Alison Cotton: All Is Quiet At The Ancient Theatre
Bloxham Tapes
It would be hard to imagine a more satisfying representation of Alison Cotton as a solo artist than All is Quiet at the Ancient Theatre, the seventh release from Bloxham Tapes and her debut solo appearance on the London, UK label. Cotton is perhaps best known as one-half of the psychedelic folk act The Left Outsides (also a member of The Trimdon Grange Explosion and sometime contributor to the United Bible Studies collective), but this thirty-five-minute outing presents her as a solo producer of uncommon integrity and clear-minded purpose.
As one would expect, viola, her primary instrument, figures prominently, but the sound design is broadened by vocals, recorder, percussion, and (what sounds like) harmonium. Rich and timeless, the cassette's five acoustic settings (described in the press release as improvised recordings) could conceivably have been recorded yesterday or a hundred years ago, a quality that lends extra resonance to the ‘ancient' detail in the title.
The title cut opens the recording with a ten-minute meditation, Cotton's unadorned viola phrases grounded by the extended drone of the harmonium, wail of the recorder, and haunted wordless expressions. Gradually the sound field deepens as each instrument joins the swelling mass, the interweave strengthened when both viola and vocal phrases multiply and the result mesmerizing in effect. Originally presented on Rural Colours' 2017 Pauline Oliveros tribute compilation of the same name, “The Last Sense to Leave Us” perpetuates the tone of the opening track in draping sawing viola, wordless vocal chants, harmonium, and recorder across a droning base.
All is Quiet at the Ancient Theatre is at its most stripped-down on “36 Dramatic Situations,” a sombre dirge that features Cotton's stirring viola playing only, albeit in multi-layered formation. Yet as uniformly powerful as the recording is, “The Bells of St. Agnes” stands out as a particularly affecting folk lamentation, attributable in part to the fact that Cotton sings actual lyrics on the piece. After an intro of multi-layered wordless harmonies, the song proper establishes itself with Cotton recounting a lovelorn tale in song, her heartfelt vocal expressions echoed in response by stately viola and percussion punctuations. No concessions to commerciality are made here or elsewhere, and Cotton's release is all the better for it.September 2018