Starts off like an old familiar song from the past. Summer time and the living is easy indeed...The afternoon is alive and well. Insects jamming like sitars from the sixties...cool beverages being poured, waterfalls of sensory delights and indulgences that make the head swim. You get the feeling the pretty girl on the picnic blanket is going to get seduced allright, but not by the man on the bicycle (he smokes) but by all the intoxicating sights, scents, and sounds that gently embrace her like a soft summer shawl. Just the recipe to make a Late (French) Summer Romance blossom to it's fullest before Fall. I smiled from beginning to end on this listen!
What a gem! Dreamy, impressionistic, the words and sounds are sparse, but give each of the senses just enough to evoke a hot, lazy day in the country. You see the yellows, the tree in the field, the smoking bicyclist. You smell the honey and feel the heat and grass. The producer's voice and production style fit the mood perfectly. I don't agree with the review that refers to Nordine & Anderson. To my ears the intentions of this piece are quite different, and much more rewarding.
Marjorie Van Halteren's brief sound sculpture lives, quite comfortably, somewhere on the continuum between Ken Nordine and Laurie Anderson. It evokes less the French countryside in August than it does Van Halteren's attempts to comprehend what's around her. As such it's more interested in trying to render the mechanics of thought than presenting a conventional audio postcard. Polished and confident, the piece does offer a programing challenge because of its style and length. It needs to be carefully placed, but could be an interesting anchor for the right music mix. It is the sort of piece that might be overwhelmed by its neighbors.
Comments for Late (French) Summer
Produced by Marjorie Van Halteren
Other pieces by Marjorie Van Halteren
Rating Summary
3 comments
ken girardey
Posted on January 07, 2007 at 08:50 PM | Permalink
Review of Late (French) Summer
Starts off like an old familiar song from the past. Summer time and the living is easy indeed...The afternoon is alive and well. Insects jamming like sitars from the sixties...cool beverages being poured, waterfalls of sensory delights and indulgences that make the head swim. You get the feeling the pretty girl on the picnic blanket is going to get seduced allright, but not by the man on the bicycle (he smokes) but by all the intoxicating sights, scents, and sounds that gently embrace her like a soft summer shawl. Just the recipe to make a Late (French) Summer Romance blossom to it's fullest before Fall. I smiled from beginning to end on this listen!
Ed Herrmann
Posted on September 11, 2006 at 08:41 AM | Permalink
Review of Late (French) Summer
What a gem! Dreamy, impressionistic, the words and sounds are sparse, but give each of the senses just enough to evoke a hot, lazy day in the country. You see the yellows, the tree in the field, the smoking bicyclist. You smell the honey and feel the heat and grass. The producer's voice and production style fit the mood perfectly. I don't agree with the review that refers to Nordine & Anderson. To my ears the intentions of this piece are quite different, and much more rewarding.
Joseph Dougherty
Posted on September 01, 2006 at 02:12 PM | Permalink
Review of Late (French) Summer
Marjorie Van Halteren's brief sound sculpture lives, quite comfortably, somewhere on the continuum between Ken Nordine and Laurie Anderson. It evokes less the French countryside in August than it does Van Halteren's attempts to comprehend what's around her. As such it's more interested in trying to render the mechanics of thought than presenting a conventional audio postcard. Polished and confident, the piece does offer a programing challenge because of its style and length. It needs to be carefully placed, but could be an interesting anchor for the right music mix. It is the sort of piece that might be overwhelmed by its neighbors.