At first, I was worried that this was going to be the type of improv recording that would be too difficult for my tastes. There’s only 2 tracks on this CD and they’re both nearly a half hour long each, and the first one starts out with plenty of amelodic scraping, stretching and clanging. After about ten minutes of listening, however, I realized that I was completely enthralled by what I was hearing. Joe Williamson’s double bass and Tony Buck’s drums are played in such uncoventional ways that they don’t make a whole lot of sense at first. But what really ties everything together is Olaf Rupp’s acoustic guitar playing. He eventually settles into some sort of phasing pattern, which contrasts with the dark, dissonant bowing that Williamson is playing. Then Rupp begins picking very intricately, and then gets absolutely frenzied, almost sounding like he’s about to break the guitar. He sounds furious! Buck’s snare rolling perfectly compliments this. Once this recording clicks, it becomes easier to just sit back and enjoy. The album mostly continues the same frenzied, manic pace, with furious, intricate playing, but also a few slightly more recognizably “jazzy” drum fills and basslines. During the last 5 minutes it seems to cool down somewhat, although it still sounds a biy nervy. All told, a gripping session.
