Eris cs558

A clear followup to Penedo is then Eris, a quintet album recorded less than a week later in January, also in Penedo, with Anna Piosik (trumpet) joining the three strings & electronics. (Piosik had not been mentioned here explicitly, but has appeared with Rodrigues e.g. in Octopus, as mentioned in September.) I really enjoy the opening to Eris, with a distinct "jungle" vibe immediately troubled by very high electronic pitches, and into wind & whistling tones against percussive whacks.... (The resulting sort of perceptual framing, particularly around enclosures & lines of flight, might be compared to e.g. Primary Envelopment, as first discussed here in March 2015.) From there, if anything, Eris becomes more "hybrid" via an extended "industrial" vibe that emerges to leave the jungle far behind for some kind of interior(ized) space, a factory perhaps... or maybe this is the chaos internal to the mind, to which one retreats... it's spacious though! (The trumpet is occasionally recognizable as such, but is usually deconstructed into a variety of extended pulses & raspberries.) Eris goes on to sculpt & articulate energy in a variety of ways from there, including via a broad range of string techniques & formal procedures, but doesn't seem to recapture its initial excitement. In particular, it seems to focus on various means of achieving continuity, such that string figures sometimes become repetitive (via ostinati, etc.). (Life itself seeks continuity amid so many discords & challenges? Or it's repetition that's a source of discord?) Nonetheless, continued exploration of these textures & timbres is welcome, and Eris likewise yields a sense of calm awareness, generally a welcome "use" for any album. (And these albums are both more distinctive & more satisfying than this quick report might suggest....) Todd McComb's Jazz Thoughts

A quintet album of minimal/lowercase electroacoustic improvisation recordeded at Penedo in Portugal from Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Guilherme Rodrigues on cello, Miguel Mira on cello, Anna Piosik on trumpet, and Carlos Santos on electronics, each performer using extended techniques, contrasting atmospheric tones with percussive, often pointillistic approaches. (Squidco)