Mike Cooper here with Oceans of Milk and Treacle (ROOM 40 RM4176), the latest in what be perceived as a series of records expressing his ideas and ruminations about the Pacific and South-East Asian zones he knows so well, and political-ecological-historical dimensions of same…on last record Playing With Water, also released by this label, he raised some very serious concerns about global warming and its concomitant effects, such as storms, floods, rising sea levels and changes in the weather.
Today’s record is equally critical, and even more multi-dimensional. For one thing, Cooper would like you to perceive it as the soundtrack to a film, and while a lot of musicians like to claim their concept album is an imaginary movie, not everyone has the imagination, intelligence and depth of experience of Cooper. To put it more plainly, he knows what he’s talking about, and there is indeed a tremendous amount of conviction and implied information contained not only in the fine music, but also the assembly and programming of the ambient and field recordings he captured in various Asian and Australasian locales. Underpinning it all are some critical ideas about colonialism and education, which I can’t really attempt to summarise, but suffice to say he presents a convincing case, mainly by drawing on diverse sources that show how our understanding of world culture has developed over the last 200 years or so.
Joining Cooper on this record are a number of guest players – saxophonists Tim Hill, Aaron Hawkins, Geoff Hawkins, and even Lol Coxhill, plus UK improvisers Roger Turner on percussion and Viv Corringham on voice. Long-time fans will recall that Cooper, Coxhill and Turner played together as The Recedents, though I had no idea they did it for over 20 years, or that there’s a five-disc box set collecting their work…Cooper himself plays everything else in sight, including the Brazilion viola ciapira, koto, double bass, and percussion, but it’s his work on the steel guitars that will delight many sensible listeners. In terms of virtuoso guitar playing and thoughtful assembly of musical / sonic information into what amounts to an audio thesis of sorts (encompassing subjects such as history, place, religion and colonialism), Cooper is now easily the equal of Fred Frith; I’m thinking of his collaged cross-platform records such as The Technology of Tears, and Step Across The Border. From 11th January 2022.