First up is the title track, building gradually as string phrases from Szemzö's Gordian Knot Company ensemble punctuate the silence. Chanting voices and restrained percussion enter, then a little bass guitar, to which Szemzö will eventually add bass flute. Meanwhile, extracts of a Buddhist treatise, Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Law, are recited in Japanese. So far, so nicely mediative.
The second piece is Symultan, based around sampled voices from a Roma community and related field recordings, with a similar musical backing to the first track eventually taking shape. It will be all the more affecting for those that understand the language - they're apparently talking about all that was lost to their community under fascism - but is still a striking work of very human melancholy without knowing the speech. The album closes with Gull, an absolutely lovely work for string quartet and tabla.
link
pw: sgtg
