Friday, December 16, 2011

"Target" CD: Daring, Hendrixian, Captivating, Powerful

I'm really pleased that favorable reviews continue to appear for Starkland's Keeril Makan "Target" CD.

In the new Fanfare, Robert Carl concludes that Makan's Resonance Alloy is "one of the best pure-sound pieces I've heard in some time." He finds the "near-psychotic" song cycle Target is a "terrifying" and "daring piece." And he notes the virtuosic solo-cello work Zones d'accord "creates near-overwhelming sounds" that move "from breathier harmonic sweeps to Hendrixian explosions."

Vital Weekly recently stated that the "Target" CD is "a great release" full of "captivating and engaging music." Critic Dolf Mulder especially savored the performances from Alex Waterman ("breathtaking"), Laurie Rubin ("beautiful"), and David Shively ("an amazing tour de force").

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Lucid Culture praises the CD as "strange and powerful," "intriguing and diverse," and "minimalist yet often absolutely massive." Writer Alan Young was also stunned by the "viscerally mesmerizing" Resonance Alloy.

Even the venerable but staid Gramophone is attracted to the "extraordinary extremes" of the CD, writing:
"On a purely musical level, these first recordings of four works by Makan are about creating expectations out of chaos, tuning the listener’s ear and creating a sound world in which music emerges unexpectedly out of violent textures, gestures and cries."
Read more here.