from THE WIRE, April 2007

The Beige Channel
Autumn Rain In The Yard
Happy New Year CD

New York composer Michael V Farley, aka The Beige Channel, has been creating improvised recordings since the late 1980's.  Since the release of his excellent third album, Plain Vanilla, in 2004, he has adopted a daughter, Mia, from China.  Inspired by the improvisations that occurred when he sat the 17 month old infant in front of the piano - "She played clusters, single notes and little melodies.  She played in the high and low registers of the instrument.  Sometimes she paused to interject spontaneous vocalisations" - Farley recorded the improvisations on video camera.  Later, taking the audio files from the camera and recording them onto his computer, he set about creating new works entirely sourced from the sounds of Mia at the piano.

The result is a varied pastiche of manipulated electronics and glitches that sometimes disguise the fact that they are derived from a piano at all, as they modulate through Farley's icy, fricative terrain.  Elsewhere, more human elements creep to the foreground: resonating single notes, random giggles and the thumping of made-up chords.

The self-explanatory final track, "Original Unedited Improv," features Mia letting loose on the piano, and is an interesting insight into the foundation of Farley's improvisations, which retain the same spirit of playfulness and enthusiasm that his daughter discovered when punching the keys.

Mia Clarke