Alastair Galbraith/Matt de Gennaro

Long Wires In Dark Museums

BY I. KhiderPublished Jun 1, 2002

Long Wires In Dark Museums is culled from a live music installation where the venue was strung with lengths of piano wire, which were played by Galbraith and Gennaro's resin-covered hands. The pair would walk along the room, coaxing sustained drones from the wire, exacting different pitches and tones while the sounds reflect from the walls, rails and windows of the venue, thus utilising the entire space as a massive instrument. Guitar loops and violin are also used as an accompaniment to these pieces to help instil form to the drones. The result of this endeavour is a spectacular listen. Long Wires... is akin to looking at the patterns of a large oriental rug: overwhelming at first until one gets caught and inevitably lost in the details. This album is broken down into three long pieces, the second, "Rehua," being the most striking. Accompanied by violin, this drone is not unlike a mournful yet beautifully articulated dirge. Divorced of any melodic formulaic constraints, records like this prove just how seductive and intoxicating good drone music can be. A 45-minute film of a performance by this duo can be viewed on the internet at radioqualia.va.com.au/live/wire_high.ram.
(Emperor Jones)

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