​ether real  2014

"An artist with a particularly interesting trajectory—capable of moving from collaborations with heralds of the improvised music scene to a more intimate, neo-classical style on his album La Ligne Claire, praised on these pages four years ago—Quentin Sirjacq has also been working alongside Dakota Suite since 2010. Although the British group’s releases, while overall very convincing (despite a prolific discography that is hard to follow closely), don’t necessarily fall within our editorial focus, the band occasionally collaborates with other musicians, creating opportunities for us to review the results.

Thus we already had the chance to discuss a joint project with Emanuele Errante, in which the Italian contributed some electronic touches; logically, this time Sirjacq takes on piano duties, bringing breadth and smoothness. Indeed, the Frenchman’s touch underscores Chris Hooson’s singing—close to a kind of spoken word—while Hooson’s guitar and David Buxton’s bass embrace a characteristically lo-fi approach. The result is arrangements of minimal beauty (like the album cover, typical of Dakota Suite) and fairly dark (Hooson’s timbre, Étienne Bonhomme’s drum kit brushed softly, the overall atmosphere), yet elevated by the piano lines (This Is My Way Of Saying That I Am Sorry, Dronning Maud Land, Be My Love).

When the music turns instrumental, the three core musicians allow themselves excursions verging on a kind of free-jazz (Committing To Uncertainty, joined by Vincent Renaudineau’s trombone and Takuma Sakamoto’s trumpet), on neo-classical terrain with the marked presence of Laurent Bruttin’s clarinet (Nu Dat Deze Dag Voorbij Is), on a more traditional, languid form of jazz (Nothing Is Gone), or even on quasi-slowcore (the title track). Achieving such variety while maintaining a fairly homogeneous and recognizable palette over the album’s fifty-five minutes is unquestionably a sign of its fine success."

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quentin sirjacq: piano, composition, arrangements

chris hooson: composition, acoustic guitar, vocals

laurent bruttin: clarinets

david buxton: bass guitars, arrangements

edouard marie: electric Bass, double Bass

etienne bonhomme: drums, recording

yoann durant: saxes

vincent renaudineau: trombone

takuma sakamoto: trumpet

           

hiroshi iguchi: mastering

 

karaoke kalk , schole 2014

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