Notes and Editorial Reviews
The Innova website describes its many-hatted director Philip
Blackburn as "a guerilla sound sculptor, creating occasions
for listening where the public least expects them." What
does that mean? The opening piece, Duluth Harbor Serenade,
offers some answers: it is, to quote the notes, "a giant
soundscape composition for the entire sounding bodies of the
busy port city on Lake Superior: bridge alarms, steam train
whistles, boat and fog horns, bells, brakes, and sirens, not
to mention a flash-mob band of dozens of local performers parading
around with loud
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outdoor instruments." In essence it is
like one of those 'sounds of the rainforest' kinds
of CDs that were popular a few years ago, only these are sounds
from the human jungle known as Duluth Harbor! In keeping with
Blackburn's speciality, a coordinated 'performance'
actually took place and this recording is, presumably, a minimally
processed version of that. One obvious element missing is the
noise of motor traffic, doubtless because it tends to drown
out all other sounds in almost any environment, but Duluth still
comes across as a very loud place! This is pretty much musique
concrète for the new century, although the traditional
Ash Grove tune does intrude into the bustle, almost humorously,
at a couple of points.
The meat of the CD is the massive Ghostly Psalms, a
50-minute work, recorded live, for large chorus, organ "and
unusual instruments". According to the notes again, it
takes the listener through a dream Blackburn had in his chorister
days thirty years ago: "Ruined abbeys, watery/windy streams
of consciousness, and planetary motions feature prominently"!
This is, in effect, a huge sound collage with all the ingredients
of a weird dream: swirling stasis, ethereality, intimacy, intermittent
intelligibility, non sequiturs, blurriness, repetition and so
on. The eerie first Psalm, 'Jungle Litany', is
impressive enough on its own, judging by scale, noise or imagination.
Some listeners may feel mentally drained by it and needing a
lie-down before facing a further forty minutes, but the remaining
Psalms are less demanding, both as far as length is concerned
and in their generally more benign-sounding material. Segueing
into each other, the pieces are generally slow-moving, densely
layered and flotsam-like, punctuated by occasional outbursts
of rowdiness or emotionally-charged objets de son.
As a whole, the Ghostly Psalms may well be at the core
of what Blackburn is driving at in his very 21st-centuryvartistic
statement. Incidentally, Innova point out that live performance
videos of both Duluth Harbor Serenade and Ghostly
Psalms can be found on YouTube.
The final work is the provocatively named Gospel Jihad,
"an a cappella work for two rival choirs, one
distant and tranquil, the other spitting fire and brimstone
based on beloved (yet vicious) gospel hymn texts." The
choir at Clare - England-born Blackburn's own Cambridge
College - has probably performed relatively few works like this,
and the raving 'evangelical' group certainly seems
to relish letting rip as it cites words and phrases from bellicose
hymns like 'Onward, Christian Soldiers' in various
domineering ways, whilst the other shows great self-control
to keep the traditional-style background drone going in the
face of much provocation. This is an unsettling, original work
that builds to an intense, almost demonic final few seconds.
Innova make a big claim for their catalogue, now more than 400
titles strong, "all somehow non-conformist, individualistic,
and groundbreaking". Not all titles may live up to that
billing, but this one does on most counts. It is probably only
suitable for those interested in experimentalism, however, although
a download of Gospel Jihad might be worth anyone's
money. More from Blackburn is available on Innova 204, released
in 2004.
The CD case is Innova's usual digipak type, and sports
their preferred pop album look, with a typical lack of indication
as to what kind of music is inside, who the performers are and
the like. The 'booklet' is a folded-up strip of
glossy paper that slots into the front cover. It is informative,
albeit written in Blackburn's own flamboyant style. Sound
quality is as immaculate as ever in these superbly produced
recordings.
-- Byzantion, MusicWeb International Read less
Works on This Recording
1.
Ghostly Psalms by Philip Blackburn
Performer:
Andy Lo (),
Ellen Fullman (Strings),
Theresa Wong (Cello),
Philip Blackburn (Electronics)
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Cambridge Clare College Choir,
Sisters Of Notre Dame,
Wild Music Chorus
2.
Duluth Harbor Serenade by Philip Blackburn
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Citizens Of Duluth
3.
Gospel Jihad by Philip Blackburn
Conductor:
Timothy Brown
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Cambridge Clare College Choir
Sound Samples
Ghostly Psalms: No. 1. Jungle Litany -
Ghostly Psalms: No. 2. Draw On, Sweet Night -
Ghostly Psalms: No. 3. Roots of a Magic Square -
Ghostly Psalms: No. 4. The Shadow of my Shadow -
Ghostly Psalms: No. 5. Non Judgment Day Is Nigh -
Ghostly Psalms: No. 6. Now, More or Less Than Ever -
Ghostly Psalms: No. 7. Beyond and Above -
Ghostly Psalms: No. 8. Scratch I-Ching -
Ghostly Psalms: No. 9. Hymn to the Solar System
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