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Andrew Liles
Black Widow

Beta-lactam Ring Records

Posted: Wednesday, July 25, 2007
By: Matthew Johnson
Features Editor

Part Four in The Vortex Vault series ongoing series of rarities and collaborative works, Black Widow sees Andrew Liles bringing in a couple of guest vocalists: Urdu professor Dr. Malik and Italian cult performer Ernesto Tomasini. An eclectic mixture of Urdu, Italian, and English draws the album together in a loose thematic arrangement, while Liles' arrangements and studio work ensure an ongoing sense of eclecticism. Instrument choices range from primitive to classical; "To Maim a Donkey, Part I" starts things off with a bit of thumb piano, but just as you prepare yourselves for an exploration of African themes, "Bengali Bergman" takes things in a radically different direction, merging the classical traditions of East and West in the form of sitar and cello. Voice also plays a prominent role; "Uncle Alf" is a mysterious little narrative piece—like a Ligotti short story, it's somehow both innocuous and chilling—set to gently ringing ambient tones, for example, and "Dove I (Noodles and Cheese)" layers Italian speech over humming vibraphone. Only one selection, "To Maim a Donkey, Part III," is built around actual singing in the conventional sense. It's a sort of operatic nugget about... well, maiming a donkey. Conceptually, it should be offensive to opera fans and donkeys alike, but in practice, it's ridiculous enough that only the most humorless and ardent supporters of either could possibly take umbrage. Lyrics aside, Tomasini's vocal range on the piece is uncanny; he sings both the English and Italian parts, in tenor and falsetto, respectively, and sounds for all the world like two separate people. Dr. Malik's contributions, on the other hand, are dry and rather mumbling, but this too is surprisingly effective in places; "Dove II (Hoodle on a Plinth)" is particularly gorgeous. With nothing more than quiet speech and understated pianos, it achieves a subtle loveliness that recalls Current 93's Soft Black Stars crossed with a Punjabi graduate school seminar. At first listen, there's not a lot holding these tracks together, but Tomasini's campy performance and Malik's businesslike narration manage to pull things together in an unlikely cohesion. In any case, it provides further fuel for thought to Liles' already eccentric output and makes a welcome addition to The Vortex Vault.