Cutler, Chris - Solo
SKU
RERCC1
For a number of years in the late 90s, Chris traveled the the world, giving solo performances on his specially made electric kit and various acoutrements.
I’m biased because I saw several of these concerts (and even put on at least one), but they were very different, very entertaining and very much completely NOT what you would expect a ‘solo drum concert’ to sound like, probably because it wasn’t a ‘solo drum concert’. Conditionally recommended!!
"Here at last, a solo electronic drum album from Chris Cutler, one of the world's most respected drummers. Les Paul transformed the guitar into an electric instrument, and for the last 25 years Cutler has been gradually doing the same for the drums. The first stirrings appeared in later versions of Henry Cow, at that time just a few telephone mouthpieces, a reverb unit and a mixer, with which raw drum sounds could be manipulated. This system was basic, but served Cutler well for his early duo concerts with ex-Henry Cow guitarist Fred Frith. In the meantime, sampling had become the electronic musician's instrument of choice, but early on Cutler decided this was not for him - it was too inflexible and non- interactive. He preferred to make and process sounds in real time, giving a direct, visceral and organic feeling to his playing, and allowing him to build compositions intuitively. Over the last seven years the kit has become fully electrified, with a sixteen-channel mixer, and an array of effects pedals. How does the electronic kit actually sound? Seeing Cutler In concert one marvels at how one player can make sounds of such variety, subtlety, and at times power. It's as if a whole electronic orchestra is hidden within a small drum kit. All these sounds are woven together into searing compositional structures, avoiding the random noise making of so much software-derived lap top music. It's a system that allows a fully-engaged musical intelligence to operate, in real time. [This album] will change the way you think about drums forever."