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"It was as though entering the aftermath of a fantasy carnival in the Midwest. Except that Nicholas Ng was warming up on the Erhu. A kind of nostalgia was palpable from the beginning; but a nostalgia mixed with an exotic strangeness, and an ironic distance...When the concert got officially underway, this fascinating mix of nostalgia, the exotic, and the new, only took a more interesting and compelling form...indeed, despite (or because of) the quirks, this was a beautiful concert." - Resonate Magazine, 16 Oct 2009, Liam Flenady (The States - Judith Wright Centre)
"a meeting of forms across cultures and musical languages...and the music sounds so very good" - Realtime Arts, Keith Gallasch, 2009 (The Wide Alley - Sydney Opera House)
"Clocked Out Duo continue to explore and embrace the boundaries of musical performance in a light-hearted and down-to-earth way. Their eclectic programming is always sure to bring smiles of joy and gasps of amazement in equal measure" - Resonate Magazine, 29 Sep 2008, Janet McKay (Clocked Out Duo - Foreign Objects)
"Richard Nunn's assortment of indigenous Maori instrumentation ranges from the urgently percussive to fluidly lyrical, while the prepared piano of Erik Griswold flows through an unquantifiable range of timbres and textures throughout the performance. Combined with versatile percussionist Vanessa Tomlinson, the trio provide a clattering, egalitarian cacophony that is as adventurous and whimsical as it is quietly ominous." - Time Off, July 2008, Matt O'Neill (Clocked Out Duo with Richard Nunns)
"Griswold is a highly inventive player and composer, and his imagination was on display in every aspect of this remarkable piece. No matter how dense the sonic layers became, the effect was one of epic grandeur rather than mayhem. The horn players' harmonies began to blur as though they were playing under water, calling across the stage in soulful waves before the entire ensemble merged into a subdued, satisfying unison." - The Age, April 2008, Jessica Nicholas (Ecstatic Music - Melbourne Jazz Fringe Festival)
"an absorbing and satisfying composition-a detailed orchestration of percussive and resonant sounds" - Realtime 85 (June-July 2008), Review by Chris Reid (Clocked Out Duo - Foreign Objects)
"Griswold starts playing high up the keyboard-fast tinkling arpeggios gradually extending in range. Over the top are occasional blurts from the wind and brass players, their lines also gradually extending as the piece moves along. Cello and bassoon play off each other, jazz fragments pop up on the side from trumpet, trombone and clarinet. Gradually the piano moves into hammered string sounds, then chills down to a sort of rubber harp. Performers echo rhythms and pitch fragments across the space." - Realtime 80 (Aug-Sep 2007), Greg Hooper (Sounding Wivenhoe - Brisbane Powerhouse)
"Griswold is one of the few composers to continue working and extending the music for prepared piano. Griswold's music goes further than that associated with likes of, say, John Cage and at the same time is able to achieve an amiable accessibility." - The Well Tempered Blog, Aug 2005, Bart Collins (More than my old piano)
"Intelligent, intuitive and original." - The Courier Mail, July 25, 2005, Luke Beesley (solo @ Queensland Music Festival)
"a complex cluster of constantly shifting kaleidoscopic percussive sounds, endlessly turning and still at the same time." - Modisti.com, 2005 (Wallpaper Music)
"In the world of modern, contemporary composition for piano, Erik Griswold...is one of the foremost players...Griswold time and time again pushes after the unknown side of the instrument and remains indefatigably seeking after new patterns, possibilities and imperfect melodies. - Gonzo Circus (Belgium), May 2005 (Altona Sketches)
"a colorful collage of artful composition." - Igloo Magazine, May 2005, TJ Norris (Altona Sketches)
"Throughout the piece Griswold's deft handling of, among other things, a grand piano keyboard, rubber hose, miniature toy piano and squeezy bath-time dolphin, has the effect of chasing, leading and articulating the mood...in a kind of musical juggle of its own." - Realtime RT 63, Oct/Nov 2004 Mary Ann Hunter (A man in a room juggling - Judith Wright Centre)
"an enchanting world of miniature keyboards, wit, whimsy and unexpected beauty." - The Age, December 2003, Review by Jessica Nicholas (solo @ Half Bent)
"warmly welcoming, rhythmic & melodious, full of lyricism & good humour" - The Planet (Radio National), April 2003, Review by Doug Spencer (More than my old piano)
"Erik Griswold is a phenomenal pianist and improviser - someone with a deep sense of its geography, its colours and moods. In [More than my old piano] he showcases a huge variety of solo piano music that can probably best be described as exuberant and joyful. This is light-hearted, virtuoso culture jamming at its most enjoyable." - Earwax, April 2003 (More than my old piano)
"Perhaps Clocked Out Duo's music is experimental -- but if so, it is an experimentalism steeped in tradition, in an appreciation of the multiplicity of voices that the musics of the world have to offer, and in the fundamental concepts of melody and rhythm...Clocked Out Duo are ready and willing to expand your musical horizons. It's just that they would rather lead you there gently than push you." - Splendid Ezine, March 2003, Brett McCallon (Clocked Out Duo - Water Pushes Sand)
"full of positive vibration, splendid technique and rare intelligence." - Touching Extremes, March 2003, Review by Massimo Ricci (More than my old piano)
"one of the most rewarding and intense performances of the [Sydney Spring] festival. The tall, lean pianist-composer hovered over narrow stretches of his keyboard and picked and pounded out Other Planes: trance music for prepared piano. Rubber wedges, bolts, weights and business cards variously contributed to the alchemical transformation of furious, minimal clusters into eerie harmonics and distant half-heard melodies, sudden evocations of gamelan and marimba. - RealTime December 2002, Review by Keith Gallasch (Other Planes)
"Occupying a place all their own, the Clocked Out Duo carves a small niche for itself that does something different and usually does it well - and that is an accomplishment." - Cadence Magazine, December 2001, Steven Loewy (Clocked Out Duo - Every night the same dream
"a much needed direction for progressive, experimental music..." - Morgunbladid (Reykjavic), May 2000, Rikardur O. Palsson (Clocked Out Duo)
"Through the intricately choreographed score of rolls and accents, the quivering ropes suggested gusts of wind or sound wave phenomena, in what became a percussion tour de force and kinetic sculpture all in one." - Los Angeles Times, Jan 1999, Review by Josef Woodard (Strings Attached - Green Umbrella Series)