Many houses of worship offer two distinct types of services. Traditional ceremonies appeal to people who prefer convention. Contemporary rituals are attended by churchgoers receptive to volume and verve.
In a similar fashion, Techno Chapel, an album in two halves released by Seth Andrew Davis in February, contains separate sounds for congregants who worship one or the other side of improvised electro-acoustic music.
The first forty minutes favor the unplugged aspect of the equation. Flute, violin, cello, saxophone and vibraphone are among the elements dominating electronic gadgetry in the six-part suite recorded live in Kansas City in 2019.
The gentle side of Seth Andrew Davis, the co-founder of Kansas City’s Extemporaneous Music and Arts Society, is a rapturous surprise. Much of the first half of Techno Chapel echoes the most ethereal passages of Claude Debussy’s 1902 opera “Pelléas et Mélisande.”
Davis emphasizes confrontational sounds on a thorough remix of the suite in Techno Chapel’s second half. The acoustic elements are metastasized into hums, buzzes and murmurs. Although only portions are terribly abrasive, the remix is a heretical counterpoint to Davis’ subtly sanctified gospel.