The Ages | Richard Davies (bandcamp.com)
Richard Davies has followed up ‘A Pagan Landscape’ and ‘Travel Without Movement‘ with another interesting and thematic release with ‘The Ages.’ Exploring combinations of sounds, Davies extends his curiosity through a series of tracks, creating a mesmeric and at times, thoroughly absorbing album.
The tracks are titled simple RD Aged 5’, ‘RD Aged 15’, RD Aged 19, then 30,47,50,89, and 97. Each track establishes a different time pattern and rhythmic measure, from the steady pulsation of ‘15’ to the whirling long-held notes of ‘15’ and the strange eeriness of ‘19’ coupled with oddly gapped electronics sounds, over which the sax flows, rises, and sighs.
Strangeness entwines itself into some of the numbers, with ‘30’ including especially disjointed and intriguing effects, with echoes of a previous track on ‘A Pagan Landscape’ and in others, like ‘47’ the sound effects override the sax melodies, or ‘50’ where a jauntiness settles in for the ride.
‘80’ takes a rhythm and weaves it through the entire track while the final number ‘97’ incorporates deep, stirring string echoes, across which the sax softly sighs and offers the gentlest of melodies.
Davies has created another work that demonstrates his ability to take a rhythm and develop it, while adding melodies and sax phrasing that bring diverse sonic experimentation together and make sense of it all.
