Profession Reporter, a film by Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni, which tells of an exigency for recommencement, and the non-definitiveness that might be sprung from therein, has a bit of itself recaptured and restrung in this audio treatment from sound artist and Paris Transatlantic editor-in-chief, Dan Warburton.
As with that film, Warburton emphasizes theme and mood more than any overt structure. An array of field recordings from Morocco figure prominently, and are shown from varying perspectives. As with that film, too, the work introduces a kind of deconstructive disorder into styles that might at times still seem clearly delineated.
With the assistance of several musicians, from Greg Kelley, Bhob Rainey, Kyle Bruckmann, amongst others, and material from past concerts in Paris, Lussas, and Saint Etienne, Warburton re-approaches composition and improvisation, natural and synthetic sounds. It's not an uncommon approach, but Warburton delves deep into an investigation of the ambiguous structures of the maelstroms presented here.
There is a well-managed synthesis of environmental, electronic and instrumental sound on most tracks. Within these configurations, certain traditions do become apparent every now and again, with a lot of it drawing on lower case improv, but there aren't any obvious limits or durational boundaries. Shapes arise and there seems to be some effort made to follow, extend and slightly deform the movement and correspondence of independent parts.
If there is a drawback to the work, it's that its sprawling scenes are too diffuse or chaotic to always be convincing. Similarly, its thematic colorations are generally either too personal or enigmatically abstract to decipher. It certainly tests the listener's expectations and imagination, though. Composition and improvisation, and natural and artificial sound are both preserved and transmuted; where they ultimately end up is difficult to discern, but, to say the least, it's somewhere less easily charted.
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Max Schaefer 2009-06-14
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