A clerestory is an elevated wall panel that contains windows. Often found in churches and other large buildings, clerestories were a practical way, in times before electric lighting, to cast illumination upon parts of an enclosed space that would otherwise remain dim. And by emanating a simulacrum of holy rays into a sanctuary, they also imparted a sensory-spiritual effect. Berlin-based composer and guitarist Jules Reidy translates this sensation to sound on their latest LP. It’s divided into two side-long pieces, one performed by a string quartet and the other assembled a track at a time by Reidy. Heard in sequence, they provide a musical approximation of cascading light beams.
“Shadow Symmetry (For JACK Quartet)” is Reidy’s third recorded collaboration with an ensemble that gravitates to modern composed music. Like Zinc & Copper and the Pitch, JACK Quartet is unafraid to play in non-standard tuning. Reidy, who often uses different tuning systems in the same piece to evoke clashes and near similarities, divided JACK Quartet into two pairs of musicians playing scales that start at the same point but end differently. Both duos play long tones, which create an effect of energy splaying prismatically. Their proximity causes shimmers and blurs where the pitches come close, which linger when the players pause at the end of a phrase.
The multi-segmented “Clerestory Windows” starts in a similar place, using MIDI strings to create an electrified version of the falling curtains of sound from “Shadow Symmetry.” Reidy then branches out to acoustic and electric guitars and a synthesizer, pulling the material apart and refashioning it into fragments that tumble, pull up and ascend. Reidy’s guitars are tuned to just intonation (a system that confers an alien resonance), turning the falling light into something unfamiliar and mesmerizing. [Thrill Jockey]
—Bill Meyer
