Renegade Heaven

Bang On A Can All-Stars | Format: MP3 Download

Product Details

• Original Release Date: January 1, 2000
• Label: Cantaloupe Music
• Copyright: 2000 Cantaloupe Music
• Total Length: 58:04
• Genres:
• ASIN: B000QQVB24
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars For the Bold, with OCD; and selected others..., October 20, 2003

By 

Dr. Christopher Coleman (HONG KONG) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Renegade Heaven (Audio CD)

The Bang on a Can All-Stars fuse Rock with Minimalism in this recording from the turn of the millenium. Whether individual listeners will find the hybrid compelling or simply annoying probably depends on where their tastes fall in the musical spectrum--those who lean more toward the rock side may well be riveted, those toward the classical may be plugging their ears. The pieces are almost exclusively rhythmically driving, hard-edged, non-melodic, with slow or infrequent harmonic shifts; highly percussive, electronic, loud and uncompromising in the extreme. While it may (or for that matter, may not) have an intellectual rigor behind the compositional processes it is not easily intellectualized music. This is music to absorb and overwhelm you; not music to study or even particularly to think about.

Arnold Dreyblatt's Escalator is an eleven-minute study in rhythm, working out a slowly changing texture with sudden harmonic shifts in an almost obsessive-compulsive way--very reminiscent of Philip Glass' earlier music. Julia Wolfe's Believing is similar in tone, but more compact and with more texture changes that probably make it more accessible to most listeners. I Buried Paul by Michael Gordon credits Andrew Cotton with sound design--the qualifier "almost" can now be dropped, as a single short figure is driven compulsively throughout the entire 9'39"--this one is particularly tough going for conservative listeners, and program notes might have helped...or not. Movement Within by Glenn Branca comes as a relief from the unrelenting motoric rhythms of the previous pieces--although in another context it might well be the most intense piece on the program! It utilizes instruments designed by the composer playing long sustained tones that glissando slowly in both pitch and timbre (a timbral glissando? but the term is entirely appropriate) throughout musical space. Whether the piece is successful at sustaining interest throughout its sixteen and a half minutes is debatable, but the piece ends well and segues beautifully into the final work. Exquisite Corpses by Phil Kline is the most traditional piece on the CD, having a jazzy feel--the use of the clarinet gives almost a touch of Kletzmer Band--with a more melodic and contrapuntal character than the other works, although the interest in minimalism is still apparent. Kline has an excellent sense of timbre, and the music has a very attractive surface that contrasts nicely with the in-your-face aesthetic of the other works.

The All-Stars (Maya Beiser, cello; Robert Black, bass; Lisa Moore, keyboards; Steven Schick, percussion; Mark Stewart, electric guitar; Evan Ziporyn, clarinet) play superbly throughout, in music that is supremely difficult and requires unflagging concentration. Rating this disc is impossible--exactly what some will find its strengths, others will find its weaknesses. I can as easily imagine someone who never listens to this and throws away the CD as I can imagine someone who listens to it on a daily basis. Music that ignites such passion is well worth our attention, even if it isn't universally likeable.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Uneven, but worth every penny, January 29, 2005

By 

Jeff Sackmann "Author, Total GMAT Math and gm... (Astoria, New York, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Renegade Heaven (Audio CD)

Full disclosure: I'm about as big a fan of the Bang on a Can All-Stars as one can imagine.

Many of their discs (like this one) feature a series of ~10 minute compositions by a reliable stable of composers, such as Julia Wolff, Michael Gordon, Arnold Dreyblatt, and Phil Kline, all represented here. While their work can be considered part of a distinct school, each composer is so unique, pursuing their own directions in post-minimalist music, that moving from one composition to the next can be jarring.

For instance, Wolff's music (such as track 1, "Believing") is intensely rhythmic with a few compelling patterns that crop up throughout her oeuvre. Gordon is often more meditative, though in such a way to prevent much contemplation: his rhythmic hooks are just as aggressive as Wolff's, but where her pieces repeat one or two bars, Gordon's will repeat a 16-bar chunk.

But I oughtn't get bogged down in the details. The trio of Bang on a Can founding composers (Wolff, Gordon, and David Lang) have become increasingly prominent in new-music circles in the last decade, and this disc is perhaps the best introduction to what they do. In a way, finding a piece to dislike is refreshing: BOAC has developed an ethos in which composers are not expected to adhere to any rules--it does mean trying out clunkers sometimes, but it makes the great works (and I find "Believing" to be one of them) all the more satisfying.

4.0 out of 5 stars Some Great Post-Rock Minimalism, January 14, 2007

By 

Sor_Fingers (Boulder, CO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Renegade Heaven (Audio CD)

Bang On A Can is one of the most exciting ensembles in music right now. They are continually trying to push new musical ideas and really come up with some expressive and progressive material. Renegade Heaven is a set of 5 works clocking near an hour. Four of the works are outstanding, one I find quite uninteresting. Nevertheless the album is still a great buy.

The album opens up with Julia Wolfe's "Believing." It's full of energy. The driving eighth notes, complex meters and rhythms and wild guitar work suggests something like Yes on steriods. Guitar riffs soar and the cello screams and the clarinet wails. The piece suggests a type of minimalism composition that seems like Steve Reich and Frank Zappa combined forces. It's a type of minimalsim that is accesable to average listeners as well. There's enough variation to really do some great things in this piece.

The Arnold Dreybatt compostition, "Escalator" follows. While not nearly as exciting as "Believing" it's still quite listenable. We hear a lot of rock feel from the drums and it gets a little repetitive, cycling through a series of grooves and motives. It's almost a tribal feel. We hear a lot of different textures but little harmonic concept. Nevertheless it's still a fairly fun piece, though it may be a little long for what it is.

Michael Gordon follows with his composition "I Buried Paul." The opening of the piece is very reminicient of "Strawberry Fields Forever," the Beatles track that when played backwards supposedly says "Paul is dead" (or as George Carlin states "It just screws up your record player). It's a very cool concept. The piece turns into a cacophonous funeral dirge with a lot of development and dog whistle high clarinet parts. I didn't like it much on first listen, but I've warmed up to it and like it a lot.

I still can't get past the amorphous cacophy of Glenn Braca's "Movement Within." Braca's piece is one of those pieces that's simply just noise masquerading as music. I just didn't like this one at all. No harmony, no melody, no motivic elements, just a bunch of noise. I'm sure there's more to it, but I don't see it. All I hear is Harry Partch on acid.

Phil Kline's "Exquisite Corpses" closes the disc and Bang on a Can certainly saved the best for last. The piece is just plain awesome. The sounds really captivate the listener. More great Post-Rock minimalist stuff. Truly exciting.

If there's anything to get the average listener into contemporary classical music, this is it. Each piece (with the exception of movement within) has so much life and character. It's accessable, it's exciting it's great. A very original recording from a great group of progressive musicians.