Knell by Alex Cunningham

Alex Cunningham is a violinist, improviser and visual artist based in St. Louis, MO. Knell is his fourth solo violin release, and the third of which that's entirely improvised.
Initially seeming to document a brutal attack on the instrument, the album progresses more like a surgical examination, with Cunningham.digging into the physical properties of wood, bow and strings to wrench out a wealth of sonic detail. Downtuning and sheer kinetic intensity produce harsh abrasion, percussive rattling, and rich overtones, and there's even an attempt to utilise the violin as a wind instrument. Tonal playing is only arrived at after apparently significant effort, in bursts of backwoods hysteria.
Vital free improv that's both rigourous and playful.

Tracklist

1.	Laughter in the Dark	6:14

2.	Hearsay	4:56

3.	The River Took Your Child	9:03

4.	Derision	6:01

5.	Piece for F-hole and Breath	1:32

6.	Unica	5:16

7.	Storm Cellar	5:09

8.	Beside Her on the Grass	1:42