A classical composer signed to experimental UK label Warp, US pianist Kelly Moran has more in her fingers than mere canonical elegance. She has accompanied Oneohtrix Point Never and FKA twigs on tour; her previous works were often for prepared piano.
Moran’s second full-length for Warp was conceived in lockdown. In early 2020, Yamaha loaned her a Disklavier – a modern version of the ghostly “player piano”, a programmable real instrument – to help her prepare a collaboration. Moran seized the opportunity to experiment. She created a version of herself with more fingers and a greater handspan. On Moves in the Field, she duets with this augmented version of herself. These 10 tracks feature what sometimes sounds like one pianist running rings around the other. Superhuman, where Disklavier Moran pirouettes around flesh-and-bone Moran, finds the Disklavier phrases fractalling out into digital-sounding stutters. Dancer Polynomials and Leitmotif suggest systems music being played alongside traditional composition.
Moves in the Field is named after foundational figure-skating forms, and there is a sense here of Moran honouring poise and classicism – some of her considered strokes evoke Erik Satie – while creating unachievable counterpoints. The greatest satisfaction is that she does not jump the shark: everything here is possible-sounding, humanistic and full of emotion; only slightly uncanny.
