Fluence by Alexander Harker
Thoughts crystallise, become atmosphere. Ambiences contract, seize up, splinter. Everything within; the eye sees in all directions.
In Fluence, Alexander Harker negotiates the terrains of acoustic and synthesized sound with a rare dexterity, conjuring highly variegated work that feels as if it could turn in any direction at any moment. This release is a celebration of a young composer confidently speaking in a language of his own devising.
Fluence (for clarinet and MaxMSP, 2010) was commissioned by Ergodos for clarinetist Jonathan Sage with funds provided by the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon, and premiered at the Ergodos Festival MMX. Sage performs here, rendering Harker’s rapidly shifting filigrees and delicately textured open spaces with great virtuosity.
Fractures (2011), a fixed media piece based on recordings of Harker’s electric guitar playing, deftly manipulates such familiar timbres to phantasmal effect. Spectral suggestions of a fragment of a My Bloody Valentine song or a John McLaughlin guitar solo dissolve as rapidly as they coalesce.
http://www.alexanderjharker.co.uk
http://www.jonathansage.co.uk
Credits
Music by Alexander Harker
Clarinet on Fluence, Jonathan Sage, Clarinet (Fluence)
Alexander Harker, Electric guitars and source recordings (Fractures)
Alexander Harker, Sound engineering, production and mastering
Garrett Sholdice & Benedict Schlepper-Connolly, Executive Producers
Benedict Schlepper-Connolly, Design
Fluence was commissioned by Ergodos with funds provided by the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon.
