NEW SOUNDS: Weekly Music Roundup: CGS, Kendrick, & Roomful of Teeth
NEW SOUNDS: Weekly Music Roundup: CGS, Kendrick, & Roomful of Teeth
BY JOHN SCHAEFER
"Roomful of Teeth is an astonishing vocal octet based in NY that works closely with lots of contemporary composers and incorporates all manner of unusual vocal techniques – overtone singing, for example, and traditional sounds from places as varied as East Asia and Appalachia. They’ve just released a luminous new single for Christmas: an arrangement (by Teeth tenor Eric Dudley) of the Renaissance German hymn “Es Ist Ein Ros Entsprungen,” usually translated as “Lo, How A Rose E’er Blooming” but which they’ve re-titled “How A Rose.” There are no unusual effects needed, because Roomful Of Teeth recorded this song (in the heat of the summer) at the Tank Center For Sonic Arts in Colorado. The Tank was probably a water tower for a proposed rail line, but is now a super-reverberant place for music and other art projects. The circular metal tower bounces sound for up to 45 seconds, meaning that when you’re singing verse #2, you might still be accompanied by your performance of verse #1. Such a venue rewards slow, spare music-making, and that’s what Roomful Of Teeth provide. Their reward is a glowing, floating recording that will clear a space in your busy holiday."