Martin Archer & Jan Todd

Right now I’m listening to the brand new record Private View by Martin Archer and Jan Todd. Been looking forward to his one very much and it doesn’t disappoint. This is one of those albums that seems to have created a whole unique universe for the listener to enter and explore. The whole sound of the record is remarkably beautiful, a rich immersive sonic experience full of subtle detail. The range of music you could reference trying to describe this is vast – jazz, folk, mediaeval, electronic, musique concrete, prog – I could go on, but this is anything but a hotch potch. Everything is beautifully integrated, and every musical gesture, though sometimes surprising, feels absolutely right and almost inevitable. The painterly approach implied by the title seems a very helpful way to approach this wonderful work. This is music to spend time with, to really immerse yourself in. It’s deep in more ways than one, full of mystery, and an intoxicating strangeness. Can’t think of anything else like it. I love it.  – Martin Pyne, Bandcamp UK Jazz & Improvised Music

Some time ago, Marin Archer and Jan ‘frostlake’ Todd decided to record a series of pieces on which they would play all the instruments themselves, which should be somewhat different from the music they had played on their previous joint projects (Orchestra of the Upper Atmosphere, Fjall). No sooner said than done. Over many months, sound files were exchanged, which the other supplemented or completed. The result was 12 numbers that were recently released on CD by Discus Music and are the focus of this review. On “Private View”, Todd and Archer (Todd’s husband Terry can only be heard as a guest once) present a ‘collection of songs and instrumental works’ (the subtitle) created in the period 2022-24, in which each number was also assigned to (or inspired by) a more or less well-known painting. These are (in this order): “Concentric Circles” by Wassily Kandinsky, “Still life with apples” by Paul Cezanne, “Starry Night” by Vincent Van Gogh, “Matamue” by Paul Gauguin, “Les Demoiselles D’Avignon” by Pablo Picasso, “Impression Sunrise” by Claude Monet, “Danseuses Blue” by Edgar Degas, “Ophelia” by John Everett Millais, “Action Painting” by Jackson Pollock, “Hammamet” by Paul Klee, “La Grande Jatte” by Georges Seurat and “Ready Mades” by Marcel Duchamp. The result is a very sonorous collection of compact, but multi-layered sound images, in which you can definitely recognize the corresponding painting, which mix folk, electronics, a few jazzy tracks and free-format music into a homogeneous whole. The two protagonists have used a large number of sound generators, blowers, plucked music, keyboards, percussion, various effect devices, which provides variety and color. In addition, there is often the mysterious, breathy singing of Jan Todd. Sometimes elegiac and carried, sometimes freely scurrying, sometimes mightily surging, sometimes diagonally plingen, sometimes cosmically reverberating, sometimes retro-symphonic honking, sometimes mighty rumbling, sometimes electronically wafting, the sounds glide along, mixed and instrumented differently in each number. The music remains more on the quiet and melodic side of the sound spectrum. In other words, it never gets really weird, even if what is on offer is quite unconventional and uncommercial. “Private View” is basically a refined distillate of the music of Archer and Todd (which can be found on the albums of frostlake, Orchestra of the Upper Atmosphere and Fjall), fascinatingly sonorous, profound, very colorful, which often exudes a certain mysterious-mystical atmosphere (probably because of the ethereal singing of Todd), at the same time glides along very densely and voluminously produced. Impressive! – Achim Brieling BABYBLAUE SEITEN https://www.babyblaue-seiten.de/album_21826.html#oben

This latest Martin Archer and Jan Todd collaboration is an intriguing proposition in that they attempt to emulate, by way of sound, the images of certain classic works of art. With just the two of them on an array of esoteric instruments including electric pencil sharpener, frog guiro, saxello and waterphone, they cover the most extraordinary textural ground and encompass works from the likes of Kandinsky, Pollock, Picasso and Monet. A clear labour of love, the pair bounced ideas backwards and forwards, editing down until twelve diverse and thought-provoking pieces emerged. Ancient and modern converge on this album with electronic treatments engaging with the acoustic instrumentation and generally they move gently together. Jan’s wordless voice on the opener “Concentric” interweaves with the instruments as they are chosen and introduced. “Five Words”, which started the whole process off, is atmospheric and sparse; the odd digital effect and voice a curious combination but one that works. The use of melodica is a treat and there is a real closeness, a sense of intimacy which runs through the album. Where some tracks are a little reticent, others definitely have energy and momentum and the voice becomes stronger for that; but the sequencing keeps us guessing as to how the artworks will have affected the players. “Matamua” is a more speculative collection of sounds, dreamy vocal joined by joyful saxello and proggy synth-bass, while the roiling electronic backdrop of “Soleil Levant”, with its harp accompaniment, is suffused with insinuation. The impressionistic wash also contains an air of tension; but these are the sensations that art can induce in the viewer and Martin and Jan have done well to pass these on to the listener. “Danseuses” is diffuse, its reverbed steel pan setting it awash in a sea of shimmering lightness, while the electronic fireworks of “Self Portrait” soar through the stratosphere, its contrails drifting and collapsing. There is much movement here and much light and shade; in fact everything you could want from a trip around an art gallery, moving from the impending drama of “La Jatte” to the slow journey through a darkening desert of “Hammamet”. Private View is a carefully curated and beautifully produced series of pieces that are lovely to listen to; but it is also interesting to find images of the artworks and see whether your mind’s eye conjures up similar impressions. – Mr Olivetti, FREQ https://freq.org.uk/reviews/archer-todd-private-view/

Right up front, I have to say Private View is one of the most interesting releases of recent vintage on Discus Music, combining many different musical elements into something entirely new and unpredictable, and it’s thoroughly satisfying….. Since there are only two composers and players in most cases, the pieces seem more composed than improvised, and when there is improvisation, it’s more planned as opposed to free, with plenty of structure to build on. There are some powerful pieces here like “Ophelia’s Lament,” “Matamua,” “La Jatte,” and “Le Soleil Levant” to offer just four examples out of the twelve tracks on hand, each offering a unique view into some beautiful, magical electro-acoustic soundworld that exists only in this place, in this brief moment. Todd certainly has a lovely voice, and when overlaid with the acoustic and electronic instrumentation, I am sometimes reminded of Dead Can Dance — remember them? But Private View is far less dark and infinitely more interesting. – Peter Thelen, EXPOSÉ http://expose.org/index.php/articles/display/martin-archer-jan-todd-private-view-3.html