Invisible Map (review)

Visual imagery is an extremely important component to the work of Biota, and the Invisible Map disc is no exception. There is a twelve-page booklet with the disc that confirms this, as will a highly suggested look at the group's Web site (www.biotamusic.com). The imagery created by the Mnemonists (the visual companion group to Biota) and the music of Biota are on parallel courses which may or may not have any direct connection to each other but which certainly show a similar mindset to the creation of both. This mindset is best described as a collage process.

The juxtaposition of independent styles, techniques, sounds, timbres, and history is what defines the Biota sound and style. Think Charles Ives meets John Cage meets Pierre Schaeffer. Think composition meets improvisation meets musique concrète. Biota's style is that of combining styles.

In many ways Biota is a traditional band. It includes percussion, bass, guitar, keyboards, and vocals, with countless other more exotic instruments thrown into the mix to construct the sound. The basis of the music is also traditional, usually very "tonic"-centered if not outright tonal or modal. The phrase structure and harmonic rhythm are usually highly consistent and involve much repetition. It is the treatment of this base concept that is so very interesting. This is where the collage process begins. On top of a basic harmonic pattern can be applied other parts which can be in different tonalities or modalities. Parts can continue throughout the piece or they can weave in and out of the work. Percussion parts seem to be in two layers, one on top of the other, either variations on the same part, or different parts that have the same temporal value. Stylistically, parts can be highly contrasting, similar to the way Ives would combine various styles. This is a big portion of Biota's collage process and one that is reminiscent of that pioneering composer.

Where Biota meets Cage is in the chance/improvisatory nature of some of the layers of the collage process. I'm going to speculate a little and imagine that basic beds of rhythm are laid down in the recording process and then players are allowed to improvise over the top. As William Sharp of Biota so kindly explained to me: "improvisation can enter the picture when certain played parts are improvised—as conventional overdubs—to an existing arrangement. This procedure is open as well, in that these parts may be retained or discarded, and may themselves suggest further unforeseen developments."

This is where I think it probably gets interesting, and fun. As the work comes together, which prerecorded layer the improviser listens to will determine how the next layer is interpreted. This may not be exactly how this process comes together but I imagine it is something similar. This is chance music at its best.

Another layer to the collage is where Biota meets Pierre Schaeffer. Once layers are manipulated and subjected to further improvisation they become fixed, and therefore can be thought of as musique concrète. According to Mr. Sharp, there is further electronic manipulation of the material, such as pitch shifting an instrument so that it can serve as a different layer in another piece. Mr. Sharp writes: "[these] 'rearrangement(s)' might, for example, entail modifying a violin part in one ensemble to become a cello or double bass part in a different section of the same project."

There is great attention paid to the spatial placement of the different parts in Biota's music, not only from left to right but also from front to back and the size of the space/room that the part is intended to sound in. This can define the part and its prominence in the piece as well as help it to blend into the piece even when it may otherwise...