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Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh/Garth Knox: All Soundings Are True
ByÓ Raghallaigh's ten-string hardanger d'amoresomewhere between a fiddle and violaand Knox's viola d'amore are largely indistinguishable here as they navigate minimalist, often abstract terrain. Harmony and melody are not in short supply, but as on "Sundhelm," follow an undulating course punctuated by sawing rhythms, edgy keening and pizzicato play. The somewhat ghostly melody of "Fluctus" floats on a current of quietly rhythmic urgency, the stark contrast between meditative and insistent accentuated by the tune's minimalism; the tension between airy lyricism and unpredictable edge here is evocative of Ó Raghallaigh's solo outing Music For An Elliptical Orbit (Diatribe Records, 2014).
There's greater experimentation in deconstructions of traditional tunes "Tasseography" and "Albanach" with their post-production sci-fi noodling, while the ballad "County Down," played as a delightfully slow air, has a more organic feel. Ó Raghallaigh and Knox converge to greatest effect where the music's course is unknown, as with the pizzicato sparks and restless strumming of "Blindsight," the zither-like sonorities of the abstract journey that is "Tsumba," the brooding lullaby "Minutus" and the quasi-psychedelic "Ramé," where fiddler and violist create swirling eddies of overlapping sound to close a fascinating recording on a fittingly genre-defying note.
All Soundings Are True is perhaps best appreciated in its forty-two-minute entirety, as it's only with uninterrupted listening that the contours of the duo's dialog fully reveal themselves. With this quietly provocative collaboration Ó Raghallaigh and Knox reveal the symmetry between lyricism and dissonance, concrete form and wispy impressionism, tradition and modernity. Subtly beguiling.
Track Listing
Sundhelm; Fluctus; Tasseography; Blindsight; Tsumba; County Down; Minutus; Albanach; Ramé.
Personnel
Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh: hardanger d’amore; Garth Knox: viola d’amore.
Album information
Title: All Soundings Are True | Year Released: 2017 | Record Label: Diatribe Records