Results 1 to 6 of 6

Thread: AAJ Review: Sonar, with David Torn, Vortex

  1. #1

    AAJ Review: Sonar, with David Torn, Vortex



    My review of Sonar's latest, Vortex, in collaboration with guitarist/producer David Torn, today at All About Jazz.

    It might be all too simple to explain away Sonar, the Swiss twin-guitar/bass/drums quartet now in its eighth year together, through a series of touchstones. King Crimson, by way of that band's co-founder/guitarist Robert Fripp's Guitar Craft? Check. The influence of Nik Bärtsch and Don Li's innovative meshing of Steve Reich-ian minimalism with deceptively complicated polyrhythmic and isorhythmic rock/funk grooves, where as much as can be is made of as little as possible? Double Check. Guitarist and primary composer Stephan Thelen's career as a mathematician, contributing to his polymath approach as Sonar's primary composer? Triple Check. An intended avoidance of guitar pyrotechnics and, instead, a group sound based upon complex interactions, where layered vertical harmonies remain, despite their innate complexities, somehow comfortably spare, spacious and eminently appealing?

    You get the idea.

    Except that even this multiplicity of foundational cornerstones doesn't really go far enough in describing a group that is truly like no other. Most often lumped into a progressive rock rubric occupied by far too many others who view it as a genre rather than a philosophy, Sonar is a rare band that has truly focused on the "progressive" in "progressive rock," beginning with its 2012 debut, A Flaw of Nature (released, perhaps unsurprisingly, on Bärtsch's own Ronin Rhythm imprint).

    With further international visibility garnered through its association with Cuneiform Records, Sonar continued honing its foundational cornerstones, making significant strides forward with two subsequent releases, 2014's Static Motion and 2015's Black Light. Further mining the tritone-based tuning and specified harmonics that have been both philosophical and harmonic context-setters for bassist Christian Kuntner and guitarists Thelen and Bernhard Wagner, the quartet also made significant headway when it chose, after its first two self-produced recordings, to collaborate with renowned engineer/producer David Bottrill on Black Light.

    Continue reading here...
    John Kelman
    Senior Contributor, All About Jazz since 2004
    Freelance writer/photographer

  2. #2
    Member Socrates's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    The Land of the Fripp
    Posts
    195
    Good review. I'm loving this album to bits, but I didn't actually know anything about Sonar beforehand, and very little about David Torn. So it is good to get all the context which the review provides.

  3. #3
    Not being a musician or knowing any theory, some of the review is a touch above my level of understanding. That said, it has that 80s into 90s Crimson vibe that I like. Very enjoyable.
    Mongrel dog soils actor's feet

  4. #4
    Member Guitarplyrjvb's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Northeast Pennsylvania USA
    Posts
    1,111
    ^^ That it definitely does!

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by Socrates View Post
    Good review. I'm loving this album to bits, but I didn't actually know anything about Sonar beforehand, and very little about David Torn. So it is good to get all the context which the review provides.
    Thanks...that's exactly why I do what I do, so am really happy to hear that it's working...even if just for one person!!

    And while things are different without Torn, I cannot recommend their other three albums enough. I was thrilled when they asked me to write the liners for their last album, Black Light, and all I can say is: they just keep on getting better with each successive album.
    John Kelman
    Senior Contributor, All About Jazz since 2004
    Freelance writer/photographer

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Splicer View Post
    Not being a musician or knowing any theory, some of the review is a touch above my level of understanding. That said, it has that 80s into 90s Crimson vibe that I like. Very enjoyable.
    If there is anything that isn't clear to you, one of the reasons I post here and on social media is to provide more detail and/or explanation, if anyone is looking for it.

    So feel free to ask here (or email me at jkelman.aaj@gmail.com if you'd prefer to do so offline). I'll be happy to try and clarify.
    John Kelman
    Senior Contributor, All About Jazz since 2004
    Freelance writer/photographer

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •