MFJ
Active Member
i think they just (re)released an old live performance, but as far as i know there's no new material out yet...
Comus - First Utterance
- Thread starter Krilons Resa
- Start date
Dick Sirloin
please... stay safe
- Jan 6, 2004
- 7,237
- 41
- 38
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Dick Sirloin
please... stay safe
- Jan 6, 2004
- 7,237
- 41
- 38
- 38
Dick Sirloin
please... stay safe
- Jan 6, 2004
- 7,237
- 41
- 38
- 38
Ellestin
one-click buy
New songs are great, as long as you don't expect them to be First Utterance all over again. They're obviously more laid back and less outrageous; they're written much in the same vein, however, so no one should feel out of place. I'm impressed by the instrumental work. This is by all means a great addendum to the first album!
The bonus track exhumed from the Maalgard Suite hurts the ears a little, even though heavy work has been done dusting the old tape. But from several segments, you can immediately tell what a fantastic album that would have been, had the project been fulfilled...
The bonus track exhumed from the Maalgard Suite hurts the ears a little, even though heavy work has been done dusting the old tape. But from several segments, you can immediately tell what a fantastic album that would have been, had the project been fulfilled...
Ellestin
one-click buy
btw I did another short interview and here's what new Comus member jon Seagrott (flute, bongos, saxophone) has to say to the new record:
The three new songs seem to bridge the gap with First Utterance almost effortlessly. Notwithstanding the more laid back and collected feeling that probably comes with your hindsight on life, would you describe them as a natural sequel, maybe a postscript, to First Utterance?
- It seemed to me that there was a real problem with new Comus material that related to the vastly different reputations that the albums 'First Utterance' and 'To Keep From Crying' have developed over the years; fans of the band would be hoping for new material in the same vein as FU, whilst fearing that it might be a radical departure like TKFC.
Roger already had a number of songs that he had written before Comus reformed that are excellent, but that were somewhat removed from the sound of FU. I argued quite strongly that there needed to be 'bridging material' between FU and this new material. Although he found it difficult initially to get back into the Comus mindset, Roger wrote 'Out Of The Coma' and then 'The Sacrifice', which have the unmistakable DNA of First Utterance coursing through them. A brilliant achievement on Roger's part, and the response from live audiences to these new songs has been fantastic, probably reflecting relief that Comus have made a fairly seamless link between FU and the new songs.
So, rather than a postscript or a sequel, I tend to think of these first new songs as a confidence-building bridge, for band and fans alike, into some very dark and challenging new material that the band is just starting to work on.
In producing the new material, I was aware that I was walking a tightrope of expectation, but I was keen to preserve the sheer visceral firepower of the live Comus sound and to keep production tricks to a subtle minimum. Only in 'the Return' did I allow myself a little leeway, and this was because the band felt that the original song needed some further development. Bobbie re-fashioned the original melody line into its present other-worldly form and developed some remarkable vocal extensions into a high tessitura range, as well as using a dramatic whispered vocal for part of the song. I wrote the horn arrangements using tenor recorder, soprano sax, bass clarinet and flute, to add subtle variety, and I used audio loops of Bobbie's voice processed via granular synthesis and pitch-shifting to achieve the 'haloing' of her voice in the whispered section, and the 'shock' ending.
Incidentally, we felt that it would be good to include the archival live recording of the band playing 'The Malgaard Suite' in 1973, because it again pointed to a different 'lost' path for the band. Had the record label permitted it, Malgaard would have been the follow-up album to FU, rather than TTFK.
Can you talk about the saxophone arrangements you apparently added into the songs, as they were not present on the first live versions? At first it felt like a rather un-Comus-like element, if you see what I mean, but in the end it brings a really pleasant touch.
I have a healthy respect for the 'Comus sound', and have never sought to impose myself upon it, though I did think that some new elements could widen and deepen the Comus sound palette without destroying it. My first additions were to add doumbek rather than bongos to the new material, and to add cymbals. The doumbek seemed right because it is an ancient 'folk' instrument in its own right, but one with a very contemporary edge to it as a signifying sound of music from the Arabic world, (which I believe will be increasingly influential on European 'popular' music).
Comus knew that I played soprano saxophone and bass clarinet in my power-improv trio, Red Square, and they were interested in trying the soprano sax out in Comus. I was interested in this too, as some of the Comus soloing sections I had to work with were so densely packed and powerful that a flute would get overwhelmed. The soprano gave me and the band a timbre that would cut through arrangements where necessary, as well as something of an 'update' of, and an extension to, the Comus sound palette. The soprano is a pleasingly ambiguous saxophone sound - part rooted in jazz and part referencing the sound of the oboe, the sound of ECM, the sound of Miles Davis' electric bands, the sound of middle eastern shawms, and even the sound of the uilleann pipes. This aural inter-textuality gives its use within Comus - like that of the doumbek - subtle multi-layered cultural resonances.
Likewise with the flute; I tried to balance the 'expected' sound of the flute within Comus, with new elements. The flute as an instrument plays a significant role in contemporary 'art' music, and I wanted to take some of the qualities of Brian Ferneyhough's 'new complexity' thinking into my playing with Comus. In addition contemporary flute practice has been influenced by the timbral palette of the shakuhachi, and, again, I wanted to take something from the work that Toru Takemitsu has done on timbral transfer from the shakuhachi to the flute. I deployed these culturally resonant extensions to Comus' timbral palette most noticeably in the flute solo in 'The Sacrifice'.
Do you have a very open policy as to the families of sound and instruments you would work on with Comus?
Comus are very definitely open to different sounds and instruments, but there is a consensus that these should be added sparingly and when appropriate, because the 'core' timbre of Comus in ensemble is one of the vital signifiers in defining what makes Comus singular. Outside of Comus, I also do a lot of work with flute and real-time processing via granular synthesis. I think that this is - at least for the moment - a step too far for Comus! But give us time.......
Are you only limited by your respective skills, or do you think some measure of control is necessary in order not to distort the bands personality?
Very much the latter - a degree of control is necessary in order not to distort the personality of the band.
What is your opinion in general on the cross-fertilization of music from different cultural backgrounds and horizons? Is it by definition what folk music is about?
I think cross-fertilisation greatly improves the gene pool, both in music and in society more generally! I'm very cautious of labels, and 'authentic' 'folk music' has been used on more than one occasion to promote appalling nationalist extremism in the world........
Back in 2010, Glenn told me that he had no idea if Comus would stay together long enough for a full-length album. How do matters stand as of today? Do you have any new material in the pipeline? Do you feel the drive and energy to launch into the task at all?
No problem - we're on the case!
The three new songs seem to bridge the gap with First Utterance almost effortlessly. Notwithstanding the more laid back and collected feeling that probably comes with your hindsight on life, would you describe them as a natural sequel, maybe a postscript, to First Utterance?
- It seemed to me that there was a real problem with new Comus material that related to the vastly different reputations that the albums 'First Utterance' and 'To Keep From Crying' have developed over the years; fans of the band would be hoping for new material in the same vein as FU, whilst fearing that it might be a radical departure like TKFC.
Roger already had a number of songs that he had written before Comus reformed that are excellent, but that were somewhat removed from the sound of FU. I argued quite strongly that there needed to be 'bridging material' between FU and this new material. Although he found it difficult initially to get back into the Comus mindset, Roger wrote 'Out Of The Coma' and then 'The Sacrifice', which have the unmistakable DNA of First Utterance coursing through them. A brilliant achievement on Roger's part, and the response from live audiences to these new songs has been fantastic, probably reflecting relief that Comus have made a fairly seamless link between FU and the new songs.
So, rather than a postscript or a sequel, I tend to think of these first new songs as a confidence-building bridge, for band and fans alike, into some very dark and challenging new material that the band is just starting to work on.
In producing the new material, I was aware that I was walking a tightrope of expectation, but I was keen to preserve the sheer visceral firepower of the live Comus sound and to keep production tricks to a subtle minimum. Only in 'the Return' did I allow myself a little leeway, and this was because the band felt that the original song needed some further development. Bobbie re-fashioned the original melody line into its present other-worldly form and developed some remarkable vocal extensions into a high tessitura range, as well as using a dramatic whispered vocal for part of the song. I wrote the horn arrangements using tenor recorder, soprano sax, bass clarinet and flute, to add subtle variety, and I used audio loops of Bobbie's voice processed via granular synthesis and pitch-shifting to achieve the 'haloing' of her voice in the whispered section, and the 'shock' ending.
Incidentally, we felt that it would be good to include the archival live recording of the band playing 'The Malgaard Suite' in 1973, because it again pointed to a different 'lost' path for the band. Had the record label permitted it, Malgaard would have been the follow-up album to FU, rather than TTFK.
Can you talk about the saxophone arrangements you apparently added into the songs, as they were not present on the first live versions? At first it felt like a rather un-Comus-like element, if you see what I mean, but in the end it brings a really pleasant touch.
I have a healthy respect for the 'Comus sound', and have never sought to impose myself upon it, though I did think that some new elements could widen and deepen the Comus sound palette without destroying it. My first additions were to add doumbek rather than bongos to the new material, and to add cymbals. The doumbek seemed right because it is an ancient 'folk' instrument in its own right, but one with a very contemporary edge to it as a signifying sound of music from the Arabic world, (which I believe will be increasingly influential on European 'popular' music).
Comus knew that I played soprano saxophone and bass clarinet in my power-improv trio, Red Square, and they were interested in trying the soprano sax out in Comus. I was interested in this too, as some of the Comus soloing sections I had to work with were so densely packed and powerful that a flute would get overwhelmed. The soprano gave me and the band a timbre that would cut through arrangements where necessary, as well as something of an 'update' of, and an extension to, the Comus sound palette. The soprano is a pleasingly ambiguous saxophone sound - part rooted in jazz and part referencing the sound of the oboe, the sound of ECM, the sound of Miles Davis' electric bands, the sound of middle eastern shawms, and even the sound of the uilleann pipes. This aural inter-textuality gives its use within Comus - like that of the doumbek - subtle multi-layered cultural resonances.
Likewise with the flute; I tried to balance the 'expected' sound of the flute within Comus, with new elements. The flute as an instrument plays a significant role in contemporary 'art' music, and I wanted to take some of the qualities of Brian Ferneyhough's 'new complexity' thinking into my playing with Comus. In addition contemporary flute practice has been influenced by the timbral palette of the shakuhachi, and, again, I wanted to take something from the work that Toru Takemitsu has done on timbral transfer from the shakuhachi to the flute. I deployed these culturally resonant extensions to Comus' timbral palette most noticeably in the flute solo in 'The Sacrifice'.
Do you have a very open policy as to the families of sound and instruments you would work on with Comus?
Comus are very definitely open to different sounds and instruments, but there is a consensus that these should be added sparingly and when appropriate, because the 'core' timbre of Comus in ensemble is one of the vital signifiers in defining what makes Comus singular. Outside of Comus, I also do a lot of work with flute and real-time processing via granular synthesis. I think that this is - at least for the moment - a step too far for Comus! But give us time.......
Are you only limited by your respective skills, or do you think some measure of control is necessary in order not to distort the bands personality?
Very much the latter - a degree of control is necessary in order not to distort the personality of the band.
What is your opinion in general on the cross-fertilization of music from different cultural backgrounds and horizons? Is it by definition what folk music is about?
I think cross-fertilisation greatly improves the gene pool, both in music and in society more generally! I'm very cautious of labels, and 'authentic' 'folk music' has been used on more than one occasion to promote appalling nationalist extremism in the world........
Back in 2010, Glenn told me that he had no idea if Comus would stay together long enough for a full-length album. How do matters stand as of today? Do you have any new material in the pipeline? Do you feel the drive and energy to launch into the task at all?
No problem - we're on the case!
Dick Sirloin
please... stay safe
- Jan 6, 2004
- 7,237
- 41
- 38
- 38
Dick Sirloin
please... stay safe
- Jan 6, 2004
- 7,237
- 41
- 38
- 38
Demilich
Remember
Listening to the Malgaard Suite before the new tracks. It is just sinking in now, 5 minutes through the first listen. I am hesitant to say much yet, other than that the recording sounds much better than expected considering the less-than-enthusiastic words from Ellestin as well as Wooton himself.
Dick Sirloin
please... stay safe
- Jan 6, 2004
- 7,237
- 41
- 38
- 38
Nope! Misread the title, actually.
So is the whole thing live, or are there some studio cuts as well?
Dick Sirloin
please... stay safe
- Jan 6, 2004
- 7,237
- 41
- 38
- 38
Also, I'm going to start saying "cuts" instead of "tracks" or (god forbid) "songs." My burnout hippie music-loving uncle says that, and I want to be just like him.
Demilich
Remember
The three new tracks on Out of the Coma are studio recordings. Malgaard is as well is it not? Just an old, beat-up tape which has been floating around for the better part of four decades.
the album version of "Out of the Coma" is seriously kicking my dick in right now. Roger's vocals are intense!!
the album version of "Out of the Coma" is seriously kicking my dick in right now. Roger's vocals are intense!!
Dick Sirloin
please... stay safe
- Jan 6, 2004
- 7,237
- 41
- 38
- 38
Yeah, if that's the case, then I wanna hear the studio versions first. Internet super-thief, downloadin' now.
Dick Sirloin
please... stay safe
- Jan 6, 2004
- 7,237
- 41
- 38
- 38
If there was ever a concert I'd give my left nut to travel back in time and attend, that'd be it.
