New Music / Freshly Written & Recently Released (April 2017)
BLOCKS OF TEXTURE
Last Wednesday I went to Ortlieb's and saw Canadian band "Close Talker" open up the evening.
At first listen to their web music before I went to the show, there was something about the music that was a little unsettling. Maybe yes or no in the lyrics, but, deeper than that, in the foundation or the structure of the songs themselves. I'm talking about the texture or feel of the instrumentals. My "getting into the song" was interrupted by quick changes or stops in the textures.
On some of the songs there would be an intro that created one sense or feel followed abruptly by a verse that evoked something completely different. An example of this is in the song "Okay Hollywood", where there is a very lush and haunting intro for ten seconds, followed abruptly by a first verse that is more minimalist. While you can hear this contrast in the recorded version, it was even more pronounced in the band's live show. The abruptness of the transition rather than a smoothly-flowing change is one reason why I think of this as a "block of texture", which has a specific beginning and end.
Another reason why I see the music's structure as being in blocks is that, at several points, either between verses or interludes, the music almost stops! If only even for a split section, but it is definitely a dividing line. An example is in "Waking Up", near the 1.06 marker.
These blocks are also created by some abrupt changes in tempo and/or volume. Also in "Waking Up", listen how there is almost a break to silence at 1:56, and then the feel suddenly becomes softer and quieter. While music in general may have intros and verses and refrains and interludes, it's the segmenting or divides that help make this band's music unique.
"Waking Up" is the sixth track on the band's new album, "Lens", which was just released in April!
As I listened to the band's work on line and saw their wonderful show at Ortlieb's I kept thinking of their music in terms of these "blocks"; not every song has them, but enough do that I perceived their overall body of work in these terms. Due to these blocks and the changing textures, I found it sometimes hard to experience a particular feeling about an individual song all the way through, but, at the end of their show, when they had just played their last song and were ready to pack up, I felt that I had a pretty good feel for their work as a whole. Very intriguing structures. I liked their show.
Close Talker doesn't have any other shows coming up. The Philly show was one of their final stops on a world tour. However, you can see what they're up to by checking out their Facebook page. Here is the click ::: Close Talker on Facebook (CLICK HERE)
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