Top Bar
Musique Machine Logo Home ButtonReviews ButtonArticles ButtonBand Specials ButtonAbout Us Button
SearchGo Down
Search for  
With search mode in section(s)
And sort the results by
show articles written by  
 Review archive:  # a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Ori Barel - Alkaline River [Unseen Worlds - 2023]

Is pastiche something learned, or is it evidence of learning’s failure? It might be an odd question to ask, but there is no avoiding the “p” word when it comes to Ori Barel’s sweeping historical mash-up (is the moniker already old hat?), Alkaline River, in which literally every formal device and source material from the world of electroacoustic music from the last thirty years makes an appearance. From early synths to field recordings and even sitars on the aptly named “Butterflies”, all is readily available and is put to use, whether that is good use or not depends on your relation to the curtain of irony behind which Barel seems intent on playing.

Barel is far too trained (PhD) in the finer arts of composition for anyone to assume this is all accidental, or just messing around at the amateur hour. This line of inquiry will get us nowhere. Instead, the haunting and perhaps truly ludic question is for whom this pastiche of styles, genres, and techniques is ultimately intended? With the airy circularity of the album’s concluding work, “Replica”, there can be little assurance that we, the listeners, are not being had. I, for one, welcome the opportunity to delight in Barel’s purposeful deskilling and historical bric-a-brac, but the pleasure is short lived, as it should be. Like those of us who love the horror genre of movie making, it is only fun while we watch – no pretense to aesthetic fulfillment or transcendent states of experience. This is Alkaline River’s reward, and that is just fine by me.
 
For fans of electroacoustic, instrumental improvisation that sounds like the Kronos Quartet on amphetamines, this is a ride you’ll be sure to enjoy. To  dig in

Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5

Colin Lang
Latest Reviews

Ori Barel - Alkaline River
Is pastiche something learned, or is it evidence of learning’s failure? It might be an odd question to ask, but there is no avoiding the “p&rdquo...
120925   Through And Through. - Throug...
120925   Ride A Wild Stud - Ride A Wi...
120925   Osvaldo Coluccino - Rispecch...
120925   Didier Rotella - Zone Grise
110925   Tim Lucas - Succubus(Book)
110925   Perpetrator - Perpetrator( Bl...
100925   Out Of The Clouds - Out Of Th...
100925   Phenomenal World - Same
100925   Arboreal/Whore’s Breath - S...
090925   Christopher Colm Morrin - Ske...
Latest Articles

Third Window Films - A Label For ...
Formed in 2005, London-based Third Window Films has been one of the key film labels releasing Asian cinema in the West. Their catalogue touches down in a lot...
030925   Third Window Films - A Label ...
130825   HNW fest- Barcelona- 12th Apr...
250725   Raté interview - Walled-in F...
180625   Matthew Holmes - Of razor-sha...
280525   The Residents - Visits From T...
090525   Ennaytch - Of walls, abused ...
150425   Dead, Dead Swans interview - ...
110325   Sebastian Tomb - Walls of unb...
040225   Alien Sex Fiend - Possessed B...
231224   Best Of 2024 - Music, Sound &...
Go Up
(c) Musique Machine 2001 -2025. Twenty four years of true independence!! Mail Us at questions=at=musiquemachine=dot=comBottom