“...this album is a triumph for all concerned, and leaves one hoping that further albums of Young's compositions will soon follow.” — John Eyles, All About Jazz on 'As Trees Grow'
“...the moment that sticks with me most vividly is a portion of the first piece played by a Montreal collective called No Hay Banda. Vocalist Sarah Albu does a long stretch of heavy, slow breathing into the microphone. Having been so aware of others' breath for the last couple of years, there is something astounding about it, full of menace, hope and ultimately a deep sense of humanity that really resonates.” — Byron Coley, The Wire on Sarah Albu
Canadian artist Gayle Young's unusual and imaginative approach as composer and musician situates her within a long lineage of maverick experimentalists. Though Young's output does not shy away from more conventional modalities as well, since the 1970's she has variously embraced electronics, graphic/ text scores, installation, sophisticated tuning systems outside of equal temperament, the sounds of found objects and natural environments, and—perhaps most notably—instruments of her own invention.
According To The Moon sees Young collaborating with Montréal-based vocalist Sarah Albu, one of Canada's most dedicated and curious performers of contemporary and experimental music. The disc follows another release from last year for Farpoint Recordings, As Trees Grow, which featured her piano music performed by Xenia Pestova Bennett & Ed Bennett.
The works that comprise the present disc span over 40 years, including music commissioned by Albu herself. Unsurprisingly, this makes for a very diverse collection of works, however, there are distinct unifying features that help to establish a trajectory throughout them. Chief among them is Young's idiosyncratic approach to text. According to the liner notes, “Albu was intrigued by the use of texts as elements of notation, suggesting an instrumental approach to the voice.” In earlier pieces, such as the titular 1978 work, this is evident in how the composer uses vowels as acoustic filters applied to frequency content of the vocal tone. Yet even with later pieces that employ more involved texts such as The State of Corn (1998) or Sweet Summer Salad (2013) Young emphasises the texture and musicality of phonemes over building narratives. On the disc's haunted 14-minute finale, Ancient Ocean Floor, the most recent of the compositions, Albu's voice intones descriptions of a river valley walk, leading the listener through a broad, rich sound palette. Accompanying her is Young's microtonal string instrument the Amaranth woven through a recording of a waterfall filtered acoustically through tuned resonators.
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According to the Moon
Sarah Album & Gayle Young
1. According To The Moon (19.15)
2. Tea Story (8.11)
3. Vio-Voi (8.19)
4. The State of Corn (4.16)
5. Arbretreebaum (6.07)
6. Sweet Summer Salad (4.59)
7. Ancient Ocean Floor (14.30)
All compositions by Gayle Young
Sarah Albu — Voice
Gayle Young — Amaranth & Voice
Reinhard Reitzenstein — Voice
Gabriel Dharmoo — Voice
Geneviève Liboiron — Violin
Elizabeth Lima — Voice
Dean Batute — EMS Synthi
William Blakeney — Frequency Shifters
Produced by Sarah Albu, Gayle Young and William Blakeney for Ars Subtilior
Tracks 3 and 4 recorded and mixed by Radwan Ghazi Moumneh at Hotel2Tango, Montreal
Tracks 1, 2, 5, 6, and 7 recorded and mixed by Bob Doidge at Grant Avenue Studios, Hamilton
Mastered by William Blakeney
Digital Assembly by Amy King
Photos by Greg Locke
Costumes by Bruno Vinhas
Design by Stephen Seto
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Sarah Albu & Gayle Young - According to the Moon
According to the Moon is available in CD and digital formats. The CD version comes as a limited edition panel fold-out sleeve including an 8 page booklet with extensive liner notes. Design by Stephen Seto with photography by Greg Locke throughout. The CD is published as a first edition of 500 copies. The album is also available as a digital download (with a pdf booklet featuring full liner notes and images) via Bandcamp.
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