VITAL WEEKLY

Two weeks ago we had the four CD set by Mural, released by Sofamusic, and today it's followed by another four CD set on the same label, this time by Keith Rowe and John Tilbury. They met years and years ago when they were both a member of AMM and Scratch Orchestra. Rowe is best known for putting his guitar on a table and play the strings with a multitude of objects, but in doing so removing any similarities of anything remotely guitar like. John Tilbury is best known for playing music composed by Morton Feldman. Here we have music by them for a video installation by Kjell Bjørgeengen and it lasts three hours and thirty-three minutes. I copied all four CDs and stuck them into one sound file, so that's how I know. I wanted an uninterrupted, continuous play of the music. Maybe, like with Mural, it would have been an idea to stick all of this on a DVD and it would have been one piece only, but also it would have been nice to see how that video looked like. There is lots of silence here, and how does that translate to the images, I wondered? There is quite some silence in this music, and when there is music, it's also not very outspoken, save for a few instances, such as around the thirty-seventh minute point when the piano sounds loud and clear. But that's about it for the first hour; the rest moves on a very low volume. In the second hour the moments of 'action' become a bit louder and there seems to be more interaction between the two players. Rowe's electro-acoustic treatment of the guitar set against the sparse notes and chords of Tilbury make up some very intense music. The third hour starts with surprising more action, with something that sounds like a prepared piano and Rowe's deep hum from a faulty connection. It makes this hour, despite the long gaps of silence, also one that is the most intense one, as the collision between sounds is louder. The last CD seems to be a curious collage (Inc. silence again) of older recordings. I am sure it has a meaning in the bigger picture of this work, but I must say I am not sure what it is. It however makes a great ending to a very fine piece of music.