박지하
Park Jiha – Communion (tak:til)
LP / CD / DL
2 March 2018
8 / 10
Korean multi-instrumentalist releases her debut album.
Don’t be put off by the words ‘post-rock’ and ‘contemporary
jazz’ which accompany the press release for Communion the debut album by Park Jiha. The phrases are also used with ‘Korean folk’
and ‘classical minimalism’ – in short this is an album of quite incredible
quality and equal amounts of surprise. Experimental
perhaps, the seven tracks spanning almost fifty minutes are sometimes beautiful
and occasionally hard to absorb with opener Throughout The Night offering the former
as it sumptuously enters the fray with delicate mono sounds provided by the
piri, a double reed bamboo flute.
Park came to prominence as leader of 숨[suːm], a
Korean duo performing neo-traditional Korean music amidst a continuing rise in
her countrymen taking wider recognition on the world stage. On Communion, which Park produces superbly,
she also plays saenghwang (mouth organ) and yanggeum (hammered dulcimer),
instruments which perhaps are largely ignored by the west but which offer up unique
and enthralling sounds.
Accumulation Of Time again begins with and gorgeous sounds. It
peaks midway with a small flurry of pace and volume before dying back to the
embers once more and it does, often take your breath away. Given time and patience, Communion is an
album of wonder and intrigue from the first note to the last with the title
track being particularly captivating. A swirling,
mystifying melody which contains some seemingly improvised element, is just
stunning.
For all its beauty and
calm, there are also parts of the album which border on unlistenable, particularly
on All Souls Day the penultimate track, but somehow it once more fascinates and
becomes the norm. The dual sides of
peace and anarchy merging successfully and bringing two opposite together in
unity.
Closing with The First Time I Sat Across From You you can’t help
but feel quite stunned by Communion as another track moves from serenity to
chaos with seamless ease. It’s an album
that isn’t always easy to listen to but will no doubt hypnotise and enchant
with its criss-cross of moods, pace and sheer bravery.
Published on Louder Than War 24/02/18 - here
No comments:
Post a Comment