Michael Draine's Twisted Vista
Binary System
From the Epicenter
(Atavistic)
Deservedly renowned in alt-rock circles as
guitarist for Mission of Burma, Roger C.
Miller is also an accomplished pianist and
composer who led Birdsongs of the Mesozoic
for seven years. Indeed, Binary System’s
duo configuration recalls Roger Miller and
Erik Lindgren’s very first Birdsongs
recordings, found on the Cuneiform
retrospective, The Fossil Record 1980-1987.
Miller’s prepared piano and Larry Dersch’s
percussion mesh like clockwork on twelve
bracing, aggressive duets. Dersch coaxes
melody and counterpoint out of his drum kit,		Music Review Index
while Miller wrests the heft and hypnotic
power of a Balinese gamelan from his
prepared piano. Miller has grown
immeasurably as a pianist since his ‘80s
tenure with Birdsongs, leavening his
staccato attack with touches of insouciant,
Raymond Scott-like breaks. While the
reborn Mission of Burma warrants
every accolade they've garnered,
Binary System continues to map the
antipodes of experimental rock, jazz,
and classical musics.
Published in Vendetta #14, Spring 2000
http://www.atavistic.com/