Tag: Mike Wistow

Seven Crows is the artistic name used by Chris Muphy, a Los Angeles violinist, composer and loop artist. To expand on the latter point, Powers of Observation is an instrumental album built entirely from the electric (five-string) violin. It’s Murphy’s/Seven Crows’ second album following critical acclaim for Secrets of Navigation in 2023. As previously, Murphy builds on elements from classical, from jazz, from world, from electronic traditions and blends them into an album which, initially, is best described as ambient.

The description though is insufficient. Let me digress for a paragraph. Hearing and smell are the two senses most capable of transporting us to recollections of other places, other times. A tune, even a few bars, can act as a Tardis to something that has happened previously and we stay there for a few short seconds or for long minutes, our current time and space transformed in how we experience it as we become overwhelmed by memory and association.

‘Ambient’ then …..while I can use the word as an introductory description for Powers of Observation, it is lacking as the album captures for me a range of moods, drawing on my recollections of ambiences as disparate as the classical music of Fauré or the modern desert music of 3hattrio.

Murphy’s own musical background is diverse. Though based in Los Angels now, he was born into an Irish-Italian family near New York City and grew up influenced by his neighbours’ traditional folk music before discovering rock ’n’ roll, notably the more exploratory artists such as Lou Reed, Ry Cooder, Bob Dylan, and Richard Thompson. He later studied Turkish and Indian music at College and then composition at Boston’s New England Conservatory. He played a range of instruments before fixing on the violin and the loop pedal, exploring their combined ability to create sound that is layered, looped, plucked as well as bowed, percussive as well as languid, mystical as well as picaresque.

Have a listen for yourself, you will draw different feelings to mine. As Murphy says, “Instrumental music is challenging because I’m asking you to come on a journey with me, but I’m not telling you where you’re going.”

Mike Wistow

Artist’s website: https://www.sevencrowsmusic.com

‘Longing’ – official video: