Chen / Pitcher / Van Nort – One History of Troy LP (Attenuation Circuit)

One History Of Troy is a collaborative full-length record by free improvisation trio comprised of Jonathan Chen, Jefferson Pitcher, and Doug van Nort. However, don’t be misled by the album title, because this trio relates to the town of Troy, located in New York, not the ancient Bronze Age city of Troy. This particular location has been chosen up because of Chen, Pitcher and Doug van Nort’s association with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, settled in the town of Troy, New York. The trio explores all the instrumental and cacophonic abilities of the involved instruments, so Chen mainly performed with violin and viola, Jefferson Pitcher played on guitars, clarinet, and field recordings, plus he used his metal structures as percussions, while Doug van Nort used electronic and granular-feedback expanded instrument system. One History Of Troy has been separated into six evolving compositions, enhanced with sensible portions of musique concrete, free improvisations, and pleasant ambiance. This comprehensive collection is a compromise between composition and improvisation, dualities between well-organized chaos and relaxing melodies, and certainly an exploration through a playful world of experimental music. Each composition carries certain melancholic feel, but also a lot of sacral moments that were achieved by the astonishing sound of acoustic instruments. These moments are followed by various improvisations on the aforementioned instruments and subtle dosages of field recordings. Both Chen, Pitcher And Van Nort are operating as a singular organism throughout the entire album, their sense for balance between instruments and intuitive abilities to implement all the right elements into the following segments are simply beyond comprehension. The entire album has been dedicated to the late Pauline Oliveros, with whom all three musicians collaborated during her lifetime. One History Of Troy has been published by Attenuation Circuit, it comes on a grey marbled vinyl and it’s been housed in a gloriously looking cardboard sleeve. It’s such a treat for all the fans of musique concrete, free improvisation, and ambient music, so don’t miss this one out.