Variance

Artists

Album Info

Release Date: 2015

Label: 1980 Records

Fred Longberg-Holm’s Variance is a string of sketches on a theme, stretching across the bridge of his cello and onto the talismanic tape––brought to you by Chicago’s beloved 1980 Records & Tapes. Top-ten-listed on everyone’s Underground Who’s Who? list, Longberg-Holm is acclaimed for his tangential and improvisational Lightbox Orchestra, his expeditious cello-work, and incalculable collaborations. Variance is a series of mechanical impersonations and interpretations on the bassiest strings of the violin family. Longberg-Holm’s cello is as malleable as a piece of stone under a sculptor’s hands, he not only contorts and collides with the fingerboard but extends the resonant and percussive qualities of the instrument. Variance consists of variations on a theme of mechanical energy, of steaming pipes screeching under pressure, of combustion engines under the hood of a tractor, of the polyrhythmic rounds of axles and rotors. Longberg-Holm’s playing is drastic, spanning from the electronic deconstructions of a cello phrase to the acoustic thumping and rapid drumming of the strings. For Fred Longberg- Holm, the cello is a cello, a chisel, a flute, and a tom-tom.
The track “Variance 2 (The No and Then Variations)”––the longest track of the album––is intricately tied to its predecessor, “Variance 1”, subtly working with what seems to be the same source information but purposefully averting any reference to. Both “Variance 1” and “Variance 2 (The No and Then Variations)” pulsate with a phrase that is nearly obliterated with hand-made and modded pedals. The recordings are intimate with the clicks of pedals being engaged and disengaged. The cello is indistinguishable at first, but its processing is slowly manipulated and sometimes stripped away enough to hear the bowed phrase with clarity.

The timbres achieved throughout Variance is something to take note of. Fred Longberg-Holm tackles a number of strange and unique sounds from his cello. The track ”Variance 5” comes to points in the recording where we questioned whether there was a flute in the mix or not. The sound is air-filled and tenuous, gliding through notes unlike any set of strings you’ve ever heard. The aptly titled “Variance 8 (Thumper)” beats along like a tripped out drummer who is a little rusty with their thrumming. The dull rattle in the recording is a surrogate snare drum while the strings are fifth-intervaled toms that can never seem to reach their full envelope. For Fred Longberg-Holm, the cello is a synthesizer and its strings are elastic. Variance is an eloquent series of contemplations that evolve and morph seamlessly on their own as the orchestra emerges from the f-hole.