Lapslap a  jeho čtvrtému kompaktu na Leo Records, nazvanému Granita (60:02). Michael Edwards (tenor a sopránka, laptop), Martin Parker (křídlovka, lesní roh, laptop) a Karin Schistek (piano, syntezátor) si zcela volně nahráli několik improvizací a ty pak kompozič-ně seřadili, aby utvářely jeden „granitní“ celek. Ten je nicméně rozprostřen do pěti variabilních částí. Trio v nich obezřetně ohledává zvukové šance, názvuky, návaznosti a prolínačky, souběžnost zvuků, vynořujících se a odpadajících, při jejichž zmizení vzápětí vyrůstají nové zvukové trsy, vynořují se zpod hladiny ticha a protknou se vzájemně v celistvějším chvějném hávu – jako poupata, která sledujeme při rozvíjení. Ale pak zafi čí meluzína a vrzající a kodrcající vehikl improvizace se rozkodrcá po nerovné půdě. Užuž jsme svědky vznikající melodie, ale hudebníci se od ní vmžiku odvrátí a zarachotí hlukový střet, kolotající vír, smršť, mrskut. Po vzájemném hašteření nástrojů nastává útlum, avšak muzikanti opět bez zaváhání popustí uzdu dalšímu hřmotícímu hazardu. Neustále se tu setkáváme s jinými a jinými posuny, kdy po kruhovém objezdu stoupáme do krkolomné výšky, po němž nastává srázný sešup, vření, víření, hrdlení, posunování zvukových vagónů přes nastražené výhybky. Na přeskáčku si nás přitáhnou útlocitné tó-ny i zaburácení, fanfáry i hrany, házení zvukových valounů na misku vah. Je v tom jasnozření i poplašnost, pošimrá-ní (Tickle) a závan konejšivého vánku (Breeze). Myslím, že budu toto album rád zkoumat znovu a znovu. Lednová a únorová žeň nabídky Leo Records je zcela nebývalá a řadí label Leo Feigina jednoznačně do popředí současné hudební scény. Ale to už jsem předpokládal na začátku a drobn rozbor kompaktů mi to jenom potvrzuje. Z. K. Slabý

Was in einem Wort alles stecken kann. LAPSLAP hat seine vierte LEO-CD Granita (LR 636) gleich dreifach codiert – als italienische Süßspeise; als die auf dem Co­ver abgebildeten Granitfelsen, die die Tiroler Pianistin und Synthesizerspielerin Karin Schistek in Cornwall fotografierte; und als das Restaurant in Islington, Lon­don, das 1994 Schauplatz des ‘Blair-Brown Deals’ gewesen ist (worüber Stephen Frears 2003 The Deal drehte). Ironischerweise heißt dieses Granita inzwischen Desperados. Schistek und ihre Partner Michael Edwards und Martin Parker an Tenor- & Sopranosaxophonen bzw. Flügel- & Waldhorn sowie Electronics haben diesmal in Edinburgh aus Improvisationen durch Postproduction ein einstündiges Ganzes gefügt, das auch als Ganzes
gehört werden soll. Also nicht als Folge von Improvisationen, sondern als elektroakustisches Gefüge, als Soundscape, als Layer Cake, als (verflüssigte, verzeitlichte) Gesteinsschichten. Klänge und Effek­te im Innenklavier oder per Zungenschlag, mit Clavia Nord, Laptop und Midi Wind Controller schieben sich als Sonic Fiction langsam und geheimnisvoll ins Be­wusstsein. Die Versteinerungen im Kopf werden von Schistek wie mit Meisel­hieben zersplittert. Durch Verdichtung und Verdampfung verlebendigt, bekom­men sie ‘Geschmack’, den Geschmack von Abenteuern, auch von unguten, die sich als Schmauchspur, oder, wie zermalmt, als Katastrophenhorizont sedimen­tieren. Wen es juckt, der soll sich kratzen. Kein Grund, deswegen in den Irak einzumarschieren. ’Pinch’ kneift den träumenden Verstand, der Phantasmen ausbrütet, die ihn schon als giftige Ausgeburten umschwärmen. ‘Tickle’ wirbt dafür, das Ohr an die Dinge zu legen und in deren Inneres zu lauschen, ihrem Atem, ihren Gegenträumen, die bei ‘Tickle’-Finale mit lang gezogenem Ruf Laut geben. ‘Breeze’ lässt die Töne als winzige Friedenstruppe an Löwenzahnschirm­chen dahin schweben. Und ich schwebe mit. [BA 73 rbd]

Lapslap’s fourth CD granita was released in February 2012 is now available on Leo Records.

Continuing the Italian dessert theme of our last CD, Granita is widely known as a semi-frozen Italian dish made from sugar, water, and something tasty.  A cheap and sweet mouthful to keep in mind then, as an antidote to our music perhaps: Irrespective of the success of the music herein, it took an enormous amount of labour over more than a year to create this CD, perhaps due in part at least to the goals we had for it and the approach we took.

Granita is a single piece of music lasting one hour. It was made to be listened to in one sitting.  The individual tracks are offered only as convenient “jump in” points, should the listener want or need them. It is composed from several long improvisations which, contrary to our prior recording practice, were never intended to be complete pieces by themselves.  It was our conscious intention whilst recording that we lay down material to be combined with or abutted against the other improvisations.  The compositional form was made in post-production then, even though all elements were improvised live and made together as a trio.

The title is significant on two further fronts.  The cover art–designed around a photo taken by lapslap’s pianist Karin–is an image of a granite rock face in Cornwall, England.  There’s something in the form and scope of the music that we (hopefully not arrogantly) associate with this massive rock type.

Granita was also the name of the restaurant where Tony Blair and Gordon Brown made their power-sharing pact whilst still in the shadows of government in May 1994. Ironically, the restaurant was taken over in 2003–the year of the deeply divisive and offensive Iraq war–by a Tex-Mex called ‘Desperados’.  As we were finishing the mix and master, the last American troops were withdrawing from their illegal occupation of Iraq.

Granita was recorded by Michael and Martin in the Reid Concert Hall, Edinburgh, in September 2010.  Mixing and mastering was also by Michael and Martin.  Cover design by Karin Schistek.

]]> http://www.lapslap.co.uk/archives/257/feed 0 http://www.lapslap.co.uk/archives/236 http://www.lapslap.co.uk/archives/236#comments Thu, 21 Apr 2011 18:03:35 +0000 karin http://www.lapslap.co.uk/?p=236 This review by Massimo Ricci was published on Touching Extremes 10 April 2011

Lapslap’s third release is this writer’s initial approach with their work. For the occasion, the improvising entity was represented by Michael Edwards, Martin Parker, Karin Schistek and Mark Summers. The group stresses the importance of a difficult distinction between acoustic and electronically processed sources, thus revealing a will of bamboozling the audience through varying assortments of gradations and environments. By utilizing Max/MSP they generate slightly deformed versions of discernible structures. Rarely the outcome causes a loss of focus, or a decreasing in the level of gratification.

Maybe the track that better indicates the depth of Lapslap’s research is the final ‘Soup Delirium’, played on a balanced mixture of computerized glissando, extreme breakup and pianistic sharpness. A potential pandemonium opening up in a series of superb  pictures, dramatic unpredictability and tendency to superior echelons of frequency combination giving a measure of alleviation to sympathetic minds, even in presence of severe complexity. An appreciable limitation of the most lustful processing desires is what separates this stuff from the irrelevance of certain laptop-brandishing micronizers. The non-human components never triumph, and – as it happens in ‘Shield’ – an inoffensive weapon like an ocarina can govern the audio scene despite the noises coming by a Nord synthesizer. This piece is immediately followed by another high: ‘Gletscher’, a solo episode by Schistek. Its mysterious grace – taking advantage of the expert probing of the instrument’s internal zones – speaks for itself. Still, in terms of sheer beauty, the accumulation of luminescence of ‘Old Liptauer’ (viola da gamba, piano and computer) is perhaps unbeatable.

The lone exception to the general merit is ‘Flatuway’, based on a distorted flugelhorn whose splinters are triggered by an auto-sampling MIDI wind controller. Frankly atrocious. However, that’s the only weak point of an otherwise fascinating album, planned and executed with fully operating brains and finely tuned ears. In the secret place where improvisation and technical possibility convene, hoping to keep the fruits of that furtive meeting private, Lapslap are hidden behind a bush to bottle some of those bizarre essences.

Bei Zuppa Inglese (LR 550), ihrer dritten Veröffentlichung auf Leo, stellt LAPSLAP jeden, für den Elektro und Akustik zwei Paar Stiefel sind, vor Rätsel. Wer glaubt, er wüsste, wie eine Ocarina klingt, ein Flügelhorn, ein Piano oder ein Saxophon, der wird durch gepresste Überblastöne des Horns, gezupftes Innenklavier oder Drumsticks, die am Notenständer schaben, auf Proben gestellt, denen man nicht immer gewachsen ist. Zwar wird verraten, wann Michael Edwards und Martin Parker ihre Computer oder den Midi Wind Controller einsetzen oder Karin Schistek ihren Nord Synth. Aber wie, das bleibt fraglich, weil Resonanzen, Sinuswellen und andere Soundderivate als Schatten oder Abziehbilder der Instrumentalklänge für merkwürdige Vexationen sorgen. Dabei ist das nicht einmal die Hauptsache. Die besteht vielmehr in der spielerischen Geste, die allen 10 Improvisationen etwas ganz Zwangloses gibt. Kein Konzeptgehampel steht der Verliebheit in die gemeinsame Klang(er)findung, dem ‚Suppendelirium‘, im Weg. Dreimal kommt auch noch Mark Summers mit einer Viola da Gamba ins Spiel, und es wird trotzdem kein alter Käse. Bei ‚gletscher‘ pickt Schistek alleine Eis vom Tauwerk ihres Segelschiffs, ‚imitation‘ ist ein Sopranosaxmonolog von Edwards, ganz pur und poetisch. Bei ‚béla‘ bahnt er sich mit dem Tenorsax durch ein zunehmend computerverfremdetes Gestrüpp aus Klavierdrähten und Violasaiten. Bei ‚arg‘ bilden zwei Computer mit Viola und Piano ein einziges Knäuel aus Krallen und heiklem Waffenstillstand. Die Gambe bleibt auf der Strecke zu ‚soup delirium‘, das Piano gerät deswegen außer sich und halluziniert in manischen Schüben. Stark. [BA 65 rbd]

Inserito Zuppa inglese nel lettore uno pensa di aver sbagliato stanza: i Lapslap rappresentano uno sbriciolamento sonoro totale! E la prima tentazione è quella di cambiare!

La prima traccia è il solo suono di un’ocarina distorto da un laptop, seguito da una seconda di sola distorsione e frantumazione sonora. Ma superato lo scoglio delle prime due tracce, da “droh,” si entra finalmente in un’altra stanza sonora… e le cose vanno meglio. Non che manchi nulla di quanto c’era prima, ma prevale una dimensione più acustica (ocarina e viola da gamba in prima linea), pur sempre addizionata di quella elettronica con computer-strumentati/strumenti-computerizzati.

Le impetuose sonorità del trio Lapslap, accompagnato in questa incisione da Mark Summers alla viola da gamba, non fanno economia di rumori per giungere a quel che deve per forza essere considerata una piacevolezza sonora. Ma questa è caratteristica del trio, impro free + elettronica. Infatti, anche il precedente Itch metteva a dura prova, concedendo tuttavia sprazzi di vero piacere sonoro. Zuppa inglese è per certi versi un po’ oltre e più ostico.

Va detto tuttavia che le tracce centrali sono bellissime. Viola da gamba, ocarina e sassofono (con grandi frullati) costituiscono le trame di una musica interessante, mai banale, quasi amabile all’ascolto. Nella zuppa inglese non finisce tutto compresso e computerizzato, al contrario. Il finale “soup delirium” è sbalorditivo.

Consigliato, ma agli amanti del genere.

The quartet Lapslap’s Zuppa Inglese likewise plays with cultural mixing and matching. Of the musicians, Michael Edwards focuses on saxes while Martin Parker plays flugelhorn – but also picks up the ocarina, an egg-shaped wind instrument with a uniquely convoluted international history. Karin Schistek plays piano while Mark Summers performs exclusively on the viola da gamba. The music is rhythmic and animated. Scratches on the strings of the viola educe the quality of the copper coating the gut. Piano is broken down into its component elements of steel, wood and ivory. The ocarina, which started its evolution as a child’s toy, is eerily innocent. This is a balanced and well-rounded endeavor that still veers and sways with risk.

Zuppa Inglese was released on Leo Records in December 2009.

We augmented our usual lineup of brass, sax, keys and computers with some
tracks featuring long-time lapslap collaborator Mark Summers on viola da gamba,
as well as ocarina and drumsticks.

The blurring between acoustic and electronic sound in these single-take
improvisations happens when small digital samples of acoustic material are used
to emulate and imitate instrumental sound sources. To confuse matters, the live
instruments mimic electronic material so that it becomes unclear who is playing
what.

We’ve developed our computer-based performance systems in the max/msp
programming language. These are controlled by various input devices from
joysticks to midi wind controllers. While Michael’s system is a complete
performance environment allowing spontaneous access to an array of features for
sampling, processing and synthesising sound, Martin’s tools are more like
separate instruments, selected and occasionally modified as the session
unfolds.

Zuppa Inglese, Italian for custard or trifle, was recorded in the Reid Concert
Hall in Edinburgh in September 2008. Recorded by Martin Parker and Michael
Edwards; mixed and mastered by Michael Edwards.

Extract: flatuway teaser

Extract arg teaser

CHRW Radio (London, Canada) Granita: Breeze 8.05.12

CHRW Radio (London, Canada) Granita: Thanks Maya 1.05.12

CHRW Radio (London, Canada) Granita: Slap no Tongue 24.04.12

CHRW Radio (London, Canada) Granita: Pinch 17.04.12

CHRW Radio (London, Canada) Granita: Breeze 10.04.12

CHRW Radio (London, Canada) Granita: Tickle 03.04.12

CHRW Radio (London, Canada) Granita: Pinch 27.03.12

La Nuit des Sauriens (90.1 FM) (Sense, France)  Granita Mar/Apr 12

Radio Jazz 34 (Sussargues, France) Zuppa Inglese: Shield 20.04.10

Radio Jazz 34 (Sussargues, France) Zuppa Inglese: Old Liptauer 08.04.10

CHRW Radio (London, Canada) Zuppa Inglese: Bela 06.04.10

CHRW Radio (London, Canada) Zuppa Inglese: Shield 31.03.10

CHRW Radio (London, Canada) Zuppa Inglese: Droh 23.03.10

CHRW Radio (London, Canada) Zuppa Inglese: Arg 16.03.10

Radio Jazz 34 (Sussargues, France) Zuppa Inglese: Bela 15.03.10

CHRW Radio (London, Canada) Zuppa Inglese: Flatuway 09.03.10

Radio Jazz 34 (Sussargues, France) Zuppa Inglese: Old Liptauer 07.03.10

CHRW Radio (London, Canada) Zuppa Inglese: Shield 02.03.10

La Nuit des Sauriens (90.1 FM) (Sense, France)  Zuppa Inglese Jan/Feb 10

Radio Jazz 34 (Sussargues, France) Sratch: Rustle, Zerbroetzeln 9.06.09

Radio Jazz 34 (Sussargues, France) Sratch: Rustle, Zerbroetzeln 2.06.09

Radio Jazz 34 (Sussargues, France) Scratch: Zerbroetzeln 25.05.09

La Nuit des Sauriens (90.1 FM) (Sense, France)  Scratch March/April 09

Radio T Chemnitz (Chemnitz, Germany) Scratch: Itchy 10.04.09

CHRW Radio (London, Canada) Scratch: Throut Horn 8.04.09

CHRW Radio (London, Canada) Scratch: Zerbroetzeln 1.04.09

CHRW Radio (London, Canada) Scratch: Pinned 18.03.09

KBOO fm (Portland, USA) Scratch: Blau 14.02.09

KWVA Radio (Oregon, USA) Itch: Sloppy Lips 16.11.08

WUSB Radio (Long Island, USA) Itch: Not Cheddar But 25.10.08

Jazz Excursion Radio (USA) Itch 23.10.08

Radio Brussel (Brussles, Belgium) Itch: Rhapsody in Light Yellow 12.10.08

CHRW Radio (London, Canada) Itch: Not Cheddar But, Spoons, Sloppy Lips 2.09.08