This three-track CD-R is a solo outing wherein Mr. Graham is credited only with trumpet, so I assume no effects were used. Which makes sense, since all three compositions basically sound like raw recordings of the faint, misplaced dispersal of air through a trumpet, then jacked up in volume (or maybe mic'd really close) to be made slightly more audible. So what does that mean? It's sparse. It's minimal. There's not a lot of variety. It basically sounds like short wisps of air, slightly shrill high-end notes, a few areas where percussive motions are made either on the trumpet or Forbes' person to alter the delivery of the textures, and a couple of drone-ish "notes" that are almost touching on some melody (mainly in the last track). Track titles like "Escape", "Things Are Hard Now", and "Wind Citizens" are actually pretty suggestive, which I enjoy, but sadly the actual music is not emotive at all for me. The CD-R comes in a small jewel case with a simple sleeve printed from a home printer, and that's that. I don't know what else to say, really. I imagine he was going for some sort of artistic and avant-garde take on experimental music, and I have no doubt that he could create some interesting music in using this approach, but these three tracks aren't it, you know? Perhaps some layering might make things more interesting? Maybe utilizing more dynamics or trying to further manipulate the instrument through other atypical means would yield more effective tonalities? I'm not sure. I hate to be so critical, and I guess it's possible that I just don't "get it", but... I'm not very interested in this particular effort. Sorry.
[self-released]
Running time - 13:17, Tracks: 3
[Notable tracks: all three are fairly similar to one another]
Forbes Graham - http://www.polyrhythmatics.net
