The Silent Ballet counts down its top picks of the month ~ a trio of expressionistic offerings that celebrate the end of summer and herald the onset of fall.

The seasons are changing once again.  The cars are packed, the beach toys put away, the towels folded, the resort doors closed.  The splashed lights of traffic reveal our upcoming destinations: home, college, work.  What shall we preserve from the summer of 2011 – snapshots, iPhone videos, kiosk souvenirs, ticket stubs from blockbuster sequels?  Or will it be our musical memories, the soundtracks that form the background of our real lives?

Last month, our trio of picks fell into the hot afternoon, windows-down arena of post-rock; this month, with a tip toward fall, strings take center stage.  These three releases play an elegy for the fading season, brimming with longer shadows and quieter hopes.  In different ways, each also represents an artist’s reinvention.  One branches from dubstep to modern composition; another adds a pulse to ambient structures; a third moves from improvisation to collage.  As a result, each produces the best work of his career.  Change does not need to be frightening; it can be the source of inspiration and unheralded growth.  As our eyes turn to autumn, we couldn’t ask for better guides than these.

 

1) Jeremiah Cymerman ~ Fire Sign
Tzadik
On Fire Sign, Jeremiah Cymerman flips the script of Under a Blue Grey Sky, beginning in chaos and ending in form.  The album brims with white heat, reflecting the near-madness of the artistic temperament.  It bubbles like a solar flare, flirting with the atonal before courting the melodic.  By combining the wild improvisations of his early albums with the classically-informed structures of his later efforts, Cymerman has found a formula that works: a forest fire of sound that clears the way for new growth, leaving silence in its wake.  (Richard Allen)

2) Paul Jebanasam ~ Music for the Church of St. John the Baptist
Boomkat (official download station)
At first glance, the title of this 25-minute track sounds religious in nature, but while Paul Jebanasam and friends performed this piece in a church, the common link is a spiritual dynamism.  Here neo-classical tendencies are featured in a mesmerizing and energetic ambient composition, beginning with a momentum-building respiration.  Thunderous pumps of a drum temper the swelling beast.  The spectacle quickly quiets the audible chatter from the live audience.  As the performers move to the in-house pipe organ, then to the to final movement with charismatic violin and viola, there is no doubt that this is something special.  This recording is not just a teaser for Jebanasam’s upcoming album; it sets a high standard of its own.  (Nayt Keane)

3) Aquarelle ~ Sung In Broken Symmetry
Students of Decay
This release comes as a fantastic surprise: an ambient album that avoids over-extension, riveting the attention from start to finish.  In a mere 36 minutes, Ryan Potts immerses his listeners in a cascade of colors and silhouettes.  Instruments step in and out of the soundscape, teasing the audience as they advance and retreat.  Each side of the LP is a complete story, yet both coalesce to form a coherent whole of concentrated musical bliss.  The symmetry might be broken, but it makes all the sense in the world.  (Mohammed Ashraf)

Written By: jordan
Date Posted: 9/1/2011
Number of Views: 1116