Customer Reviews

Block Ice & Propane

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Erik Friedlander is well-known on the New York scene and internationally as a brilliant improvising cellist composer. This music on this cd was inspired the trips he took across the country as a child with his father, the photographer Lee Friedlander. The music has roots inspirations, is complex, colorful, like the best amusement park ride you can imagine. The playing is refined, virtuosic, playful, and full of energy. It's hard to believe that a solo cello could be in so many places at the same time. If you want to be transported by a brilliant instrumental performer of the 21st century with his roots in the heartland of America, buy this cd.

"Block Ice & Propane" is the second solo cello performance released by Erik Friedlander. A fixture of the downtown New York music scene, Friedlander's reputation as an extroardinary cellist is well earned, though his composition skills are perhaps less understood. His previous solo outing (Maldoror) was more suited towards the view of him as a performer-- it was an album of improvisation based on written word. "Block Ice & Propane" is a different record. Mostly composed performances-- Friedlander develops a decidingly Americana character and feel to the music. performed on solo cello. The result is a stunning collection of performances.

As one would expect from a solo cello album, the record gives Friedlander a chance to show off his technique, though the performances are largely pizzicato. Friedlander took up guitar prior to cello and it shows throughout-- he mixes classical and strummed guitar stylings (as well as jazz bass traditions) into his cello technique to provide a very folksy, whimsical mix throughout the record. The term "Americana" is sort of vaguely applied in all the reviews of the album, but it works, as clearly illustrated by the opening two numbers-- the aggressive drive of "King Rig" and the tender plucking of the simply lovely "Dream Song". The latter in particular is stunning, Friedlander plays not a whole lot, but each note is precious, each note is perfect.

These two provide a fine illustration of what's to come-- the entire album is full of great performances, again primarily pizzicato (the dreamlike "Night White", lovely reflection "Rushmore"), but with an occasional arco piece to mix things up (the frantic "Airstream Envy", moody "Road Weary", a piece whose title sums it up perfectly). The truth is, there's not a bad track on the album, it's a fantastic record with one foot lodged firmly in melody, moreso certainly than Maldoror. And while it does occcasionally stray into more avant-garde territories ("Rusting in Honeysuckle"), these excursions in no way take away from the record's firm sense of melody and feeling of American beauty. If "Yakima" doesn't get you in that sense, I don't know what will, it's one of those pieces that just stops me in my tracks and feels vaguely patriotic.

Also of note for listeners, released shortly after this was Friedlander's take on John Zorn's Masada-- Volac: Book of Angels, Vol. 8. Both records are well worth the investment.

It's really a pity that "Block Ice & Propane" will go largely unnoticed. This is the kind of record that deserves to be heard. Friedlander's compositions and performance are nothing short of superb. Highly recommended.

Erik Friedlander's approach to his instrument can mimic a guitar or a string bass in addition to old fashioned bowing. This opens up a whole new aspect of Friedlander's musical personality, allowing him to revel in nostalgia (these songs are based on summer camping trips with his family when he was growing up). I'm usually not crazy about people drowning in their own nostalgia, but I can look past that in "Block Ice & Propane." It's just good music.

You don't have to spend childhood summers in a camper to appreciate striking compositions such as the haunting "Night White," the buoyant "Airstream Envy" and the anxiety that fuels "Cold Chicken" and "Pressure Cooking." Considering that each song tells stories of similar origins and that each one is a solo performance on the cello, it's alarming that they all come out sounding so unique from one another. In the hands of other musicians, it might come out sounding homogenous.

But I guess that's why Erik Friedlander is one of the few names that you would drop should someone ask you to quickly name a well-known avant-garde cellist.

E' un opera davvero molto notevole questa di Friedlander.Un disco da ascoltare con attenzione e da imparare ascolto dopo ascolto. Non è musica "difficile" è musica che disegna le tappe di una viaggio,musica che descrive emozioni e paesaggi. Un virtuosismo caldo e comunicativo per un disco memorabile.