigrid", which was composed in 1994- and is the shortest of the three pieces coming in at the six-minute and twenty-second mark. With  both pump organ and Hardanger fiddle being played by Ellestad himself. It begins with erratic sounds of the creaking organ starting up, and as it progresses it pegs out a droning and simmering earth-ness, which shifts between waving discord and rising dusty folk grandeur. 

Finally, we have 1988’s "In the Mirror of This Night", and this is the longest piece here at just shy of the forty six-minute. This piece is played by Apartment House members Mira Benjamin on violin, and Anton Lukoszevieze on cello. Over its runtime the track shifts from malevolently drifting harmony, onto shrilly edged waving dwells to starkly grainy saws, through to glum slides and furtive picks. 

In summing up this three-piece disc, initially, it felt like a fairly daring choice to open with the more sparse and wondering of the pieces, but if you do persevere with the album as a whole this choice does make sense, as it moves from the barrenly stark, onto discordant to dusty grandeur, finishing on sparse moody-ness. I’d certainly be interested in hearing more of Mr Ellestad’s work, so let’s keep our fingers crossed that Another Timbre has another release lined up.