Recommended: Berlin Soundpainting Orchestra – “Holothuria”

 

Berlin Soundpainting Orchestra enters music states that approximate chamber jazz, free improv, minimalism, classical, psych-rock and even an updated spiritual jazz choir project, but, ultimately, the large ensemble keeps things sufficiently in avant-garde territory that, really, there’s no adequate way to encapsulate the sonic experience with a genre tag, no matter how specific it may be tailored to a particular sonic expression.  This is music that is constantly in flux.  Tracks like “Encounter With a Mollusk” and “Organic Matter” firm up that position with pieces that transition between focused and fuzzy, dissonance and dissolve.

Some tracks express a more cohesive vision.  The driven intensity of “Submarine Volcano” balances a volatile instability with a simple melodicism.  And the way that the bare elements of a melody are given dynamic textures one layer after the next reveals the depth at the heart of “Sölid Particles.”  And the bursts of rhythm and choir on “Supercritical Mass” are compelling for their individuality and their unity.

Definitely something different here, and all of it is fascinating.

Your album personnel:  Hada Benedito (artistic direction, composition, soundpainting), Charlotte Barnett (voice), Bianca G. (voice), Makiho Yoshida (violin), Penelope Gkika (violin), Davide Lorenzon (alto sax, bass clarinet), Federico Eterno (alto sax, clarinet), Jonathan Lindhorst (tenor sax), Dominic Sell (electric guitar), Bob Meanza (electronics), Kriton Beyer (harmonium, objects), Rieko Okuda (piano), Adam Goodwin (double bass), Antti Virtaranta (double bass) and Adrian David Krok (drums).

Released on Aut Records.

Listen to more of the album on the label’s Bandcamp page.

Music from Berlin, Germany.

Available at:  Bandcamp