Greg Davis - Midpoint

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4...according to our Ant on Thu 29 Oct, 2009.

Home Normal are churning them out at the moment. It feel like they have something out every week! I could be wrong, perhaps my perception of time has been altered. I blame Greg Davis and his 'Midpoint' CD. This guy's stuff has a strange effect on me. The disc comprises two tracks. The first is a mixdown from a live quadraphonic performance where he played violin, bells, vocals and computer. I'd say it's one for the drone purists, working its way slowly and gently evolving. On the very surface it feels a little cold and sterile to begin with as the piece develops it becomes warm and hypnotic. I think fans of Celer would appreciate this one. The second track is also from a live performance with a different array of tools at hand: Korg mono/poly analogue synthesizer, Wurlitzer MLM organ, effects pedals etc. This one has a totally different feel with lots of detailed sounds deep in the mix. Of course there is a drone element but there is lots happening and the overall atmosphere is really cool and transports me to an other place entirely.

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My first foray into Greg Davis’s work was through his excellent debut on Carpark ‘Arbour’ in the summer of 2002 I believe. As I sat with my friend who was playing it on his big stereo I was really just taken aback by how detailed, melodic and organic the work was. I became an instant fan, yet despite this was still taken aback further when I first met Greg and saw him playing live at the Bellingham Electronic Arts Festival on the first of December 2006. The show took a while to sink in as I had never really heard anything quite like it before. I guess in many ways it was an entry for me into ‘drone’ work although this term (as always) is rather disingenuous as there is so much more to Greg’s work than the dictionary definition of ‘drone’. I think it was the sheer size of the sound in the smallish area he played in. Either way, it was both enormous sounding and micro-detailed all in one.

So nearly 6 years after that show I asked Greg if he fancied releasing this as a CD as a kind of comparison to his newer live work. We ended up agreeing on his performance at Higher Ground in May of this year as it seemed like a nice comparison, yet what we got was essentially two live shows which come together seamlessly to create ‘Midpoint’. Its a whole other side to Greg’s work that many have yet to experience and perhaps in a small way we can show just how amazing Greg’s body of work is. From violin to bells, synthesizer to stomp boxes, analog to digital, it just highlights his natural ability to create improvised and amazing sound-scapes. At once minimal, slowly-evolving and rich, you’ll also find yourself entranced by rhythms and bleeps you never thought could exist within ‘drone’ works, if thats how we really must define this. This experimentation and indeed, playful side to his work, is classic Greg Davis. Its what first drew me to his work and which brings a smile to my face as I listen and try to write these pithy words.

Tracklisting:

01. Bellingham, Washington (12/01/06)
02. Burlington, Vermont (05/12/09)

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