XYLYL and A Woman in Half (CD/LP/cass)
New Alliance 051: released 1991

One of Miller's "split-sided" LPs for New Alliance.

The Xylyl ensemble was put together to play a show at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in Boston.

Roger C. Miller: electric guitar and keyboard, samples, xylyl tins
Bob Weston: trumpet (Mission of Burma)
Judy Stanton: electric violin (Exquisite Corpse)
Patricia Matthews: viola
Mick Maldonado: synthesizer, xylyl tins

Each composition (except for V-2 which is a violin/viola duet) is based around a sampled sound (also the title of the piece) which the compositions were based around.

The inside CD foldout is a drawing by the artist.

Xylyl:
1. Lampbase
2. Wheelstop
3. Childrum
4. Palmsandr
5. House Rock Compost
6. V-2
7. Pecan Box Lope

A Woman in Half is a film by Michael Burlingame (best Independent Film award, N.E.Film Festival, 1991) . The music is the soundtrack to that film.

Roger C. Miller: piano and synthesizer with delays.

A Woman in Half:
8. (soundtrack to) A Woman in Half



REVIEWS:

Option July '91, Jason Cohen:
"Roger Miller returns to orchestrated instrumental material with this CD. Part 1 is "Xylyl," a seven-part suite commissioned by the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston. The suite was created by using samples of various household objects to drive the rhythm of the compositions. While I won't speculate on the differences between "Wheelstop" and "House Rock Compost", the whole suite is diverse, quirky, and engaging, ranging from percussive horn sections to a string quartet to more frenetic moments tinged with rock and funk. Part 2 is "A Woman in Half," a soundtrack to the film of the same name, performed and composed entirely by Miller. Atmospheric, tranquil, and clocking in at over a half hour, the piece is a little too easily relegated to background noise or George Winston territory, but there are unexpected moments both beautfiul and perverse. No doubt it has complexities of playing and composing that I couldn't even begin to understand here - I'm reduced to a simple "sounds good". I probably won't put "A Woman in Half" on often, but it's impressive, and the "Xylyl" side is highly recommended.'

CMJ: March, '91:
"Wheras Mr. Miller's No Man revamps and reinvests meaning to the term "art rock," this totally separate display of orchestral acumen is closer to a score for an Alvin Ailey dance piece than the less formal compositions he's pulled off on the last few records. XYLYL utilizes five players on strings, trumpet, synths and guitar for a motile, though rigidly organized, continuity. As Rhys Chatham uses a central guitar overtone to sculpt a piece, Miller bases his orderly arrangements around a repeated sample as depicted by the segment title (no, they're not P-Funk samples - "House Rock Compost" is the apparent origin for one piece). The clashing emotional hues set off by cozy acoustics vs. impersonal electronic devices are suitable distraction from the rather particular, combined complexity of the pieces. "Lampbase," "Palmsandr" and "Pecan Box Lope" especially connote physical movement in a classically grand and symphonic manner. "A Woman in Half," the soundtrack that lays sprawled across side two (of the vinyl) is a subtly involving undersea world unto itself, electric piano and synthesizer dueling with slow poise under an ocean of calm."

Your Flesh, April '91:
"Miller remains true to form here: building on his musical past and probing a few potential sonic futures, he does his damnedest to illuminate and entertain at the same time. He succeeds."