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BARRY CLEVELAND | CLOUD CHAMBER DARK MATTER REVIEWS
SAN FRANCISCO BAY GUARDIAN The instrumentation alone—electric guitar, electric bass, cello, percussion, and the Hungarian hammer dulcimer known as the cymbalom—guarantees a unique musical sound. But it is more how the players—Barry Cleveland, Michael Manring, Dan Reiter, Joe Venegoni, and Michael Masley—merge the moaning, careening, whispering, and shimmering timbres that makes Cloud Chamber extraordinary. The quintet's improvisations, which are given such titles as "Blue Mass," Full of Stars," and "Radiant Curves" on their debut CD, Dark Matter, are marvels of seductive, eerie, and meditative textures—a spacey, ambient, electro-acoustic fusion with roots in new music, avant-garde rock, and electric jazz, but created wholly in the moment, with an ear to the next century. —Derk Richardson INNERVIEWS.ORG Last February, the Reuters news service ran a story that asked, "Is there dark matter in this galaxy?" The piece describes dark matter as that which "cannot be seen by conventional means but which makes its presence known by its effects on gravity." While the existence of dark matter is a topic of heated debate amongst astrophysicists, five renowned Bay area musicians have used the abstract concept as a very real springboard for a spatial odyssey in improvisation. Dark Matter is the title of the debut CD from that quintet. Known as Cloud Chamber, the group is comprised of guitarist Barry Cleveland, bassist Michael Manring, bowhammer cymbalom (a Hungarian hammer dulcimer) player Michael Masley, cellist Dan Reiter and percussionist Joe Venegoni. The disc is an entirely improvised, all-instrumental outing that eschews conventional musical thinking in order to pursue spontaneous and unpredictable directions. Cloud Chamber straddles many genres, styles and moods in its free-spirited and sometimes epic-length explorations. The group incorporates elements of world music, jazz, classical, ambient, noise rock, progressive rock and even a touch of punk angst. Featuring shades of Frank Zappa, Dmitri Shostakovich, Brian Eno and late-60's Miles Davis, Dark Matter possesses an unclassifiable sound that truly embraces the idea of music without borders. —Anil Prasad AURAL-INNOVATIONS.COM Cloud Chamber is an all-improvisational band project that includes Barry Cleveland, and though the Dark Matter CD was released in 1998, it hasn't been heavily promoted until now. In addition to Barry on guitar the lineup includes Michael Manring on bass, Michael Masley on bowhammer, cymbalom/dulcimer, kalimba, gobeon, gobek and panpipes, Dan Reiter on cello and Joe Venegoni on percussion. The music is in many ways very different from Volcano and Memory & Imagination, including avant-garde free-improv and orchestral elements. Tracks like "Blue Mass" and "Radiant Curves" have a strong chamber music influence, with passionate cello melodies, a spacey vibe, and much more. "Full Of Stars" is one of my favorites. It begins with a spaced out alien glom of avant-garde free-improv, but after a few minutes a rhythmic bass pattern sets things on a more determined path. The music is dark and intense and has a soundtrack quality, though it's nothing you'll hear in any Hollywood production to be sure. It also rocks out in its own offbeat way, though orchestral based free-improv is the main focus. Lots happening here and is definitely a track that reveals new treasures with repeated listens. "Solar Nexus" gets into more jazz oriented territory, though the chamber influences are present as well as the ever present spacey feel that characterizes much of the album. The last minute of the track is the best... a nice little freakout bit. "Ursa Minor" is another track with a soundtrack feel, this one being more purely orchestral and with a strong Indian influence, though we also travel through jazz, psychedelic and symphonic realms. "The Call" features more jazz and Indian stylings. And at 13 minutes "Dithryamb" is the lengthiest track, though not the most cohesive. The first several minutes consist of jazz with a head bopping groove. But around the 6-minute-mark the band do a 360 and take off into dreamland, with eerie wailing strings and ambient backdrops. Equal parts haunting, spacey and darkly intense. But the rhythmic patterns soon kick in again and the band simply explores throughout the remainder of the track. A nice atmospheric groove tune. Lots of good music on this album but newcomers should most definitely start with Volcano or Memory & Imagination, the albums that really grabbed me by the throat. I'll definitely be keeping track of Barry's activities. —Jerry Kranitz AXIOM OF CHOICE (The Netherlands) Summary Sent to me recently by Barry Cleveland, this is an album from 1998 which my CD player ranks as 'unclassifiable.' I was told this album did quite well when it came out even while it was not really promoted or anything. This is even stranger when you hear that the music on this album is fully improvised. The band also features Michael Manring, known for his solo record Thonk and his albums with (Scott) McGill and Stevens. The Music The first track, "Blue Mass," is a slow dark one featuring a mix of tense percussion, chamber orchestra-like playing on cello and subtle effects on various less than familiar instruments. The result is something which lies between the world music oriented material of Tony Levin (think of his From The Caves Of The Iron Mountain) and the more avant-garde noodlings of some of the Cuneiform bands. The lengthy "Full of Stars" continues on the same footing, it seems like the musicians are still feeling their way into each other at this point. The music on this song has a tendency to crawl and gurgle and at times I wish they would stop noodling and get going. Am I being impatient? Likely enough, although I don't mind laying out jigsaw puzzles for 3000 pieces. Anyway, the band knows how to build up atmospheres, being in this case dark and brooding most of the time, reminiscent at times of the work by Robert Fripp on Soundscapes, but then with lots of percussion intermixed. "Solar Nexus" continues in the same vein again, although seemingly a bit more cosmic, more psychedelic. The cello plays a prominent role and do I in fact hear a dulcimer there? With the harp like playing, the band now strikes a more friendly tone. The feel is now Oriental. Along the way the pace comes in more and more, but don't think they are about to derail or anything. When the pace sets in, the music also becomes louder and, ehm, decisive. On the longish "Ursa Minor," we see a similar build up although the music has now become more percussive again, yielding a more world music-type feel. The final part even has a bit of an up-beat folksy feel. The melodic side of the band is not one that is accentuated. The music seems to consist more of a flow, of patterns, recurring. This holds for instance for "The Call," a lively, frolic piece. However, if you listen closely one can hear how the bass in this instance lays down a promising melody, which slowly seems to evolve. The music is close to avant-garde at this instant, also because of the strings (seems like a violin to me, but it is not listed among the instruments). On "Dithryamb," we get a bit of a laid-back groove going, laced with violin-like playing. This is (simply said) world music. Just before we get halfway, the Frippian soundscapes come back in. The train chugs along in the final third of this track, paving the way for some nice Indian melodies on the bass. "Radiant Curves" brings us to neo-classical with some flowing, dark cello playing. In fact, the music is quite mellow and melodic here. One might be reminded of some of the more classical work of After Crying here. There is a short ghost track, with harrowing effects and noise. Is that why they did not include it on the booklet, so that people would not sample it. Not for the faint-of-heart. Conclusion Hmm, world music and Frippian soundscapes are what this album is about. This means eerie guitar work in the case of the latter, and plenty of percussion in the case of the former and a rather free structure in the case of both. The music stays subdued mainly, touching also on the avant-garde at times. Although the band paints their brooding atmospheres well, in me it leaves a desire for something more crunchy. Note that all the music on this album was improvised, which is quite a feat. —Jurriaan Hage EXCERPTS FROM ADDITIONAL DARK MATTER REVIEWS
Their free improvisations are informed not so much by jazz, but by the sound sculpture approaches of all manner of modern composers, from Ligeti to Fripp. Textures and colors are striking in these seven pieces. Ghostly apparitions appear in often very dramatic contexts, such as on the extended "Full of Stars." Need I say that this is quite a tasty platter? —Larry Nai, Progression Cloud Chamber are one of new music's most original innovators. Suffice it to say, this is music that unfolds upon further listening, the playing is of high caliber, the sound is excellent, and my recommendation is unequivocal. Brilliant. —Mike McLatchey, Expose' (from a three-way round-table review) The music is completely improvised and skillfully executed by each of the five members as they work together as a cohesive unit. Those who dug Crimson's improvisational excursions on tracks such as "The Mincer," "The Night Watch," and "The Talking Drum" are sure to enjoy what Cloud Chamber has to offer. —Peter Thelen, Expose' (from a three-way round-table review) This ensemble has spent quite some time refining its own special brand of collective interaction, and has obviously honed its menacing group identity from these performances to record Dark Matter. And please believe me, it is not for the faint hearted! At times the interplay is similar to '74 Crimson, juxtaposing negative energy and fragile atmospheres. Cloud Chamber has crafted a refreshing album featuring unique personalities, fascinating influences, and uncommon intricacy. —Jeff Melton, Expose' (from a three-way round-table review) Cloud Chamber's music emerges as inevitably as the interplay of ocean currents, a process of continual organic movement to which the musicians respond as if they're no more than implements of a guiding force. —Dann Chinn, Misfit City |