|
 "Lockett's
initial training was as a pianist and he studied composition and music technology
with Pauline Oliveros in California. In 1986 he recorded Slower Than Molasses
with fellow pianist Janet Sherbourne, performing music by ex-Scratch Orchestra
participants Howard Skempton and Michael Parsons, as well as their own compositions.
However the threshold between Javanese and Balinese tradition and systemic experimentation
is Lockett's favoured location. The Loop, a major articulation of that position,
began life as an installation. Live performance was subjected to real-time treatment,
diffused and blended with computer genertated versions of the same set of pieces.
Lockett
'reorchestrated' the music for this release, sequencing 16 pieces according to
the I Ching's random determinations. Gamelan instruments are central but augmented
with other percussion, electronics and sampling, and sometimes underpinned with
bass guitar. It's a seductive combination of elements, but the range of moods
and ideas within the music results in a persistently stimulation rather than simply
hypnotic experience. Some of the pieces are evocative of the instrument's heritage,
luxuriating in a haze of sonic pollen that surrounds the structured chiming of
struck metal. Minimalist reference points are encountered frequently. FLUX starts
and concludes with a pulse deeply in the Steve Reich vein. Trevor Lines' bass
guitar carries shades of Steve Beresford's contribution to F&W Hat, the "slowed-down
Terry Riley ensemble" he ran in York with Jan Steele. Sonorities of hand bells
and toy pianos come and go, inviting the recollection of composers Christopher
Hobbs and John White and their Promenade Theatre Orchestra. Software, samples
and electronic touches figure without ostentation, enriching the percussive patterns
and nudging them off-kilter just enough to dispel any sense of overfamiliarity
or predictability.
Over
the expanse of four CDs Lockett and his collaborators vary the pace and sustain
the invention. The Loop may mark a confluence of influences but it's also a singular
and personal musical achievement."
Julian
Cowley, The Wire
Originally
conceived for the IKON Gallery in Birmingham, “The Loop” was an installation
which ran throughout the day from noon until 8.00pm each evening. The musicians
played continuously; the live music was broadcast in an upper gallery, treated,
diffused and mixed with spontaneously computer-generated versions of the same
pieces. This sonic environment changed as one moved through it. The galleries
were stripped of everything; bare walls and concrete floor. The space was occupied
by the BEAST sound system and some large cushions encouraging people to linger,
sit, lie or walk around in the galleries while the ‘orchestra’ played
throughout the day and as the natural light changed from midday and faded towards
evening. This is a completely revised and condensed version of that project.
The
16 pieces are presented in a sequence chosen at random using the I Ching. Some
of the pieces are derived from textures and ideas from traditional Balinese music
while others are sound-based. Each piece embodies a different mood or idea.
"Like
the art that usually hangs in the IKON Gallery, one could spend as much or as
little time as one wanted with the piece. Time and duration were not an issue.
It was great to see a contemporary composer such as Lockett to receive the opportunity
to take such a challenging and rewarding work to a wide public audience. Each
evening as the performers approached the finale, the galleries were in near darkness.
A few visitors had fallen asleep on the cushions listening to the soporific loops.
For a short while there was a chance to dream. Maybe this is what Lockett was
after."
Ben
Sadler – Avant "Listening
to these discs is like tuning in to the music of the spheres and then drifting
away. In 'FURL' for example, you can lose yourself in the meandering, slowly unfurling
melodies and kaleidoscopic ornamentation that is slowly enveloped by ghostly images
and brooding atmospheres. The music has a tranquil, sometimes disturbing beauty
that occasionally overflows; as on 'AMOK' when wildy oscillating patterns are
ambushed by a riot of percussion. On 'PION', a gangsaran rush dissolves into a
delicate spacey exploration of resonance before reasserting itself. At times,
it is like being inside a giant musical box, peering in close-up at the mechanism;
an impression confirmed on 'WADI', when a real musical box makes a brief appearance.
The last piece 'AVIK' is a reworking of 'Kiva' from 'Hollowed Ground', Mark's
previous CD, with heavy electronic treatment; a piece that looks to the future
as well as the past.
You
can listen to 'The Loop' in various ways - on headphones the spatial detail is
truly stunning, but it is also recommended for passive listening, the pieces become
quite insidious. After a while my antique clock was chiming along in sympathy,
feeling quite at home. As Colin McPhee says 'Salunding creates music of surprisingly
sweet and mellow resonance. The larger instruments produce sounds rich in overtones,
resembling those of deep bells, whilst the timbre of the smaller instruments is
clear and chiming'. Experimental without being alienating, this is a record that
will reward the patient open-minded listener."
Andy
Channing - Seleh Notes | 
