Album of the day: Jozef van Wissem – The Joy that Never Ends

Lovingly pinched from Tiny Mix Tapes: Dutch-born and New York-based lutenist Jozef Van Wissem is a rare breed of contemporary musician-composer whose work transcends the perceived boundaries of early music, minimalism, and folk traditions toward something quite unique.

His compositions have subverted fellow practitioners of early European lute music, rearranging and using collage to add his own curious stamp to preexisting musical forms, as well as employing taped field recordings, electro-acoustic devices, overdubs, and working with improvisers (including guitarist Tetuzi Akiyama and visionary figure Keiji Haino).

Whereas his first disc for Important (2010’s Ex Patris) was fairly unadorned, on The Joy that Never Ends he’s joined on six original, layered compositions by vocalist Jeanne Madic and the feedback constructions of Jim Jarmusch (yes, that one). In modern music there are precedents — somewhat, anyway — for van Wissem’s work, like the multivalent and lush minimal anthems of the French duo of guitarists Vincent Le Masne and Bertrand Porquet, who were also quite heavily influenced by the harmonies of early string music.

The opening title track features cyclical motions set against harmonic flecks, giving a decidedly strong beat to van Wissem’s ornate variations. Madic recites the texts of Anglican mystic Julian of Norwich’s Sixteen Revelations of Divine Love in a breathy, slightly seductive alto, which grants the piece an affinity, however slight, for darkwave confection.

Continue reading: Jozef van Wissem – The Joy that Never Ends | Music Review | Tiny Mix Tapes.

Tags: Album of the day, Clifford Allen, Important Records, Jozef Van Wissem, The Joy that Never Ends, Tiny Mix Tapes

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 7th, 2011 at 1:45 pm and is filed under 2011, Album of the Day, Roadburn Recommended . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.