Dafna Naphtali/ Gordon Beeferman - Pulsing Dot [Clang Records - 2017]Pulsing Dot brings together a selection of fairly quirky & at-times surreal examples of modern composition utilizing piano, live sound processing, electronics & voice. The release appears in the form of a CD on demark based Clang Records- who focus in on releasing adventurous & experimental music from a few different genres. The album was recorded in one November day in 2015, and it features US female sound-artist/improviser/composer Dafna Naphtali on voice, electronics & live sound-processing. And NYC based composer, pianist, and improviser Gordon Beeferman on piano. With the five tracks blending together elements of modern classical composition, avant jazz, and generally playful-though- at times moody modern electronic composition
Each of the five tracks run between five & twelve minute mark- with a total album runtime of fifty two minutes. Opening up proceedings we have the just over eleven minutes of “Transmission”- to start with this brings together weird wailing & baying chanting, rapid higher pitched piano runs, and sudden electro textural pulls ‘n’ stretches. As the track progresses the elements nicely dart & meld together to create both an unpredictable, yet constantly active track that balances scuttling tension with slurred alien tribal-ness. Track number is the wonderfully entitled "Ozone Tongues"- and is the longest track here at nearing the thirteen & half minute mark. It’s a mixture of sudden darting piano notation, internal piano sounds, swarming electro elements, and sudden banks of manic & chatting vocalising.
Throughout Pulsing Dot there’s an often quirky & playful feel to the material- which you don’t often hear in modern composition. Yet it never becomes too gimmicky or frivolous in it’s intent, always creating a keen feeling of both creative sound flair & unbalancing atmospherics. Roger Batty
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