Natural Language

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Another addition to t:me's ongoing - and always beautifully packaged - exploration of those areas caught between electronica and contemporary composition, Natural Language is the brainchild of composer and jazz musician Hywel Davies, last heard by this writer on Russell Mills' t:me CD Undark. Davies has constructed what is, even by t:mes's standards an extraordinarily eclectic piece of work with deep, minimalist drones rubbing shoulders with assymetrical rhythms culled from overlapping sample loops, fleeting jazz improvisation and ambient atmospherics. Davies is joined by, among others, Martin Pyne, Nick Haward, Will Joss and Tom Smith of Miasma (who also produced the set), Dave Sackett and a cello section of Helen Barwick, Fenella Clements and Catherine Monk. Impossible to pin down, Natural Language nonetheless presents an intriguing picture of what can be done with a sampler, some willing accomplices and a restless imagination.