Mark Solborg: BABEL
Author: Daniel Spicer
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Musicians: |
Simon Toldam (p, ky, tape) |
Label: |
ILK |
Magazine Review Date: |
March/2024 |
Media Format: |
LP, DL |
Catalogue Number: |
ILK348 |
RecordDate: |
Rec. June 2022 |
Danish/Argentinian guitarist and composer, Mark Solborg, here assembles a deep-thinking ensemble of crack improvisers to help populate a high-concept project concerning language and communication, which augments musical content with recorded voices interviewed in multiple languages. This sits within a wider preoccupation of Solborg’s – entitled ‘TUNGEMÅL’ or ‘tongue’ – an ongoing investigation into the role of the electric guitar in contemporary chamber-musical contexts.
So far, so highbrow – but beneath all this theorising sits a surprisingly approachable collection of musical environments, reminiscent of Anthony Braxton at his most playful and tuneful. As with many artists operating in creative music, Solborg seems deeply concerned with the interface between composition and improvisation, while incorporating moods and methods from contemporary classical into a jazz-leaning context. Sparse piano and scattered percussion with a Morton Feldman-esque hush reveal orchestral themes for bass clarinet and guitar, arising with stealthy intent. Gently throbbing, minimalist chimes vie with harmonically and rhythmically complex themes for large group.
Despite the implicit challenge laid down for the listener by these cerebral games, there’s an irresistibly mysterious logic at work. And, at the heart of it all, Solborg’s guitar, by turns wistful, thorny and ghostly. It’s a captivating clamour of ideas.
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