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QOA: Sauco review | John Lewis's contemporary album of the month
From the meditative serenity of waterfalls, birdsong and pulsing animal heartbeats to galloping tribal drums and rave-like samples, this is a pleasingly random collage
Think of Olivier Messiaen or Ottorino Respighi transcribing birdsong and arranging it for orchestra, George Crumb’s whale music, the percussionists of the Congo basin, making complex polyrhythms from splashing river surfaces, or Trilok Gurtu immersing his drums and cymbals into buckets of water. Senna, with its slowly unfolding drones, is as close as we get to meditation music; for contrast it’s followed by Anartia and Zafiro del Talar, all galloping tribal drums, martial synth riffs and rave-like samples. Once you get over Shaw’s rather blank RP mezzosoprano and the intrusive beats, some of this is quite haunting: in particular the wineglass drones of the Gertrude Stein-influenced And So, the vibraphone-assisted waltz The Parting Glass and the wonderfully jerky Like a Drum.
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