Secret Voices is a project by Tim Motzer along with Italian electronics guru Enrico Marani. Together, they meddle through an hour long journey and create a cinematic work of enigmatic proportions. The four longish pieces [each clocking in around the 15 minute mark] extend ensemble's technique and push the boundaries just a bit further into "out-there" regions of ambient-instrumental territory. Each one features snippets of conversation and read poetry courtesy of various individuals. Ursula Rucker recites a lovely "I Am a Little Girl Again" on the sultry "What Can They Do?", while Elliot Levin recites some free-wheeling word dabbles on "To Be Perfectly?.Frank". If only to prove this is no pure ambient record, the band is heavy on the saxophones [played by Levin]. When he starts going, it's a free-for-all fest that features outstanding duo head-to-head with percussionist Jeremy Carlstedt. Though much of this music is calming, the words and flurry of instrumentation make things all too interesting to label this "sleep-inducing" music. Motzer's guitar loops reap intricate paths of wonder while stillness is rare when they're around. . Like a soundtrack to a film that's yet to be made, "No Time For Silence" evokes strong imagery that's rich in purpose and defining in mission. - Tom Sekowski (Gazeta)
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secret voices/no time for silence/1k recordings
a hypnotizing, intriguing listen, No Time For Silence is long stretches of electronica and avant-jazz supporting poem readings. But it's not entirely a beat coffeehouse type of affair. It often feels more like a David Lynch film, with Angelo Badalamenti-esque tones and timing. Plus electronic drums and feedback, that is. If that sounds terribly abrasive, it's not. Most of the rough edges are meant to serve the poetry, which is well-read, but also in a few different languages (Italian, Portuguese and English at least), which makes the timbre more charming than the words for the average monolingual listener. Each of the readers (Ursula Rucker, Rich Medina, Elliott Levin, Kalaf Angelo, Adriano Engelbrecht) is uniquely suited to the task. Clocking in at over an hour, there's an awful lot to take in, with poems varying in seriousness and tone. But if there's one issue with No Time For Silence, it's the lack of the poems themselves in the liner notes, which would seem a logical inclusion.
A rewarding experience.
In a fake Genre: post-post Grade: A --by Patrick Slevin (the Aquarian)
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textures upon textures of all things sonic. there's a lot going on in this music - elements of western classical, electronic, various ethnic traditions, pop, ambient, spoken words of absurd and sacred truths... amazingly it all exists and grows together in a beautifully clear sonic path. such imaginative music. I'm inspired by it and expect it to stay in my rotation for a long time
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