"Black Truffle present Reverse Tree, the new LP from the acclaimed duo of Eyvind Kang and Jessika Kenney. The two are musicians who have established themselves as powerful voices working at a unique intersection of contemporary composition, improvisation, and Asian traditional music forms. Either individually or as a pair, they have worked in contexts ranging from performances of traditional Persian and Javanese music to collaborations with Sunn O))), but their work together as a duo, on The Face Of The Earth (2012) and Aestuarium (SOMA 002LP, 2011), most clearly represents the central concerns of their diverse practices: a music of the inner life of sound, demanding ritualistic focus and promising heightened sensations. On Reverse Tree, the duo expand their work together into the realm of the chamber ensemble, presenting two side-long works that feature Kenneys voice and Kangs viola alongside a multitude of other instrumentalists. Kangs Thoughts On Being Exiled To The Frontier, For Lord Wei", inspired by a text by the Tang dynasty poet Hsueh Tao, features an all-star international ensemble: Kang, Kenney, maverick Israeli conductor Ilan Volkov on violin, Icelandic cellist Hildur Gu_ɬ_nad_ɬ_ttir, and guitarists Oren Ambarchi and Stephen OMalley. The piece is primarily composed of irregular patterns of pizzicato notes and guitar harmonics, gently falling in and out of sync and providing a subtly unstable support for Kenneys voice, which at times is reminiscent of Michiko Hirayamas classic performances of Scelsi. Drawing on 20th century instrumental techniques, alternate tuning systems, non-western music and the experience of nature, the piece opens a space both serene and subtly uneasy. Kenneys "Elm" features Kenney and vocalist Nova Ruth (Filastine, Twin Sista) alongside an ensemble of strings and Seattles Gamelan Pacifica, performing on Javanese instruments tuned to the slendro scale. An uncanny timbre created by bowing the keys of the Gamelans instruments, supported by bowed harmonics from the strings, is heard consistently throughout the piece. After a long introductory section in which this harmonic cloud slowly descends from shimmering high notes to rumbling bass, the vocalists enter, singing a slow and stately setting of a 19th century Surakarta poem (attributed to Mangkunegara IV). The poem deals with the idea of a form of knowledge achieved through deeds, as a practice and state of the heart. Presented in a deluxe sleeve designed by Stephen OMalley; Mastered and cut by Rashad Becker; Cut at 45rpm for maximum fidelity." - Black Truffle.
