'
flow', by
wilhelm matthies and
reid karris, available digitally from
pan y rosas discos, is a duo improvisation for a variety of objects, including singing bowls and bells and a homemade, bowed, table-top instrument somewhere on the extreme fringes of the cello family. i can't make too many assumptions about the approach, but the album feels to me like a musical version of the artistic practice of the derive, or aimless walk. these two musicians are taking a musical derive together with these instruments. but here as always there is no difference between aimlessness and intent.
the accompanying text reads like a haiku: 'squiggle rub. long tone wood. metal rummage. a narrow path. a gap in mountains. bell clarity. burrow in earth. deep in roots'. fitting for the album, the text is cryptic while also being specifically descriptive of the sound. the line 'a narrow path. a gap in the mountains' reminds me of one of my favorite books, a travelogue by the poet
basho, and contrasts starkly with urban setting in which the album was performed and recorded. i recommend this highly.
get it
here for free.
