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Fwd: Review: Tom Heasley: On The Sensations of Tone
Tom Heasley: On The
Sensations of Tone
Innova
(2002)
Tom Heasley s ambient tuba work is just plain lush. Besides tuba, composer/performer Heasley also experiments with digital processing and throat singing on this release. This work is improvised in the studio, without edits, which makes for an incredible attention-to-detail listen. Of the two pieces here Prelude , which was recorded and mixed by the ubiquitous Robert Rich, loses no subtleties in its open-air, beatless structure. It s sense of space is unusual as it is of the essence of San Francisco fog sensitively rolling in over the hills. At 42 minutes Thonts is the centerpiece here. Chilling and atmospheric who knew the tuba could do that? this is an evocative piece of music to be reckoned with. Recorded in Philadelphia this reminds me of sounds you might hear in the wilderness of the lost lava pits of Iceland. Before venturing solo, Bay Area-based Heasley played with a range of musicians from polar genres including Charlie Haden s Liberation Music Orchestra, Pauline Oliveros, Thomas Buckner, Eugene Chadbourne, Fred Frith, Loren Mazzacane Connors and ex-Mother of Invention Don Preston. This versatility has served his sensibilities well. He has played in museums and in barns, in grand opera halls and in living rooms. On The Sensations of Tone is truly a one-of-a-kind, sensory-driven composition. Heasley s follow-up to Where The Earth Meets The Sky (Hypnos) is full with a stark depth that could be called mind yoga. This is by far, the ambient release of the year (and it s only June!).
I am writing to you as the new music/film and visual/performing arts writer for Just Out one of Portland Oregon s news and entertainment newspapers. I will feature profiles and reviews of electronic and avante garde soundworks by composers that you represent and from labels such as yours. This publication is released every two weeks. In a former life I spent time on Boston s WZBC-FM as a guest DJ presenting ambient and hard-to-find obscure music. If there are any new releases for which you wish to have reviewed in this publication you may use the below contact information. Please view some sample reviews on my website: http://tjnorris.net/review.htm. (Reviews include: Atom Heart, Merzbow, Ultra Milkmaids, gusgus, K2, and many more).
Read latest reviews here: http://tjnorris.net/review061502.htm
TJ Norris
Just Out / Underground Studio
3141 SE Taylor Street
Portland, Oregon 97214 USA
Phone: 503-238-7007
www.tjnorris.net
