Music / jazz

New history warfare vol. 2 : Judges


Reviews (6)


AllMusic

2011

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Chris Nickson

2011

"Nothing short of mind-blowing. Stetson uses the circular breathing style, recorded in single takes (...), to create atmospheric and hypnotic loops that sound like layered analog keyboards more than saxophones. In that sense, the tracks here often bring to mind something along the lines of Jean Michel Jarre crossed with Roscoe Mitchell. These tracks allow Stetson to skronk and pulse, wheeze and then soar with white jet-engine noise that is never purposeless and always controlled. Also featured here are a few spoken word sections with avant-garde icon Laurie Anderson (...) that lend a cinematic quality to the proceedings ... Primarily, however, it is Stetson's transcendent and muscular ability to layer sound, breath, and rhythm in a meditative compositional style that sticks with you long after "Judges" is over".


Los Angeles Times

d. 21. Feb. 2011

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Matt Diehl

d. 21. Feb. 2011

"At times, Stetson evokes contemporary classical - "Clothed in the Skin of the Dead" entrances with minimalist repetition - or touches on contemporary electronica, like the akimbo, Flying Lotus-style rhythms underpinning "Judges," but he might be most effective when somewhat accessible. "Lord I just can't keep from crying sometimes" pairs [My Brightest Diamond's Shara] Worden's torchy wail with a grinding ambient soundscape to forge a sublime, spooky art-blues. Indeed, the album's impenetrable surfaces grow haunting after numerous listens: Stetson may never garner mainstream recognition like his Arcade Fire pals, but he proves undeniably compelling in his uncompromising musicality".


Gaffa [online]

d. 25. Apr. 2011

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Ras Bolding

d. 25. Apr. 2011

"Der bydes både på ulmende drone-orienterede numre, køligt reciterende stemninger og egentlige sange undervejs, det hele pakket ind i overvejende mørke og skurrende lydbilleder, og det resulterer i et fint varieret album".


Pitchfork

d. 3. Mar. 2011

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Mark Richardson

d. 3. Mar. 2011

"When Stetson really gets the circular breathing going and unleashes a torrent of notes that climb up and down the scale, fans of free improv might think of solo material by players like Peter Brotzmann and Evan Parker ... But Warfare Vol. 2 doesn't sound much like improv or even jazz, despite our associations of the genre term with the solo horn. These pieces sound composed and carefully ordered, often closer to the precision of classical minimalism than the expressionism of fire jazz ... Reinforcing the music's connection to both minimalism and pop, several tracks here feature the vocals of Laurie Anderson, whose approach is a natural fit with this material ... Feels like music I've been subconsciously craving without even knowing it exists".


Dusted

d. 16. Mar. 2011

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Adam Strohm

d. 16. Mar. 2011

"Recorded live, in single takes (...), executed with no looping and no overdubs. This one-man band can seem like he's playing three parts at one time, sometimes on three different instruments, accompanying himself fluidly for minutes without once coming up for breath ... Melodic spirals, mournful drones and thumping rhythms take roost with more indescribable propulsions, the two dozen microphones allowing for tweaking and mixing across wide timbral and spatial spectrums ... An album of somber beauty, its flashes of color existing amidst a broad spectrum of grays. Like experimental films than toy with narrative and bend the viewer's expectations in terms of plot, the album hints at some underlying tale, but, in the end, Judges is more concerned with atmosphere than event. "A Dream of Water," with its visions of the chaos, despair and confusion, and Stetson's cover of Blind Willie Johnson's "Lord I Just Can't Keep From Crying Sometimes" are the disc's most evocative tracks,theformer featuring Laurie Anderson's familiar spoken delivery, the latter a slow, sorrowful performance from Shara Worden".


All about jazz

d. 31. Jan. 2011

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Mark Corroto

d. 31. Jan. 2011

"With this second volume [Stetson] has enlarged and strengthened his palate. From the opening, ocean liner horn blasts of "Awake On Foreign Shores" to the danceable (in your head) "Red Horse", he presents an extremely accessible sound. He can spin out Steve Reich-like minimal passages like "The Stars In His Head" or Philip Glass-inspired repetition on "From No Part Of Me Could I Summon A Voice." Stetson is inspired as much by Evan Parker as he is Jimi Hendrix. With the help of spoken word goddess Laurie Anderson on four tracks, he opens the sonic panorama into even something larger and more imaginative. With vocalist Shara Worden, the pair delivers a simmering blues on "Lord I Just Can't Keep From Crying Sometimes," counterbalancing the gospel with the rattle and hum of Stetson's vocalized horn. It is pure revelation".