Enthusiasts may have seen Inner Voice on TV, the documentary by Babeth M. VanLoo that was broadcast in 2009 by the Buddhist Broadcasting Foundation. The documentary showed singers and musicians ascending a spiral movement along the spiral staircase of a tower. Even the entire landscape (in Sonoma County, California) was included in this 'total work of art'. The music from this Tower Circle Song
… Project, here on CD, reaffirms that Meredith Monk's sound language has remained almost constant over the last decades. Irony has, however, made way for reflection. The voice acrobatics is still there, but it is entirely in the service of the ritual that is performed here. Meredith Monk has literally sung herself away from minimal music: the minimalist techniques are no more than a pleasant tapestry of sound above which the singers can move freely. It is mainly the soloists who allow themselves to be seduced to spectacular improvisations. However, the whole is of a moving simplicity that is more timeless than contemporary. (HJ)more
