Renegade Heaven ~ Bang on a Can All-Stars
Cantaloupe - #21001
ASIN: B00005ALGR

reviewed by Christopher Coleman
for amazon.com

The Bang on a Can All-Stars fuse Rock with Minimalism in this recording from the turn of the millenium. Whether individual listeners will find the hybrid compelling or simply annoying probably depends on where their tastes fall in the musical spectrum--those who lean more toward the rock side may well be riveted, those toward the classical may be plugging their ears. The pieces are almost exclusively rhythmically driving, hard-edged, non-melodic, with slow or infrequent harmonic shifts; highly percussive, electronic, loud and uncompromising in the extreme. While it may (or for that matter, may not) have an intellectual rigor behind the compositional processes it is not easily intellectualized music. This is music to absorb and overwhelm you; not music to study or even particularly to think about.

Arnold Dreyblatt's Escalator is an eleven-minute study in rhythm, working out a slowly changing texture with sudden harmonic shifts in an almost obsessive-compulsive way--very reminiscent of Philip Glass' earlier music. Julia Wolfe's Believing is similar in tone, but more compact and with more texture changes that probably make it more accessible to most listeners. I Buried Paul by Michael Gordon credits Andrew Cotton with sound design--the qualifier "almost" can now be dropped, as a single short figure is driven compulsively throughout the entire 9'39"--this one is particularly tough going for conservative listeners, and program notes might have helped...or not. Movement Within by Glenn Branca comes as a relief from the unrelenting motoric rhythms of the previous pieces--although in another context it might well be the most intense piece on the program! It utilizes instruments designed by the composer playing long sustained tones that glissando slowly in both pitch and timbre (a timbral glissando? but the term is entirely appropriate) throughout musical space. Whether the piece is successful at sustaining interest throughout its sixteen and a half minutes is debatable, but the piece ends well and segues beautifully into the final work. Exquisite Corpses by Phil Kline is the most traditional piece on the CD, having a jazzy feel--the use of the clarinet gives almost a touch of Kletzmer Band--with a more melodic and contrapuntal character than the other works, although the interest in minimalism is still apparent. Kline has an excellent sense of timbre, and the music has a very attractive surface that contrasts nicely with the in-your-face aesthetic of the other works.

The All-Stars (Maya Beiser, cello; Robert Black, bass; Lisa Moore, keyboards; Steven Schick, percussion; Mark Stewart, electric guitar; Evan Ziporyn, clarinet) play superbly throughout, in music that is supremely difficult and requires unflagging concentration. Rating this disc is impossible--exactly what some will find its strengths, others will find its weaknesses. I can as easily imagine someone who never listens to this and throws away the CD as I can imagine someone who listens to it on a daily basis. Music that ignites such passion is well worth our attention, even if it isn't universally likeable.