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The Splinter Orchestra - The Splinter Orchestra

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CD from Splitrec (17)

Buy Now $22.00 from Splitrec

Chris Abrahams - piano + hammond. Robbie Avenaim - percussion. Shannon O'Neill - synth. Milica Stefanovic - electric bass. Peter Farrar - alto sax. Abel Cross - electric bass. Mike Majkowski - double bass. Gerard Crewdson - trombone. Dale Gorfinkel - vibraphone. Ben Byrne - laptop. Finn Ryan - percussion. Simon Ferenci - trumpet. Jim Denley - flutes and flax. Dan Whiting - laptop. Alex Masso - percussion. Karen Booth - alsto sax. Monika Brooks - accordian. Darren Moore - percussion. Rory Brown - double bass. Clayton Thomas - double bass. Cass McGlynn - tenor horn. Clare Cooper - guzheng. Mathew Ottignon - clarinet and flute. Lloyd Honeybrook - alto sax. Ian Pieterse - baritone sax.

"This is their first recording and it demonstrates an increasingly conceptual approach to their compositions, possibly a survival mechanism to prevent everything from descending into chaos, yet intriguingly enough that never seems to have been one of the dangers, even early on. Perhaps this is because the group includes some of the best instrumentalists that Sydney has to offer, people like Chris Abrahams, Clayton Thomas, Claire Cooper, Jim Denley, and Shannon O'Neil. Here the group offer some rule based performances, split up into sections, and whilst still playing in a free manner they are somewhat restricted in what they can do. What's always been exciting about the Splinter Orchestra is the broad range of their sounds, everything from laptop musicians to accordion players, woodwind, sax, vibraphone and anything else you can think of, extended technique, the kitchen sink, even, gasp, the electric guitar. This means that even in those moments of restrained scratchy tranquillity, you know that hiding behind it is a mountain of controlled mayhem. Yet they never unleash. It seems to be about multilayering, about creating new textures, multifaceted drones, made up of groups of instruments, of peaks of density and subtle troughs, about unlikely associations and being able to draw upon the kitchen sink if need be. It's a remarkable example of control, and whilst you could imagine it would be a nightmare to record, it feels like you can hear, even feel, every squeak and scrape." Bob Baker Fish - Cyclic Defrost