GALBRAITH, ALASTAIR/MATT DE GENNARO - From the Dark (South Island)

Multi-talented Alastair Galbraith is the glue that binds the New Zealand underground. His work ranges from achingly lyrical violin for artists as disparate as Peter Jefferies and the Bats, to the feedback squalls he conjures as member of A Handful Of Dust, to the otherworldly miniatures he crafts for his own solo albums. However, in recent years, Galbraith, along with American Matt De Gennaro, has developed another remarkable performance idiom, one that is positioned closer to the sounding sculpture of Harry Bertoia. In From the Dark (South Island), architectural idiosyncrasies are transformed into nuanced and hypnotic audio. Wires - some as long as 100 feet - are affixed throughout a building. When the wires are taught and stroked with rosined hands or a piece of leather, longitudinal vibrations are sent to the points of attachment, creating a natural resonator. It is not the wires that make the sound, but the wall, railing or window frames at their end; wire length and room acoustics determine the pitch. The result, achieved in a veil of total darkness, is a beautiful and eerie confluence of chance and accident, architecture and improvisation. As Galbraith himself puts it, There is some quite magical feeling of communion turning the lights off and making the building sing. - Table Of The Elements