CHRIS HEENAN / DIMITRA LAZARIDOU-CHATZIGOGA – Der Schlaue Fuchs
The duo performs on contrabass clarinet and prepared zither respectively. They have been playing together for about two years now, and the conjugations of engrossing sounds they’re able to produce is certainly noteworthy, if not exactly trailblazing. Over less than 17 minutes, we’re treated to a parallel flow of droning irregularities and zinging industriousness: the clarinet burbles and growls, the zither (which gets eBowed to elicit lengthy pitches) pierces and jangles – both rather menacingly, with rare exceptions. Without sounding overly inhumane, the ensuing music is nevertheless quite astringent, not leaving opportunities for hypotheses of indulgence or excesses of rumination. It fills the room with quivering piquancy, occasionally eliciting symptoms of unhealthy resonance, unassumingly efficient and graphically intelligent without frauds of any sort.
YANNIS TSIRIKOGLOU – .::. .::. .::. [Dust]
This one lasts just 11 minutes but is also quite nice. Tsirikoglou worked with visual artist Mariska De Groot, interacting (primarily via laptop, I suppose) with a series of projections of shapes intertwined with mechanisms of flickering lights. There’s a whole explanation of the process on the label’s website, please check it. In any case I’m mostly interested in the sonic aspect, and that doesn’t let down: ear-and-brain zapping computer music, gently inauspicious or coldly obstructive according to the composer’s organization (chosen for the physical release – live it was different). Play it loud and be surprised: no commonplace in sight, which is almost incredible nowadays.
MASSIMO RICCI. TOUCHING EXTREMES. 