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Split LP#3 fearturing Mats Gustafsson and Cor Fuhler | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Narrominded's reputation for eclectic releases is well known, and I must admit to wondering a little about their trajectory on occasions. However, with the guitars safely locked away, they have handed this new Split LP release over to the safe hands of Mats Gustafsson and Cor Fuhler. Not that Split LP #3 is necessarily an easy listen, far from it, but for those of us into our electro acoustics it is just what the doctor ordered. Side 1 Swedish saxophonist Mats Gustafsson kicks the first side off with a 17 minute long improvisation aptly named Sleeping Instruction. His playing teetering between breathy harmonics, diffuse textures, to layers of screeching animalistic howls. Having finessed multiple mouthpiece techniques, Gustafsson constantly blurs the boundaries between timbre and tone, whilst also manipulating the instruments percussive possibilities with frenzied key pad hits and clicks. Subtle lower end harmonics also resonate from the instruments chamber as the sax enters a world of granular processing, creating a seamless illusion between the acoustic and the digital. As the synthesis becomes ever more audible, so does the meltdown of sonic detritus, which builds in crackly post digital noise, concluding in a hiatus that would wake even the hardiest somnambulist. Side 2 Providing a complete contrast in tone and dynamics, Cor Fuhler contributes two stunning improvisations of prepared piano to side 2. Pioneering ever new directions from where predecessors like Messrs Cowell & Cage left off, Fuhler is one of a hand full of contemporary artists who have been experimenting with the textural and tonal possibilities of the piano for some time. In fact writing this from Sydney, his performance a few years ago at The NowNow festival is even now, still fondly remembered. Generating his sound from inside a baby grand, Fuhler employs any number of devices to create vast washes of metalic drones and harmonics. Stimulating the strings with magnets, ebows and more customised tools, these tone layers compound and evolve often with the grainy reverberation of the strings themselves, clearly audible. This sets up lush velvet timbres in which he embeds micro key note melodies, articulating a sense of space that can sometimes be lost in layered drone pieces. This is as much to do with the frequencies and harmonics of the drones themselves, but it has the desired effect in leaving you wanting more. Having penchant for this genre I could probably wax lyrical about it all day, but for those interested in electro acoustic improvisation, I can heartily recommend this new addition to Narrominded's Split LP series. Vinyl releases in electro acoustic music are also rare these days, so I can imagine this will be quite a collectors item in years to come. More examples and images available from the Narrominded site. Review by
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