soundscapes Archive

J. Peter Schwalm – The Beauty of Disaster – RareNoise

by Audiophile Audition | Apr 10, 2016 | Jazz CD Reviews

The fascination and allure of catastrophe. J. Peter Schwalm – The Beauty of Disaster [TrackList follows] – RareNoise RNR059, 60:20 [2/26/16] ****: (J. Peter Schwalm – producer, guitar, piano, electronic devices, acoustic and digital sound modules, mixing decks, drums, synths; Neil Catchpole – viola (track 1); Eivind Aarset – guitar (track 2-4); Tim Harries – bass (tracks 2, 7-8); Martin France – drums (tracks 2, 8); Michael Wöllny – pump organ (track 5); Christine Schütze – grand piano (track 9)) Guitarist and keyboardist J. Peter Schwalm is probably best known for his partnership with Brian Eno, such as the 2001 album Drawn From Life. As a solo artist, Schwalm has reinterpreted the work of others: notable exemplifications being the 2013 commission, Kraftwerk Uncovered—A Future Past, for the Icebreaker orchestral ensemble; and the 2014 studio project, Wagner Transformed, which comprised reconfigurations of Richard Wagner’s “Tristan & Isolde,” “Parsifal” and other Wagner material. For the hour-long instrumental CD, The Beauty of Disaster, Schwalm found inspiration from pictures of environmental devastation, specifically the 2010 BP oil spill which affected the southeast US. He clarifies, “I had been deeply impressed by satellite images of the catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico while composing […]