Orange Milk’s “Split Series” usually pairs two
artists per tape, one on each side, giving each performer the space to crank
out the weirdest, most spasmic nonsense they can and hope to god they out-nonsense
the sorry sap who has to follow THAT up on the B-side. Actually, it’s not quite
so battle-royale-esque as all that – it’s mostly likeminded visionaries joining
forces for dual exposure, despite the fact that they’re still mostly weirdos. I
mean, c’mon – you’re not listening to Orange Milk tapes because you expect some
sort of convention to be followed, am I right?
“Split Series Vol. 4” is a bit different than the
usual format, in that Russia’s Kymatic Ensemble does the whole thing, both
sides, A and B. If you’re wondering, as you should, how the heck that counts as
a split, I’m here to explain to you that they’re performing PIECES by two
different artists, thereby representing two distinct personalities. Here they
extend their interpretive chops across a fairly wide divide, going full schizo
with pieces by Sean McCann and Orange Milk co-honcho Seth Graham. In my best
infomercial voice, “The results maaaay surprise you.”
First maybe it’s illustrative to point out that
the Kymatic Ensemble, an “experimental … collective of academic improvisational
musicians who use Baroque, modern chamber and oriental instruments, as well as
electronic-generated sounds,” has performed Terry Riley’s “A Rainbow in Curved
Air,” so maybe I’ll just leave that there to wet your whistle. Let’s just say
they sort of split the difference when tackling McCann and Graham. Certainly
the pieces are both long in form and expressive, and they run the gamut from
delicate to kinetic. But let’s keep these sides separate, OK? We’re still
working with a split here.
First, McCann’s “Vilon” aches with melancholy,
the strings and piano dripping with pathos as they interact with each other. By
the time the piece had run its course, I felt like weeping uncontrollably was
the only recourse, the only way I could get “Vilon” out of my system and
function again. “Vilon” is twenty-one minutes of weaponized sadness, a
heartwrenching document perfectly tailored for Kymetic’s vision and setup.
Then my favorite thing: an interpretation of
electronic music by humans playing acoustic instruments. Graham’s “Gasp” is a
triumph, landing in my top 10 records of 2018, and Kymetic’s arrangement of
certain sections of it somehow manages to do it justice, even though the
original is a scrambled-MIDI fantasia incorporating paranoia, anger, and mirth
in relatively equal measure. But Kymetic was somehow able to pull it off,
unlike the drummer in my college band who I kept yelling “Play like
Squarepusher!” at. The level of detail they manage to replicate is nothing short
of inhuman, to the point where I suggested, back when I was writing about
“Gasp,” that maybe Kymetic is actually an interconnected human hard drive wired
to play back things like “Gasp” and “Vilon” on command, like when we press play
on whatever studio keeps them in deep freeze.
Don’t believe me how cool Kymetic is? Check out
these live videos:
Now you know what I’m talking about.
--Ryan
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