Splitter Orchester – splitter musik (Hyperdelia, 2024)

By Nick Ostrum

In the Splitter Orchester, one hears a convergence of trends that bridge new orchestral music and big band free jazz. There is a group sotto voce, wherein larger and larger units play quietly, creating timbral textures that largely eschew the natural dynamic range posed by the instruments at hand. There is also the use of field recordings, or, in this case, recording in the field. The wind, the cars, the passers-by, the environs of the recording become part of the performance, at times gobbling up the band and at others providing the sonic backdrop, a sort of non-rhythmic rhythm section used in a way that many musicians now use background electronics. In both of these themes, one hears echoes of the Insub Orchestra and, in the latter (disc 3 in this release), the related but self-consciously bucolic Polytopies project , though far be it from me to claim which group inspires which, or whether this is just an avenue many groupings are exploring autonomously.

Disc one of splitter musik, Vortex, begins quietly and builds slowly, with the odd cluck and hiss here, bass pluck there, other noises of various derivations darting back and forth. At about 19 minutes, a brief trumpet fanfare, then a barrage of saxes, breakthrough and incite a powerful crescendo, followed by an extended plain of varying levels of activity. Think: Seven Storey Mountain, but steelier. The music is hardly harmonious, but the components work together toward an oddly variegated stasis. Disc two, Imagine Splinter, has a busier and fuller sound that vacillates between the new big band sound described above and droning sound art. More traditionally musical elements pop up from time to time, but in flits. Muffled voices pop in after about a decade, and various percussion hint at a rhythm. Inevitably, these features converge into a thrumming crescendo. The effect is as if Tim Olive or someone of his ilk were leading an orchestra. Disc three is a different beast. Apparently recorded in the open air (or with quite convincing field recordings), Pas involves voices, sonic scenes of feet tromping through water, chiming bells (or water drops on metal) and various other environmental sounds. Long tone explorations distinguish the band from the ambient foreground, but the interaction between the two is key: it sounds as if they are all vying for space. The tones eventually disjoint from each other and short punctuated clusters meet children’s voices and giggles in a playful section that sounds as if the band has found a live and lively audience. This passage gives way to the tromping that comes earlier, now accompanied by heavy scrapes and quavers. By the end, the piece relaxes. The voices appear again, as do the water sounds and a drone, which draws Pas to its conclusion.

This is a big album, in terms of time and sound. It is not loud but expansive. I would not necessarily suggest swallowing all three discs in a single sitting, but I also would not deter you if you can dedicate the time. That is what I did the first time, and, to my surprise, it held up for those three hours. And, it has held up on subsequent listens, admittedly in shorter chunks, as I tried to make sense of it for this review. I am not sure that I have unlocked its code, but I can say for certain that splitter musik is riveting and, after many spins, continues to offer new clues and new points of intrigue.

Splitter musik is available as a CD and download from bandcamp.

In case the review has not hooked you, yet, here is the line-up, which consists of many key figures from the current echtzeit scene : Liz Allbee (trumpet), Boris Baltschun (analog synthesizer), Burkhard Beins (percussion), Anthea Caddy (cello, electric bass) Anat Cohavi (clarinet), Mario de Vega (electronics), Axel Dörner (trumpet), Kai Fagaschinski (clarinet), Robin Hayward (tuba), Steve Heather (percussion), Chris Heenan (contrabass clarinet), Mike Majkowski (double bass, electronics), Magda Mayas (clavinet, harmonium), Matthias Müller (trombone), Andrea Neumann (inside piano, mixer, hydrophones), Morten Joh (percussion), Simon James Phillips (organ, piano, Korg CX3), Jules Reidy (guitar), Ignaz Schick (electronics, turntables), Michael Thieke (clarinet), Clayton Thomas (double bass), Sabine Vogel (flutes, hydrophones), Biliana Voutchkova (violin), Marta Zapparoli (tape decks, hydrophones, radio receivers, antennas).