‘For / Not For John Cage’ is not a ‘tribute’ album in the conventional sense, and it’s most certainly not a ‘covers’ album. It is, however, inspired by John Cage, and represents Lawrence English’s acknowledgement of his debt to the composer. The title would appear to refer to Cage’s working methods in their utilisation of I Ching to decide which option to take when choices presented themselves, although the starting point for the project was in fact one of Cage’s more obscure works, the soundtrack to the film ‘One11’.
The disc contains nine tracks: eight listed, titled pieces and one untitled piece at the end, which spans 15 minutes. The sounds are sparse yet cinematic, slow and droning, yet at the same time soft, warm and expansive. Silence, too, plays its part: there are spaces between the tracks, and English makes full use of the dynamic range available to him, with extensive passages that one has to pay close attention to in order to discern sound, before slowly vaporous washes slowly begin to rise.
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An engaging and fitting homage to the avant-garde master, ‘For / Not For John Cage’ shows English to be an extremely articulate composer in his own right.
Lawrence English Online
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