60 Buddhas

Chronique

The members of the string quintet Instrumental collaborate both as composers and as performers of their material, which tends toward pattern pieces and dance explorations. 60 Buddhas, the ensemble's 2004 release, is infused with techno and house rhythms, inspired by experiences with the Ibizan club scene, and strongly influenced by Steve Reich, Philip Glass, and Michael Nyman. Since this hybrid music is unabashedly pop-oriented and aimed at a crossover audience, it may be taken at face value as a fairly arty amalgamation of 1990s dance styles and minimalism, but little more than that. There are hints of Reich in the energetic Piano, a little Baroque pastiche in Bathtime, a current of a vaguely Glassian melancholy in Lachrymosa, and an interesting use of electronics in the Nyman-esque dance piece Spacefish; these are the most distinctive tracks. Duno, It'll Come, and Ising are less striking or memorable, and the closing chill-out composition 60 Buddhas is the blandest offering and an odd choice for a title work. Violinists Catherine Browning and Brian Wright, violist Sally Ward, cellist Andy Nice, and double-bassist Andy Waterworth are all competent and expressive enough, within their music's limited parameters. But this album is a middling affair, with too much obvious derivation and too little originality. Quartz's sound is quite boosted, so the volume bears checking.
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