Artificial Dance

by Savant

Overview

A year after anthologizing the late-'70s/early-'80s solo output of Seattle-based new age/ambient musician K. Leimer, RVNG Intl. rediscovered his less prolific side project Savant, compiling its entire discography (plus three newer tracks) as Artificial Dance. Over a dozen musicians contributed to the project, but rarely were any two of them in the same room simultaneously, as Leimer recorded their performances individually and shaped them into his own studio experiments. Many of the musicians were told to play instruments out of their respective comfort zones, resulting in offbeat rhythms and slightly disconnected loops. Numerous found objects are used as percussion, such as wood, clay, and metallics, and Leimer even plays a buzz saw on "The Radio." The music clearly sounds like a product of the early-'80s experimental underground, but with more of an atmospheric, experimental funk bent, a la Material or early Golden Palominos, than a noisy, industrial one. The earth-conscious grooves combined with tape-manipulated spoken word excerpts (particularly on tracks such as "The Neo-Realist" and "Knowledge and Action") recall Eno and Byrne's classic collaboration My Life in the Bush of Ghosts. "Stationary Dance," the A-side of the group's 1981 12" debut, mixes a hard funk rhythm with distant vocals and demonstration record snippets that seem to be manipulated via tape in a similar manner to how a DJ would chop them up on a turntable. The sprawling, rainforest-like "Heart of Stillness" is much more abstract and formless. The 21st century recordings pick up where the vintage ones left off, with an upgrade in sound quality being the only noticeable difference, if any. The tracks that make up Artificial Dance seem purposefully disjointed, and not all of it works, but as a whole, the release is certainly of interest to anyone fascinated by '80s avant-garde rock. ~ Paul Simpson

Product Details

Release Date:	09/04/2015
Label:	RVNG INT'L
UPC:	0798295512352

Tracks

Disc 1

1. Using Words
2. Indifference
3. The Neo-Realist
4. Shadow in Deceit
5. The Shining Hour
6. Knowledge and Action
7. Heart of Stillness

Disc 2

8. Stationary Dance
9. Sensible Music
10. Deceit in Passion
11. The Radio
12. Facility
13. Falling at Two Speeds
14. Fault Index

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Savant   Primary Artist
Bob Weston   Tape
Roy Finch   Vocals
Scott Colbourne   Tape
David Keller   Guitar
Marc Barreca   Tape
Dennis Rea   Bass,Guitar,Percussion
Kevin Hodges   Drums,Percussion
Kerry Leimer   Bass,Tape,Piano,Guitar,Clavinet,Percussion,Synthesizer,Guitar (Bass)
Dorothy Cross   Vocals
Alex Pettit   Bass Lute,Guitar (Bass)
Charles Bronson   Drums,Percussion
John Foster   Vocals

Technical Credits

Bob Weston   Mastering,Transfers
Scott Colbourne   Transfers
Marc Barreca   Composer
Dennis Rea   Composer
Tom Collicott   Cover Photo
Kerry Leimer   Mixing,Effects,Composer,Engineer,Producer
Dorothy Cross   Copy Editing
Marianna Houston   Copy Editing
Zonder Titel   Copy Editing
Cam Gerrett   Photography
Aaron Leitko   Liner Notes