Sonar's fourth release Vortex reflects the sound of surprise.
After three uncompromising quartet albums exploring the edges of minimalist
groove, the Swiss group has partnered with renowned guitarist, composer and
producer David Torn for its RareNoise debut.
The band,
comprised of guitarists Stephan Thelen and Bernhard Wagner, bassist Christian
Kuntner and drummer Manuel Pasquinelli have long been celebrated for combining
the visceral power and dynamics of art rock with a minimalist aesthetic. Their
previous album, 2015's Black Light, attracted significant media and musician
attention. Legendary avant-guitarist Henry Kaiser took a particular interest in
the group and was determined to pair them up with Torn for their next album. "Henry
wrote me and said 'There's this Swiss band Sonar that uses tritone tunings in a
really interesting way. They're pretty minimalist. I think you should produce
it,'" said Torn. "I dug into Black Light and enjoyed the music right
away. The band has a boldness within its sparseness. I started having ideas
quickly. I felt some of the rock elements could be more rocking and that things
could be rougher sounding. I wanted to add another layer to it. And off we
went."
But what
began as a production relationship with the intention of having Torn also
occasionally guest on tracks, rapidly evolved. Torn ended up performing on
every track, essentially becoming a fifth band member throughout the sessions.
"From
the first second, David's playing was so intense and powerful that his energy
immediately transferred to the band," said Thelen. "It was
remarkable. David's sound meshed so perfectly with our sound, sonically and
conceptually. Everybody was just stunned. Our friend, the music journalist Anil
Prasad, was there to document the sessions. He took me aside and said 'You have
to have David play on every track. Seize this remarkable and unique
opportunity.' So, we did."
The sessions
at Powerplay Studios near Zürich were full of camaraderie and collaboration. Sonar
and Torn used virtually every minute of their work together on Vortex.
"We
hardly edited anything out," said Torn. "I think that's because I
played when I felt there was a spot in the pieces where something melodic or
some weird, rhythmic looping thing could benefit the patterns Stephan and
Bernhard were playing. I left a lot of space. I didn't want to get in the way
of the pieces to the point where they call the paddy wagon and take me away in
a straightjacket."
The end
result is an exhilarating album and a 21st Century rock milestone. It's the
sort of recording that rarely gets made anymore. It's five musicians together
in a state-of-the-art studio, working in the moment and throwing caution to the
wind. Vortex is pure artistry in motion.
"I never
doubted David's free and expressive style would mesh perfectly with the clean,
disciplined and precise approach Bernhard and I have in Sonar," said
Thelen. "It's a bit like ying and yang or the two opposing ends of a
ring-shaped world. We're all thrilled with how the album turned out."
Vortex
track-by-track:
1. Part 44
Thelen: The
original "'Part 44'" was composed by Don Li, one of the most
important and innovative figures in the Swiss minimal groove scene. For the
Sonar version of this piece, I kept the basic rhythm, but completely recomposed
the guitar patterns and the harmonic movement of the piece. It has a
fascinating polyrhythmic, propulsive structure that sets the tone for the
album."
Torn:
"It sounds exactly the way we played it during the sessions, with
tremendous amounts of space between sections. You can also hear a sense of dirt
in the bottom end. It's a gritty sound that's new for Sonar."
2. Red Shift
Thelen:
"This piece is in three parts. The first section is quite heavy and
strictly composed, with just the Sonar quartet. The second section is a tritone
harmonics interlude with David and Manuel improvising over a guitar and bass
pattern played only with the natural harmonics of the tritone tuning. The third
section offers a very slow build-up improvisation with lots of ambient sounds
and loops from David."
Torn:
"I really like the microsampling things I do on this track to help color
it. I would hit a chord and quickly sample four or five milliseconds of it and
shift the pitch of it."
3. Wave and
Particles
Thelen:
"This is my favorite piece. It has a spiritual quality and I love how
David soars like an eagle over the constantly-shifting groove. It's based on a
ridiculously complex rhythm, but flows very naturally."
Torn:
"You'll hear me reharmonizing things and carefully crafting improvised
ambiences on this. These things created a feeling of suspense. You'll also find
me playing melodies that are harmonically different from Stephan's writing, not
unlike the more open improvisations I did when I was with the Jan Garbarek
band."
4. Monolith
Thelen:
"David's guitar howls like a wounded beast over the angular, contrasting
rhythms on 'Monolith.' He can express more and deeper feelings of hope and
despair with one long, bended note than other guitarists with 10,000
notes."
Torn:
"This has some of the best and most patient shifting of harmonics on the
album as the piece floats along. I was playing chords and textures with
melodic-type shapes along with these shifting harmonies. It felt like a cross
between Miles Davis and Jon Hassell."
5. Vortex
Thelen:
"This is a tritone harmonics composition that's based on two different
rhythmic subdivisions. It was very complex to nail down, but it comes across
seamlessly and David does some wild stuff on it."
Torn:
"I start the piece with a major chord, which is something different for
Sonar. You can hear me playing parallel harmony things on the guitar that I'd
subtly add to what was written. Christian is also really pushing the piece
along and holding it down. Manuel is simultaneously careful with the
composition and kicking ass."
6. Lookface!
Thelen:
"This is a totally improvised, crunchy rock piece. I counted us in and all
of a sudden, there were these powerful notes blasting out of David's amplifier.
His sudden surge of energy infected the band and we took off on a throbbing
journey."
Torn:
"I chose to hit the notes over and over and fed them back in a million
different ways. You'll also hear Manuel playing a downbeat that I created a
harmonic counterpart for. I used detuned Gamelan instruments to make that. They
sound like gongs in a couple of spots in the track. I'm very happy with how it
turned out."
TRACKS
1. PART 44,
9:56
2. RED
SHIFT, 10:31
3. WAVES AND
PARTICLES , 7:49
4. MONOLITH,
10:47
5. VORTEX ,
9:37
6.
LOOKFACE!, 7:13
Produced and
mixed by David Torn.
Recorded at
Powerplay Studio A in Maur near Zürich, Switzerland, Feb. 15-17, 2017.
Engineer:
D.James Goodwin.
Assistant:
Reto Muggli.
Mastered by
Serge Christen, www.mazzivesound.ch.
All
compositions by Stephan Thelen except
Part 44 by
Stephan Thelen and Don Li
Monolith by
Stephan Thelen and David Torn
Lookface! by
Stephan Thelen, Bernhard Wagner,
Christian
Kuntner, Manuel Pasquinelli, and David Torn.
Published by
RareNoisePublishing (PRS).
Executive
Producer for RareNoiseRecords: Giacomo Bruzzo.
Special
thanks to: Anil Prasad, Henry Kaiser, Alex Mullarkey, Susann Smitka, Thomas
Becker, Jerry Rojas, Markus Reuter, and Giacomo Bruzzo.
David Torn
appears courtesy of ECM Records.
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