Cremaster - Noranta Graus a l'Esquerra (Monotype)

Super-crunchy goodness. Ferran Fages (feedback mixing board, pick-ups) and Alfredo Costa Monteiro (objects on electric guitar) return after something of an absence to assault our otic orifices with a fierce barrage of noise, channeled superbly, hurtling past our heads faster than we can hear. "90 degrees to the left", full throttle. I found myself wondering where the line is (if it is) between this and the extreme noise scene. I imagine the control evinced here might be offputting to some immersed in that area but for me, it molds the noise beautifully, allowing the torrents to surge, just installing banks and curbs that, if anything, cause the music to sound even more powerful, become more of a juggernaut. Fine, ear-scouring work. Get it.


Michel Doneda/Olivier Toulemonde/Nicolas Desmarchelier - Le Terrier (Monotype)

Sopranino and soprano (Doneda), amplified objects (Toulemonde) and acoustic guitar (Desmarchelier), from a performance at Vandoeuvre in 2005. I've only previously heard Doneda of this trio so I don't know what they do otherwise, but it was immediately interesting to hear how attuned they were to the saxophonist's harsh, whistling world. That dry, whooshing, sweeping sound is very much in evidence from the start and works well for a while. I find that it peters out a bit after a stretch, the musicians perhaps getting more active to compensate, probably not a good idea as the music drifts toward a more efi approach, i.e. a good amount of squabbling. Not bad, but it left me unsatisfied.


Franz Hautzinger/Masahiko Okura/Tetuzi Akiyama - Rebuses (Monotype)

Soft set from 2004, Akiyama in quiet, semi-melodic mode, making use of tape delay. It's a good mix of sounds and, rather as with the previous disc, it holds up for a while, here a more tenuous fabric, stretched thin very attractively, Hautzinger's quarter tone trumpet breathing and burbling along with Okura's gurgling reeds, Akiyama providing color and space with echo-y twangs and tight, Bailey-esque picks. It's fragile music, sometimes to the point of slightness, but on the whole it's a decent session, worth hearing.

Monotype

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