Xenocodex

The Soldier String Quartet give a strong performance of two works that Elliott Sharp composed in the first half of the '90s. The first, "X-Topia," was commissioned for the 1994 Ars Electronica Linz. Using a real-time MIDI control called Buchla Thunder, and M software, Elliott Sharp samples and transfigures (processes and loops) sounds of the quartet while they play, creating an electroacoustic piece out of the string quartet's live performance. The result is a sawing, sonic swirl that thins out from a wider beginning, even while remaining insistently dramatic. The second composition, "Intifada," was composed in 1992 for Munich's Radical Jewish Music Festival. The many sections of this "series of snapshots" and moods include string drones riddled with punctuated holes of guitar sounds, Sharp accompanying the quartet with busy clarinet soloing, and a variety of textured parts. A successful and enjoyable work from Elliott Sharp.