BREE VAN REYK & NICK WALES – HAPPY AS LARRY

Bree Van Reyk and Nick Wales are musical jacks of all trades. Van Reyk is a respected indie drummer and experimental orchestral percussionist. Teaming up with quietly brilliant composer/producer Nick Wales, the pair have produced a score for Shaun Parker’s  new dance work (recently showcased at Sydney Festival 2010). Their music is beguilingly effective, both in the accompaniment to the tumbling, visceral and playful dance work, and in its own right as a soundtrack album. The textures of Bree and Nick’s music skim from lonely orchestral solos to squelchy, cut-n-paste break-beats, and meandering in the eerie spaces in between these extremes. The wintery rain-drop percussion and electronics of Sweetyheart recalls in tantalising measures Decoder Ring’s innovative score for Somersault, and the sweeping violin solo Basketball is breathtaking, for its raw simplicity and the astounding stamina of the soloist Veronique Serret, who leaps effortlessly from arpeggio to arpeggio. In its fractured, at times psychotic mixes of style and colour, this is a very whole work and maintains a level of lyrical beauty throughout, pervaded by an undefinable deep sadness. This is a rare treat, as Happy As Larry successfully transcends its roots to make a great album.

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