jessica hallock
*stupid* beautiful, some deep dark churn, the noise-iest & heart-rendery-est & widest-ranging work i've heard from roberts // consider this the heaviest vouch, you'll love it hard
Josiah Sytsma
Mariel’s technique is exquisite and her creativity shines on this album! The mastering is excellent, definitely a favorite and there’s no wait to catch the excitement. This album is captivating from its onset and maintains its interest throughout
Armament was created as a series of unedited improvised pieces for cello and pedals, reflecting not only Mariel Roberts’ extraordinary abilities as a cellist, but also a profoundly unique creative voice responding to a deeply troubled environment. “The tone of the material, and the title, reflect what was going on both globally and personally for me at the time,” Mariel writes. “The idea of an "armament" is a collection of weapons, and when I chose that title I was thinking about how nearly everything feels weaponized right now- things that should not be weapons are being used as such.”
Harshness and fragility are key elements to Roberts’ music. While Armament represents a dark, intense experience, its extended-technique cello performances sounding alien, thunderous, disturbing and often like anything but cello, beneath the controlled, distressed, nihilistic miasma lies a very human heart. Foggy, gloomy passages roll by with gaseous coldness, sometimes pricking the ear with minute insect chirrups, sometimes gathering into powerful, momentous tidal waves of sound. But thematic throughout the album are moments that reveal a longing for peace amidst the chaos, rewarding a deep and close listen. Contrasting elements are set against each other to push and explore, resulting in minimal, spare near-silence swallowed into overwhelming black holes of noise (such as in “Hoard”), and explosive, painful ferocity suddenly yielding to plaintive, elegiac melancholy (such as in “Interlude”). “Armament can be perceived as both static and full of motion,” Mariel offers.
credits
released February 5, 2021
Music written, performed, and produced by Mariel Roberts
Recorded by Ohad Talmor at Jardim Iolanda, São Paolo Brazil, August 2019
Mixed and Mastered by Patrick Higgins at Future-Past Studio in Hudson, NY
Art and Design by Alexander Perrelli, Layout by Emma Van Deun
With deepest gratitude to Denis Lee, whose generosity, enthusiasm, and support made this album possible
American cellist Mariel Roberts is widely recognized not just for her “virtuosic” performances, but as a “fearless explorer”
(Chicago Reader) in her field. Her ravenous appetite for collaboration and experimentation as an interpreter, improvisor, and composer have helped create a body of work which bridges avant-garde, contemporary, jazz, classical, and traditional music....more
Composition in spite of traditionalism. A sonic abrasion and proof that contemporary classical music is interesting, engaging and intoxicating. jiristepan
Verisimilitude was at the top of my "Top Ten Records of 2017".
https://www.poisonpie.com/publishing/reviews/text/musicreview_2017.html
Can't wait for the vinyl version to arrive. Hebeloma Crustuliniforme