"Tesseract picks up where If Not Now left off, and follows that album's psychedelic, quasi-orchestral landscapes all the way out to their dark horizons. Like its predecessor, Tesseract occupies a monumental scale, swelling over two CDs. Her shimmering cascades of treated strings remain a crucial element, yet there's newfound volatility and a steadfast commitment to investigating texture here. Bates' vocabulary within the noise sphere is impressive and evocative; in her hands it proves to be just as malleable and expressive as any other technique in her repertoire. There are certainly moments of bluster and friction, but Bates makes use of the full spectrum available within the domain of pure sound. Her distant creaks and dim crackling pull the listener deeper into her gradually blooming structures, as other textural passages engender a sense of intrigue or suspension. It's a welcome and disquieting contrast to the threads of bowed lyricism that link these six pieces.
Bates' melodic material is more kaleidoscopic than ever on Tesseract too, thanks to her unique resourcefulness with electronics. Listeners do hear violin—there are several gorgeous sections where its natural timbre comes into focus—but they also witness it transforming into everything from a waterlogged piano to distant celestial bells, and from a pipe organ to string orchestra".
- Nick Storring / Riparian Media
released June 2, 2023
Meredith Bates - Processed Violin, Voice, and Found Objects
sound of wind in the trees and waves on the ocean:
earth's breathing. the pulse and breath of communal life.
joy is sparked like stars in the night skv.
tender like birdsong. like womankind.
tension disrupting complacency. push. challenge. engage.
reflect. go deeper. deviate. defy.
love is the only way.
With special thanks to my family and friends.
Thanks to Chris Gestrin at Phonometrograph and
Amélie Malissard at ActArtMgt. Thanks to the
Fallowship. I appreciate you so much.
Recorded September 10th, 2021 and August 30th,
2022 by John Raham at Afterlife Studios
+ February 23rd, 2023 at Public Alley 421 by Chris Gestrin
Edited, mixed and mastered by Chris Gestrin
Cover photo by Melvin Yap (
www.eastvanguard.com)
Graphic design/layout by Meredith Bates and Chris Gestrin