W♥M (Archive)

Loop 2.4.3: American Dreamland

Tour Dates 04/24/12 CSUSB "Music Tuesdays" - San Bernardino, CA 04/25/12 Music at Noon Concert Series - Santa Clara, CA 04/25/12 Saratoga Retirement Community - Saratoga, CA 04/26/12 Saratoga Library - Saratoga, CA 95070 04/26/12 CNMAT - Berkeley, CA Read More Loop 2.4.3 These have been my thoughts reflecting on Zodiac Dust, an album by Loop 2.4.3, set to be released June 16th on the Music Starts From Silence label. I would be content to simply write, "I cannot say much more; hear for yourself;"

I will repeat what I said when I reviewed Loop 2.4.3’s last album, Zodiac Dust, three years ago:

There is artistic work that is not so much simply seen, heard, felt, smelled, or tasted, as much as experienced.  Hence it is something you must take in for yourself, and a critical review simply falls short.

 Their newest album, American Dreamland, was released today, and with that album, that sentiment I had is even truer than ever.  I would say more so, actually, because I met Thomas Kozumplik and Lorne Watson, who comprise Loop 2.4.3, in person this time.  I went to a percussion clinic and recital they held last Friday (April 20) at my old university, Central Washington University, in Ellensburg, WA.  I got to know them a little bit.  I saw the instruments up close and personal, like the eLog and the Rose Echo.  I heard them perform music from Zodiac Dust and American Dreamland.  Along with the percussion students from the university, I got better explanations of the instruments, the music, and the musicians.

Listening to a studio-produced album is one thing.  Experiencing a live performance and getting to know the musicians and their music is quite another.

I mentioned in the Zodiac Dust review that Music Starts From Silence (their publisher) had started offering written manuscripts of music by Loop 2.4.3.  What I failed to mention is something I had learned from signing up for the group’s newsletter, and that this was part of education outreach to the schools.  Being a classically schooled musician myself, I got very excited.  This does not happen very often, that recording and touring musicians come back to the schools, teach about what they do, and offer their music for students to perform themselves.  I suppose this is not so unusual back East, but for those of us out West, it’s huge.  After the clinic, I remember Thomas talking about their appearance the day before in La Grande, Oregon.  He remembered that the students there were very receptive and appreciative, and I said that was true of many of us who were much more isolated and not surrounded by metropolitan cities.

I could write and expound more on the press releases I received to describe their music, especially that of American Dreamland, but it’s much easier for me to say that Thomas and Lorne are just hard working musicians that will take any idea they can to cultivate creative work.  Lorne was quite articulate on this point, explaining to the students and I that they worked with a beat/slam poet, and classical dancers, and adjusted their performances accordingly.  The diversity of instruments you play is helpful, he said, especially for freelance gigs.  That made sense when Thomas said he’d used the steel drum to play with chamber music ensembles (viola, bassoon, etc.).  It fit somehow, he said, by using a lighter touch when playing.

I should point out that Loop 2.4.3 is not only working with university students, but with grade school students as well.  I asked Lorne about the Native American flute he was playing (which is featured in American Dreamland), especially as he said earlier that he considered them easier to play than the recorders that are featured quite extensively in many elementary schools.  He recommended Stellar Flutes, and in particular their flute kits, which can be carved by students to their liking.  (I found the link when I got home and showed it to my 9-year old daughter, who was quite enthusiastic.)

Perhaps a video would be more illustrative of what this clinic and recital was like:

 It really was something truly special.  Hanging out, talking shop, and generally schmoozing afterwards at a hot wings restaurant was a nice way to end the day.

American Dreamland is available on CD, 12” (180 gram) vinyl, and digital download from Music Starts From Silence, CD Baby, iTunes, Amazon, and more.  

Thomas Kozumplik and Lorne Watson, dba Music Starts From Silence, are sponsored artists by NYC’s Tax Exempt Foundation, THE FIELD.  All donations are tax-deductible and help to support Loop 2.4.3’s touring and outreach activities.  See loop243.com/get-involved for details.

jaklumen () ♥ www.loop243.com

Loop 2.4.3

Loop 2.4.3 - Underground Loop 2.4.3 Tour Dates 05/20/09 The Players Theatre NY 06/18/09 Brown Rice Chicago, IL 06/25/09 Langdon St Cafe Montpelier, VT 06/27/09 Gulu-Gulu Cafe Salem, MA 07/11/09 119 Gallery Lowell, MA Discography [2001] Batterie [2009] Zodiac Dust

There is artistic work that is not so much simply seen, heard, felt, smelled, or tasted, as much as experienced.  Hence it is something you must take in for yourself, and a critical review simply falls short.

These have been my thoughts reflecting on Zodiac Dust, an album by Loop 2.4.3, set to be released June 16th on the Music Starts From Silence label.  I would be content to simply write, "I cannot say much more; hear for yourself;" but fortunately, I do have an artist biography and other online articles to help me frame my perspective about this album, to describe what went into it, and give some background on this artist.

On my first listen, I found that the album is experimental, with a broad representation of percussive instruments.  The instruments used are listed in the liner notes, and reading them I found also the cello and violin, played by guest artists Ari-Lin Bardin and Michelle Lee Elliot, respectively.  Most of the instruments are various percussion instruments I remember from my high school and college years (few, if any, that I actually played, as I was playing tuba most of those years), but there were two that I did not recognize: the eLog and Rose Echo.  I had to look them up.  Orange Alert's interview last week of Thomas Kozumplik and Lorne Watson, who comprise Loop 2.4.3, had the answers.  Watson explained that both are custom electro-acoustic instruments created specifically for Zodiac Dust, the eLog being a sort of log drum run through a Fender Twin amp, and the Rose Echo as an "acoustic wood" instrument passed through a guitar effects unit.  He did not describe it further than that, but I am guessing that the "Rose" in Rose Echo might refer to it being made of rosewood, which is used by guitar luthiers to make classical guitars as well as being used sometimes for percussion instruments, such as the bars on a grand marimba.  Rosewood has a very characteristic sound that is warm and mellow, and if I can imagine a "guitar effects unit" being anything like the famous Moogerfooger effect units made by Moog Music (yes, the same folks that produced the venerable Moog synthesizer), well, than I can appreciate it being a well-crafted sound.

As I was saying, some music must be experienced.  Loop 2.4.3 was once a purely live act, and their first album, Batterie, was recorded as a one-take, one-hour session with no editing for Sonarchy Radio in Seattle, WA.  With Zodiac Dust, they simply added a few more sonic effects in the studio than they would normally be able to do live.

Taking more from the OA interview, this is Kozumplik's explanation on how they came up with their name:

The name refers to a group, (loop) of friends and a room where we all used to create great music. It was when we were involved with The Robert Hohner Percussion Ensemble in Michigan. It was a great time, and we are still close to all the past members. It is a great support group, and filled with great musicians.

I try not to sound elitist writing this, but some of the press quotes were just a bit amusing to me.  NPR's Fresh Aire says the group "reinvents percussion" and, describing Batterie as "like part of a well-thought-out tradition, only the tradition has never existed until now."  The Lansing State Journal says "that only two guys beating on things could sound so orchestral will be a revelation to some listeners… “  Really, this was not all that unusual to me, because, compositionally speaking, I was familiar with percussion solo and ensemble works in my music studies.  I could not find the LSJ article, but a closer look at NPR's review by Milo Miles was fairly revealing:

Loop 2.4.3 is Thomas Kozumplik and Lorne Watson, and while the two have worked together as a unit only since 2001, they have an extensive background with numerous ensembles, notably Kozumplik's quartet, Clogs. But what jumped out at me is that Loop 2.4.3 is in residence this fall at the Harry Partch Institute. Partch was an outsider classical composer who invented his own instruments, most of them exotic percussion tools. He also wrote incidental music for plays.

Not coincidentally, Kozumplik has worked for film and theater. And that's as close as I can come to describing Loop 2.4.3's style — if Partch had been warmer, more linear and had a better sense of dramatic narrative, he might have made music like this.

I had to admit Miles was right.  Thinking back, most percussion-only performances I can recall were not always very accessible.  To be more blunt, my teenaged mind thought "weird" or "bizarre".  He also said "About the only constant in the last 50 years of popular music is that it's become more and more aggressive with rhythms," and yet, I also remembered reading dismissive consensus of such music as "just music to dance to" by the music snobs I crossed paths with in cyberspace over the past 15 years.  So I think "dramatic narrative" is probably spot on.  I have yet to listen to Batterie as of this writing, but Zodiac Dust could also be described as telling a story as well.  Please, have a listen.  This is very different than probably most anything you've heard.

(Oh, and by the way, Music Starts With Silence also is offering a manuscript of a solo version of Underground, the third track of the album, for marimba at their store, which I am listening to right now.  Never seen something like this, either.  Definitely a good thing.)

 05/13/2009 10:45:10 ♥ jaklumen ( / jaklumen.vox.com) ♥ loop243.com ♥ myspace.com/loop243