Eli Keszler - Oxtirn

Our review
Customer reviews
Press release

4...according to our Ant on Mon 13 Sep, 2010.

Rel Records main man has joined the ranks of legends such as Albert Ayler and Sun Ra by inclusion on the legendary Brooklyn label ESP-Disc. To be honest I really had no idea the label were still putting records out. The label still clearly have their ears to the ground as Eli is an outstanding singular figure in the free/ improvised world. Oh this is magnificent! Hyperactive clattering percussion and unorthodox micro-rhythms from sheet metal, drums, an installed motor setup, various harps etc. He is joined by Ashley Paul on Clarinet and Andrew Fenlon playing various brasses. There is a brooding sense of tension beneath the percussion which is very appealing. I really get the feeling something special is happening here, almost like a glimpse into the future of free jazz. On the flipside Sakiko Mori joins the action on prepared piano. A real treat! Gorgeously packaged and hand numbered of just 300 copies

180g vinyl, limited to 300 copies, hand silk-screened poster, plus digital only bonus track and graphic score

Oxtirn is a truly unique and powerful blend of free energy, modern composition and mechanical music that defies genre.

With two proper full lengths and an array of self-releases under his belt, Eli Keszler has turned to ESP-Disk for the release of Oxtirn, his third, most composed and large scale effort to date. Capturing Keszler and crew at their most frenetic, Oxtirn abruptly spills out into a cacophony of tuned brass, squeaking rust, and electrically shorting contact mics, taking the detritus of post-industrial existence (sheet metal, spring boards and motors wrenched from their initial hearths) and transforming that refuse into a twenty-first century musique-concrete orchestra.

On the album’s initial track, motors tumble across prepared sheets of metal as expertly placed squalls of bowed string and what could only be described as the sounds of a phantom brass band (courtesy of multiple horn player Andrew Fenlon and Keszler’s longstanding partner Ashley Paul on clarinet) mesh transcendentally with Keszler’s precise percussion and bursts of controlled chaos. Side B sees Eli and sonic artist Sakiko Mori on both prepared and installed pianos; as the two furiously scrape and agitate strings with a mix of switch-operated motors, contact mics and suspended preparations, slowly undulating resonant clusters float on top of the underlying din, creating a striking contrast. Here, the eerie timbre of Keszler’s bowed crotales recall Italian futurist Luigi Russolo’s Intonarumori and the string quartets of Dumitrescu.

Accompanying each digital release is an eye popping and dizzying visual score that proves Oxtirn, despite sounding wholly improvised, is a meticulously micromanaged piece of sound sculpture. In addition to the score, each digital release boasts an extra track with Keszler on “metal configurations”. The vinyl is limited to 300 copies and comes packaged with a beautiful, hand-screened poster featuring original artwork by Eli Keszler.

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