DEREK BAILEY / STEVE NOBLE – Out Of The Past

Ping Pong

Right after pushing “play” on my Discman, the suspicion arose of having inserted a wrong CD: a barrage of fuzzy guitar shards and rollercoaster drumming that put in connection with Last Exit’s warmonger attitude. It’s a great beginning for this set, consisting of twelve duos recorded in 1999 in a London studio and released by Noble’s own imprint many years later. Yours truly is not a walking Bailey encyclopedia, but did listen to a good number of records that feature his playing. This has to be one of the most galvanizing ones, showcasing a cross of chip-on-the-shoulder mindset – symbolized by the periodic use of overdriven sonorities – and a still-too-unsung facility with the pedal volume, strident chordal swells mixing with the traditional pings and zings with mucho gusto (for the listener). Noble is an ideal counter altar as the brilliant drummer that he reveals himself to be. Sensibly sturdy, aggressive against the colleague with slaps and bangs when necessary, applying doses of economic pressure in a meritorious attempt to avoid the nonsensicality typical of certain avant-garde percussionists who sounds like a Chinese restaurant’s kitchen in the name of a nondescript enfranchisement from rules that, on the contrary, are frequently advantageous in this field.