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by "Doctor Nerve" and the Sirius String Quartet, composed by Nick Dikovsky.
Cuniform Records, Silver Spring, U.S.A., 2000.
ISBN 2914342004

Reviewed by Curtis Bahn, iEAR Studios, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, U.S.A. E-mail: crb@rpi.edu


"Dr. Nerve:" Greg Anderson - bass, Leo Ciesa - drums, Nick Didkovsky - electric guitar, Yves Duboin - soprano sax, flute, Rob Henke - trumpet, Micheal Lytle - bass clarinet, and Kathleen Supove - keyboards.

Sirius String Quartet 1999 (Sections 1 and 3): Joyce Hammann, Mary Whitaker - violins, Ron Lawrence - viola, Tomas Ulrich - 'cello.

Sirius String Quartet 1997 (Section 2, recorded live at EREIA's premiere at the FIMAV '97 festival in Victoriaville, Quebec): Todd Reynolds, Liz Knowles - violins, Ron Lawrence - viola, Mary Wooten - 'cello.

EREIA was a huge undertaking and great accomplishment for composer/performer Nick Didkovsky, extending both his compositional voice and the limits of the ensemble "Dr. Nerve." The piece is written in three large sections, each with a number of smaller movements. The first is composed for the Sirius String Quartet alone, in the second and third sections Sirius is joined by "Dr. Nerve."

Starting with a folk-like, angular violin duo accompanied by pulsing handclaps, EREIA establishes the tight rhythmic language and canonical approach to layered complex textures found throughout the disk. The second movement of the first section, a halting, plaintive violin solo, begins to reveal the great dynamic and expressive range of the composition. The unison downbeat of the rhythmic assault of the third movement rips you out of your chair and leaves you romping through an odd-metered Stravinsky-esque landscape that stops as suddenly as it starts. The last movement in the first section, a slow sustained texture slowly rising into a warped odd-meter chaconne of sorts, in no way prepares us for what is to come next...

A screaming wall of full-band free improvisation introduces us to the texture of the second section where Dr. Nerve first joins the Sirius String Quartet. This second section pulses with the intensity of the live performance at EREIA's premiere at the FIMAV '97 festival in Victoriaville, Quebec. The choice of combining the live performance with the studio recordings of the first and third sections was an unusual decision, but an effective one. This section is a "conducted improvisation," consisting of solo and small ensemble improvisations punctuated by sections of material drawn from the first and third composed sections. All members of the ensemble deliver "Killer" solos with exceptional moments by Reynolds and Lytle. Clearly this section is enjoyed by all, and at times you can hear the reactions and laughter of the audience urging the music on.

The third section of EREIA is a through-composed movement for full ensemble, consisting now of Dr. Nerve and the Sirius String Quartet--1999 personnel. The section starts with a quiet sonic mass of long, smooth, slowly evolving tones now eerily devoid of the energy of the over-arching free solo statements we've grown accustomed to in the second section. The sound mass slowly climbs and grows increasingly dense in a process similar to the last movement of the first section. Finally, building to the top of a long musical arch, the ensemble remains on a single held sonority spilling over with a frothing frenzy of drums, bass clarinet, sax, and trumpet. The next movement, again featuring the multi-layered rhythmic approach we've seen throughout the work, culminates with a strong unison ensemble line soaring over a rhythmic ostinato in the cello, bass, piano and drums that grooves so hard you would swear it was almost a simple "back-beat" --until you try to tap your foot to it. This launches into a strong, regularly metric groove in the bass, cello and drum with a burning trumpet solo (I'm afraid to say its in 4/4, but it could be . . .) This extended movement travels through a wide range of characters; solo, ensemble and rhythmic textures featuring, among other treats, another intense violin solo by Todd Reynolds and a extended, screaming guitar solo by composer Didkovsky. The last movement rocks-out to an irregular, odd meter vamp in the bass, cello, bass clarinet and drums, with ever increasing canonical layers of strangely interlocking rhythmic strata, ultimately building to a wild trumpet solo--riding on top of the texture and holding on for dear life.

EREIA traverses a wide terrain of textures and material; insane left-footed eclectic, electric rhythmic grooves to quiet, detailed, introspective acoustic landscapes; grooving algorithmic compositional textures and carefully executed free improvisation; meticulously recorded live performance and energetic raucous studio productions. The mix of electronic sounds and processing with natural acoustic sounds in the second and third sections is masterful and clear; often leaving one to wonder which is which. The ensemble has the intensity and drive of a rock band--an unusual feat considering the technical difficulty of the music, much of which is generated through algorithmic compositional processes. Grooving on these extreme, angular multi-layered structures is a feat such as only Dr. Nerve (and friends in the Sirius String Quartets) can accomplish.