Self Referentials Volumes 1&2 by Alexander Berne and The Abandoned Orchestra (review)

That Alexander Berne is described equally as composer, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist is an essential prerequisite to his most recent release, Self Referentials Vol. 1&2 An Unnamed Diary of Places I Went Alone. As all good CD cover artwork ought, Berne's hand-rendered painting does much to foreshadow the music. Just as the accompanying artwork's colors seem to emerge organically and drift from the paper, so too do the colors, textures, and timbres of the music. The painting's smooth, nearly effortless brush strokes, dissonant color relationships, and empty space are all indicators of the music's mysterious and enigmatic character, too.

As his variable and multiple ambitions suggest, Berne is uniquely prolific. Where many artists might toil over a single work for years at a time, Self Referentialsis Berne's third offering in as many years (and this is only to count his musical achievements). This most recent two-disc dispatch is preceded by the three-disc Composed and Performed by Alexander Berne, followed only one year later by another double disc: Flickers Of Mime/Death of Memes. What's more, The Abandoned Orchestra, co-credited with the achievements of these releases, is only a humbling pseudonym for Berne himself.

Berne's label, innova Recordings, attempts to characterize Self Referentialswith genre classifications encompassing "world," "experimental," and "new music," in the categories of "ambient," "music for dance," and "soundtrack." But all miss the mark. Listeners may identify with these associations, perhaps hearing how this music could fit any one of these moulds momentarily. Ultimately, however, the music weaves over and above these distinctions, carving out a unique space for itself. If anything, Self Referentialsis a potent reminder of how genre distinctions have become increasingly problematic.

Yet it is exactly this conglomeration of influences that characterizes the entire work. But these influences are better realized biographically than in terms of genre. That wind instruments, and saxophones specifically, were Berne's introduction to music is ubiquitous throughout Self Referentials(winds constitute the music's most fragile and graceful textures, while also serving as its foundation). The fact that jazz served as Berne's entryway into music as a young musician in New York is audible throughout. Berne has been described as an innovator in the realm of wind instruments. This explains the music's wealth and depth of timbres (he's credited with designing the saduk, an instrument resembling both the saxophone and the Armenian duduk).

Self Referentials, Volume 1comprises twelve tracks, the first nine of which range from two to nearly six minutes in length. These precede Sonum Onscurum: Headphonic Apparitions Part I(the first of three parts). Disc two contains 17 shorter tracks (the longest is exactly four minutes) that are all are titled, or more accurately, distinguished, with the Roman numerals: I-XVII.

Threnodic Winds,from the first disc, is an inescapable nod to Krzysztof Penderecki in (at least) the track's titling. But what this title infers beyond the music's gradual, mysterious, and haunting swelling seems superfluous. Ruse (Fantastique)explores the collection's capacity to simultaneously host disparate timbres and rhythmic depictions. Fugal Melancholiais one of the most distinctive tracks on the first disc, especially because it is the only purely instrumental and unaccompanied music.

The titling of the initial nine tracks seems to detract from the inherent, suggestive capacity of the music. Why these tracks are not awarded the same ambiguity of the second disc is not clear. In fact, with the exception of disc two's subtitle, An Unnamed Diary of Places I Went Alone, which strikes an unobtrusive balance between pointed description and inviting ambiguity, the music speaks sufficiently for itself. This is reflected in Maxwell Chandler's liner notes, which could be equally characterized as prose. The final line of Chandler's notes, which promotes its...