(2022) K. Leimer - The Starting Errors  



Review:
Provocatively pitched as a “handy index of catastrophes,” Kerry Leimer's latest addition to a remarkable body of solo releases and collaborations with Marc Barreca, Three Point Circle, and others grew out of reflecting on the way particular cultural behaviours through repetition entrench themselves and benefit the few, regardless of the damage engendered as a result. Consistent with that, Leimer's fashioned eleven tracks that explore the general idea of things going awry and inclining towards error. Said theme is directly addressed in the title track, a rarity in Leimer's oeuvre for featuring text spoken by Tallula Bentley, and allusively in the instrumentals accompanying it. The seventy-two-minute recording is, like so much of Leimer's work, fascinating on conceptual grounds and engrossing as a musical statement; it's also stylistically diverse and, as per usual, exceptionally polished on production terms. Without wishing to downplay the significance of the project theme, it's ultimately of less import for the listener than the musical material it helped nurture. Whereas the spoken word piece is a meditative setting, others play like live improvisations by a small jazz-electronic ensemble while still others are painterly soundscapes featuring Leimer's signature blend of found sounds, samples, and granular processing. His settings are always deftly constructed and assembled with a discerning ear for detail, balance, and texture. While the opening “Threat of Rain” starts out as a prototypical Leimer soundscape, its controlled swirl of flickering noises and tones abruptly transitions into a convincing simulation of live interplay between an acoustic pianist, drummer, electric bassist, and electronics colourist. That same unit would seem to be present for the subdued meditation that follows, “An End to Love Songs,”its tone lugubrious and its sound design rich in electro-acoustic detail, and for the penultimate “Promise of Rain” and closing “Song of the Long March.” As mentioned, some of the eleven pieces are emblematic of Leimer's ambient-soundscaping style, “Worn Canopy,” “Where Lands Fell Away,”“Half Awake,” and “Half Asleep” four examples. In these cases, micro-sounds skitter and flutter restlessly in ever-mutating constructions packed with contrasting timbres, fragments of identifiable instruments, and electronic elements. “Song of Waiting” nods in a slightly more Eno-styled ambient-classical direction in its blend of acoustic piano and strings. The text for the title track enumerates a laundry list of what Leimer deems “The Starting Errors,” among them religious texts, the subjugation of women and races, and the notion of ownership of the labour and ideas of others. None of the items listed is radical or startling, but the cumulative effect of Bentley's entrancing voice, piano, and chamber orchestra timbres is spellbinding nonetheless. Leimer's albums have been adventurous and genre-transcending, and The Starting Errors is no different. He's been creating experimental music since the mid-‘70s and founded Palace of Lights in 1979 as an outlet for his own work and that of a small and select number of kindred spirits. That he continues to issue material of such high-level imagination, craft, and personality after nearly fifty years is truly extraordinary, not to mention inspirational. — textura





Track List:
01 - Threat of Rain
02 - An End to Love Songs
03 - Worn Canopy
04 - Where Lands Fell Away
05 - Half Awake
06 - Song of Waiting
07 - The Starting Errors
08 - Half Asleep
09 - The Worn Self
10 - Promise of Rain
11 - Song of the Long March


Media Report:
Genre: ambient, experimental
Country: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, USA
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits
Compression mode: Lossless
Writing library: libFLAC 1.2.1 (UTC 2007-09-17)


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