hang, hanghang

i first heard the sound of the hang at an old edition of the improvised music night, Appliances, in the form of samples that the laptop artist was using. the second time i heard the hang i ended up busking along the South Bank in London with a great guy, Daniel Waples.

and so i found myself telling kit yesterday about the hang, a UFO-shaped pitched percussion instrument that has a beautifully resonant sound, like a mix between steelpans and gamelan. it has the benefit of having a snap and a tone when struck, giving it both a strong percussive, rhythmic quality as well as a haunting tone. the tone of the hang is what particularly attracts me, as it lends itself well to electronic textures and soundscapes.

not too many words from me - it needs to be heard.



p/s the plural of hang is in fact hanghang.

fjordne

photos by April Lee

'the pale rose of wool', a photo exhibition by April Lee at Polymath & Crust introduced me to FJORDNE's (Shunichiro Fujimoto) latest album, 'the setting sun'. an electro-acoustic mix of instruments with electronically constructed textures, the resulting emotion is both musing and restless. the former is a result of the placid refrains in each tune, cycling through the soundscape with a sense of calm. the latter arises from the slight distortion of the pure acoustic tones, use of dissonant harmonies as well as the underlying crackle of static.

while not a groundbreaking piece of work, 'the setting sun' is a coherent and convincing mood construction. accompanied by Lee's photography, the resulting foldout album and ambient soundscape fit neatly together, each echoing the other.

available at
Polymath & Crust
86 Club St

speakers corner quartet

one finds the most interesting things in strange ways. Covent Garden in London, home to many inanities, unexpectedly turned up the Speakers Corner Quartet busking outside the nike store, using the storefront as backlighting.

originally formed as the backing house band for the spoken word/hiphop open mic night at the Speakers Corner in Brixton, their sound is as unexpected as their makeup: flute, cello, double bass and drums. their original material delivers a tight mash combining hiphop rhythms with string soundscapes and a particular taste for Indian-tinged scales. tightness, of course, is in spite of the complex arrangement, with odd times and multiple sections changing in groove and feel.