DENNIS BROE finds much to praise in the new South African Netflix series, but wonders why it feels forced to sell out its heroine
Jazz albums with Chris Searle: March 22, 2024
Reviews of Max Eastley/Terry Day/John Butcher, Trevor Tomkins' Sextant, and Caroline Kraabel and Pat Thomas
CARL DEATH introduces a new book which explores how African science fiction is addressing climate change
In his second round-up, EWAN CAMERON picks excellent solo shows that deal with Scottishness, Englishness and race as highlights
Fiery words from the Bard in Blackpool and Edinburgh, and Evidence Based Punk Rock from The Protest Family
MATTHEW HAWKINS is mesmerised by a performance that dissolves the line between audience and performer
MATTHEW SHARPE recommends the essays of a Renaissance politician that instruct and unnerve after 400 years
GAVIN O’TOOLE welcomes the reissue of a seminal work of revolutionary theory that have genuine relevance in the current context
Max Eastley/Terry Day/John Butcher
Angles of Enquiry
(Confront Recordings)
★★★★
MAX EASTLEY is a 79-year-old Devonian who plays the rare electro-acoustic monochord, a 10-foot-long wooden, single-stringed instrument played with fingers, bow or glass rods.
In a trio with percussionist Terry Day and saxophonist John Butcher, all through their album Angles of Enquiry his string whines, bounces, delves, clucks and menaces with low, bowed groans, harmonising with bird calls as his confreres combine with him, creating a soundscape of permanent surprise.
Eastley researches ”Aeolian Phenomena,” and it is a strange god of improvising winds that blows through the heart of this record, with a restless spirit of musical unity testifying in every assertive phrase.
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