Isabelle O’Connell – Reservoir
Reservoir is a container of nine fluid piano pieces (penned by nine different Irish composers) that the highly talented Dublin-born New York City-based ivory tickler Isabelle O’Connell has enjoyed playing over the past 15 years. Ian Wilson’s “Big” flows smoothly from thorny to haunting. Jane O’Leary’s “Forgotten Worlds” is more delicate and lyrical with occasional bus stops on dimes. Briefly quoting a bunch of famous songs in rapid succession, Jennifer Walshe’s really-fun-to-listen-to “becher” shifts abruptly from one song and style to another, from subdued to poppy and back again, kind of like a Naked City song scored for solo piano. My favorite track, Donnacha Dennehy’s “Reservoir” maintains a minimally pinging air of intrigue, then, halfway through its 10-minute length, enters an elegant cloud of mystery.
Seoirse Bodley’s “The Narrow Road to the Deep North” bandies about some homely tinkles, only to submerge them in deep, dissonant chords. John Buckley’s “Three Preludes” invite more ghosts outside for a midnight smoke. Elaine Agnew’s “Seagull” stops and starts, plucks a whole host of somber notes out of thick air, then gets all hyper, only to end in a more reflective vein. Brian Irvine’s “The Klippel Collection” offers up bundles of tangled up briars, smacks you in the face with one of those big foam hands that people wave around at football games, then settles down to cuddle. Philip Martin’s “Along the Flaggy Shore” ends the disc with more meandering moods and rude outbursts that challenge the casual listener to a duel. To any fan of late-night piano excursions, I recommend Reservoir without reservation.
Label: Diatribe Recordings Catalog Number: DIACDSOL001 Format: CD Packaging: Digi-Pak Tracks: 13 Total Time: 57:47 Country: United States Released: 2010 More: MySpace, Irish Central, Official, YouTube
Text ©2010 Arcane Candy
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