This is an extraordinary collaboration between artists from across the world. Brady’s rhythmic jazz-influenced North American chamber music is paired with the dynamic, take-no prisoners virtuosity of Australia’s Topology ensemble, based in Brisbane. Brady and Topology began collaborating in 1997, and toured Australia together in 1999, when the idea for this project was born. The CD presents some of Brady’s most exciting and passionate chamber works, in unrivaled performances by one of the finest new music ensemble of our time. SCAT (because we all have voices and stories to tell) takes its title from the strongly jazz-influenced first and third movements, and also from the unusual use of the musicians speaking voices as part of the music in the second and third movements. In the final movement, the musicians have to tell their life-story in 30 seconds, while playing their instrument as an accompaniment, ‘scating’ their personal histories. Lighting Field was composed for the 1999 Brady/Topology Australian tour, and consists of two movements. Darkness pairs the musicians against an electro-acoustic sampler part (playing processed electric guitar samples) to create a quietly foreboding atmosphere. Illumination brings the ensemble together for one of the most exciting rhythmic and dramatic movements that Brady has penned in recent years. Dark Matter (Primal Pulse) was originally composed for the Philadelphia ensemble Relâche, and is a small-scale concerto for viola, accompanied by 8 musicians. The work is quiet and introspective in character, and is given a beautiful and detailed performance by Topology’s violist, Bernard Hoey. Struck Twice By Lightning uses some of the same set of electric guitar samples as Lightning Field, but creates a totally different musical universe with them. Struck Twice By Lighting is about rhythm and articulation, about connecting the dark, visceral sound of the viola to the chiming, clangorous, pulsing sound of sampled electric guitars.

Il lavoro è, senza dubbio impegnativo: sette composizioni del musicista canadese che ha da qualche tempo allestito un ensemble “australiano” (Topology appunto) costituito da Robert Davidson (contrabbasso), Kylie Davidson (piano), Christa Powell (violino), Bernard Hoey (viola) e John Babagge (sax) per cui scrive la sua musica. Il centro di gravità è l’avanguardia del novecento con evidenti riferimenti sia alla scuola post-schoenberghiana, ma anche più contigui alla ricerca elettronica (Stockhausen, Ligeti e Nono) senza disdegnare sporadici ritorni ad una rarefatta tonalità che sa (anche) di “sano” minimalismo.

Il disco si apre con il bellissimo trittico SCAT (because we all have voices and stories to tell), una suite di oltre diciassette minuti che spazia dal frenetico puntillismo del primo movimento tutto giocato sugli effervescenti contrappunti tra fiati ed archi con il piano di Kylie a cristallizzare il sound con massicci “cluster”. Molto più rarefatto il secondo episodio, denso di materia crepuscolare ispessita dai lunghi accordi del violino e da vaghe coloriture percussive (l’ospite David Kemp) che si va a con-fondere in una sorta di fuga minimalista ricco di speziature perfino famigliari a chi ha ascoltato certe cose del Mike Ratledge più rileyano ma, soprattutto, di Philip Glass. Di ambientazione più elettronica la prima parte del dittico Lightning Field — Darkness / Illumination (Brady, oltre alla scrittura e alla direzione fornisce “pesanti” apporti alla chitarra elettrica ed ai sampler) che odora qua e là di Corrieri Cosmici mentre il segmento conclusivo disegna spazi aperti con un suggestivo recupero di accattivanti (ma non scontati) elementi melodici. Conclude questo bel lavoro la dolente atonalità di Dark Matter (Primal Pulse) e Struck Twice by Lightning con la sua digrignante violenza dove, la tormentata viola di Bernard, assicura un robusto puntello cromatico.

Scat contains four compositions of the Canadian composer and guitarist Tim Brady dating from the years 1998-2000. All pieces are performed by the Australian leading new music ensemble Topology or members of this ensemble and recorded in January 2006 in Brisbane. From the start it is clear that this was a fruitful collaboration. The cd opens with the three part suite Scat. The first and the third part of this piece are very dynamic and powerful. It is a true pleasure to hear this rhythm-driven piece performed by these excellent musicians. The chambermusic of Tim Brady has the power and directness of rock music. In effect it sounds very fresh for modern composed music. Lighting Field — Darkness/ Illuminations consists of two parts. The first part is a very dark piece of music where the instruments play against a background of electronic sampled sounds. The second part ‘Illumination’ is built upon minimalmusic-like patterns played by the piano and violins. It moves steady forward, alternated by parts where the instruments are whirling around and chasing each other. Dark Matter (Primal Pulse) was originally composed for the Relache Ensemble. It is the most introspective piece on this cd. But also in this composition there is often a strong pulse. The cd closes with Struck Twice by Lightning an exhausting battle between viola and tape. Again Brady delivers a cd with very appealing compositions by his hand, and played very convincingly and eagerly by the Topology crew. If Brady is new for you, start here.

Teaming up with an Australian new-music ensemble, Montréal electric guitarist-composer Tim Brady lays out some tightly written, impressively played music that is superbly rendered by the unusual quintet that is Topology (bass, violin, viola, piano and piano/sampler) with the addition, in one piece (Dark Matter), of percussion, clarinet and bassoon.

In 7 pieces written over the last 10 years that range from controlled, driving, rhythmic lines to airy atmospheric pieces, listeners are treated to shades of Terry Riley, as in the 3rd section of the tri-partite title composition, Scat, and in the opening keening violin, cascading piano arpeggios and double bass bottom that sustains the developing melody of (Dark Matter (Primal Pulse)). But Brady takes the music his own way, varying rhythmic cells and letting the melodies flower as they will rather than restricting them to a minimalist pinwheel development.

The atypical instrumentation makes for a kind of hybrid sound that is hard to categorize. It could be musique actuelle, could be jazz, could be contemporary classical. But is categorization really necessary when one gets caught up in such swirling pieces like the piano, samplers, violin, viola, double bass and soprano sax chiaroscuro impressionism of Lightning Field — Darkness / Illumination? In Dark Matter the composer has weighed his sounds carefully and the piece is a study in nuance and contrasting textures and tempi, like a chamber ensemble reduction of a Bruckner symphony. The language, although eclectic, echoes western art music, especially post-romantic and serialist styles in melodic contours and instrumental colors, as the clarinet and bassoon are added to the mix. Another stylist reference point that comes to mind is the crisply-articulated rhythms of Astor Piazzola.

In contrast to the chamber-music for the 21st century feel of most of the disc, we get, in the final cut, the more high-voltage abstract expressionism of a viola and tape piece titled (Struck Twice by Lightening, in which violist Bernard Hoey plays a possessed Paganini to Brady’s Star-trekking guitar-sampler track, an apt way to wind up this appealingly quirky set of music.

[Tim Brady], Topology: Scat (AM 164) präsentiert vier Arbeiten, die Tim Brady teils direkt für Topology geschrieben hat, teils extra für dieses 5-köpfige Ensemble aus Brisbane umarrangiert hat. Besetzt mit Kontrabass (Robert Davidson), Piano & Sampler (Kylie Davidson), Geige (Christa Powell), Viola (Bernard Hoey) sowie Alto- & Sopranosaxophon (John Babagge) intoniert Topology zuerst SCAT (because we all have voices and stories to tell) (2000). Wider Erwarten ist das kein vokales Musica-Nova-Geblödel, sondern zum quirligen Drive durch Klavier und gurrend gestrichenem Bass erklingt nur kurz eine gehauchte Frauenstimme, während das Altosax melodiöse Schnörkel kurvt und die Geige energisch sägt. Erst im dritten Abschnitt müssen alle Musiker ein Stimmengewirr inszenieren, das in einem Unisonosprechgesangloop mündet. Lightning Field — Darkness / Illumination (1999) setzt für ‘Darkness’ dröhnende Gitarrensamples ein, bei ‘Illumination’ sorgt repetitives Uptempo-Riffing für eine neobarocke Motorik, das Sopranosax für den melodiösen Elan. Für das Violakonzert Dark Matter (Primal Pulse) (1998) wurde Topology mit Percussion, Fagott und Klarinette zum Oktett erweitert, das Tempo ist nicht mehr futuristisch-stakkatohaft, sondern ähnlich wie beim dämmrigen ‘Darkness’ verlangsamt, der Charakter dadurch innig, introspektiv, nur einzelne Pianopings und einige wuchtige Perkussionsschläge funken dazwischen. Struck Twice by Lightning (1999) schließlich ist nur für Viola und ein Tonband geschrieben, das mit zischenden und rumorenden Gitarrenmutationen imprägniert ist, während Hoey ein zweites Mal brilliert.

Musica da camera per quintetto che si offre all’ascolto con grande forza di persuasione. I Topology vengono da Brisbane e andando per approssimazione li possiamo paragonare al Bang On A Can. Tim Brady, compositore canadese, ha pensato o rivisto appositamente per loro quattro suoi brani, pervasi da un atteggiamento per lo più “aggressivo” nei confronti della materia sonora, il che richiama qui e là esperienze della musica improvvisata. La scrittura di Brady risente della sua formazione anche accademica e si muove tra vari “ismi”, senza rinunciare a pescare in forme attuali di elettroacustica. Archi, fiati e pianoforti sono così di tanto in tanto tenuti ad accoppiarsi con nastri e sampler, con risultati più che buoni. (7/10)

This album is the fruit of a ten year collaboration between Canadian Brady and the Brisbane based quintet Topology. Some of the pieces were written for them, others were adapted for them, such as SCAT (because we all have voices and stories to tell), which started out as a quartet piece. On a couple of tracks the group is further augmented by Brady’s guitar samples and percussion, clarinet and bassoon. Brady skilfully exploits the range of textures available from the group: for example, in the outer movements of SCAT, darting, staccato figures are passed around in different voicings and rhythmic shapes, whilst in the slow movement, in Darkness from Lightning Field and also the piece Dark Matter, long held tones intermix and modify each other. The spirit of Steve Reich dominates Illumination and the final section of SCAT, which recalls Reich’s Different Trains and City Life, where instrumental parts develop from figures that evoke everyday speech patterns. Brady includes a passage where the musicians move from indistinct general chatter to unison sentences. Energetic and entertaining stuff.

Tim Brady’s ever-expanding skills as a composer are displayed to spectacular effect on his tough new disc. His compositions are always a seatbelt-fastening experience; they are wild, precise orchestrations that, in basketball parlance, distribute the ball with efficiency. On this disc, the Australian quintet Topology bring these challenging works to life, along with Brady, who dispenses with his guitar entirely in favour of samples. The melodies un-spool amongst all five players; the narrative is always maintained, but produced by always-recombinant instrumental voices. Brady’s sample technique can lapse into clumsy, Synclavier-like rigidity, but elsewhere the effect is almost seamless as he folds compositions in on themselves in a digital style. The three long form pieces are too complex to sum up in a few sentences but all are rich landscapes of activity and evocative slower sections. The final track features Christa Powell’s frenzied viola engaging with sample orchestration in a fiery Plunderphonic showdown. This is yet another superb, ambitious Brady work.

Tim Brady file un bon coton depuis quelques années. Après une longue période de gestation, SCAT documente sa collaboration avec l’ensemble australien de musique de chambre Topology. Au programme, des œuvres de Brady interprétées par Topology, avec parfois des échantillons de guitare électrique, parfois pas. La pièce titre est l’une des pièces les plus brillamment écrites de Brady depuis son cycle Revolutionary Songs: complexe mais sensée, et propulsée par un sens du rythme qui demeure sa signature la plus personnelle.

Le compositeur Tim Brady lancera un nouveau disque lors du concert de son ensemble Bradyworks, et il poursuit sans relâche son travail d’activiste musical.

Scat est déjà le 13^e disque au catalogue de Tim Brady, et son 6^e chez Ambiances Magnétiques. Et on est heureux de voir que c’est un ensemble australien, le quintette Topology, qui l’a enregistré. «Malheureusement, explique Brady, on n’avait pas de budget pour faire venir l’ensemble afin de souligner le lancement du disque, mais on pourra quand même en entendre un extrait, soit la pièce Struck Twice by Lightning, pour alto (Pemi Paull) et bande. Je collabore avec Topology depuis 1998 et j’ai encore joué avec eux cet été en Australie; c’est un ensemble fantastique. Je n’ai pas participé directement à l’enregistrement du disque et c’est agréable d’entendre une nouvelle interprétation de ma musique, et de voir comment elle s’adapte à ce nouveau regard. Ça fait plaisir d’entendre le “son Brady” sans que je sois là! C’est aussi le gage d’un style personnel qui s’affirme même en l’absence de son créateur et de sa guitare électrique.»

La musique de Tim Brady tire profit des avancées de la musique contemporaine, mais le compositeur ne vivait manifestement pas dans un monastère pendant que le jazz et le rock traversaient l’histoire, comme le laissent trop souvent penser certaines musiques d’aujourd’hui. On entendra une autre pièce de Brady lors du concert de son ensemble: Still, pour alto et guitare, mais le directeur de l’ensemble ne programme pas que sa musique, les œuvres de quatre autres compositeurs seront aussi interprétées. L’ensemble (incluant Brigitte Poulin au piano, Philip Hornsey aux percussions et André Leroux aux saxophones) interprétera des œuvres de Martin Bédard, Nicole Lizée, Scott Godin et Roger Doyle (le compositeur irlandais sera d’ailleurs présent pour diriger l’improvisation de l’ensemble durant sa pièce Cool Steel Army).

Tim Brady est du genre proactif, comme le démontre le fait qu’il a préféré créer son propre ensemble plutôt que d’attendre que d’autres choisissent d’interpréter sa musique (ce qu’ont néanmoins fait le Nouvel ensemble moderne, l’Ensemble de la SMCQ ou l’OSM, entre autres). Dans ce même ordre d’idées, il compte parmi les fondateurs du Réseau canadien pour les musiques nouvelles (RCMN), un organisme qui vise à créer un véritable réseau entre les différents intervenants de ce milieu afin de faciliter leur représentation auprès du public. Il était temps qu’un tel organisme soit fondé afin de fédérer la multitude d’ensembles, compositeurs et sociétés de concerts qui cherchent à se faire entendre dans ce qui ressemble trop souvent à un désert médiatique… «On a tenu un premier Forum national en février dernier à [Winnipeg], explique le compositeur, et le prochain aura lieu en mai 2008 à Toronto.» Le suivant, en 2009, devrait se dérouler à Montréal. Allez-y voir: www.reseaumusiquesnouvelles.ca.

Le compositeur travaille aussi à faire évoluer le concept du droit d’auteur pour les compositeurs, et ses propositions, publiées dans un numéro récent de la revue Musicworks, pourraient amener des changements radicaux, et bénéfiques, dans le milieu de la création. Bref, pas de repos pour les («guitar») héros!