Alister Spence/Tony Buck

bBlunk
O’pLoft
ElektraMusic No #

Elemental creativity, these duos mate the indirect and the ingenious, emphasizing basic piano and drums percussiveness to each create a suite of improvisations. On Mythographer the protagonists are two Australians, drummer/percussionist Tony Buck, a member of The Necks, who now lives in Berlin, and Sydney-based pianist Alister Spence, who has performed internationally with Satoko Fujii among others. More closely aligned geographically in the vicinity of Paris are the members of bBlunk. Pianist Dom Dubois-Taine and drummer Tiri Carreras. They met during an improvised music jam session organized by the double bass player Benjamin Duboc, part of the XoNdZf collective.

With expression built up from methodical examination of darkened and vibrating textures, Spence’s and Buck’s interface still includes lyrical motifs. This is shown most clearly on the title track where a billowing tone flow of cymbal slaps, drum paradiddles and near-player-piano note emphasis includes jointly teased timbres as part of the thickened exposition. “The Extent to Which We Still Need Beauty” and “Curious Terrain” on the other hand oscillate among processional keyboard tropes and those which emphasize the piano’s wood and backboard as much as its keys and strings, and low tones segmented by cymbal scrapes and intermediately vibrating press rolls. At almost 23 minutes though “And Yet She Turns” is designed as a major statement. Pinpointing the dualism that marks Mythographer’s program, the piece begins and ends with balladic expressions. Shortly after the introduction however Spence begins increasing the number of notes piled into the exposition with each pass at the keyboard, creating a curtain of tremolo tones, only occasionally breached by Buck’s ruffs, plops and shuffles, As the piece evolves so does the intensity in Spence’s playing. By the half way mark keystrokes are almost metallic and the pitch higher than a celeste. Adorned with bell-like clangs and cuckoo-clock like pealing from Buck, key-stopping thickens the piano part until a concluding individual key expression moves the narrative back to its Arcadian beginning.

Consisting of 11 mid-range or brief tracks O’pLoft is more atonal and avant-garde than the other disc. Part of the reason is that manipulating objects as well as the keyboard, Dubois-Taine’s seems to be sounding idiophones at the same time as Carreras. “O’putain” is a distinctive expression of this. His keyboard expressions harden and darken as they lunge forward. Backed by bass drum thump and full-kit tone splattering, the pianist interpolates a sub-melody with links to “The Man I Love” as well as dynamic inner piano rumbles and stop/start chording. Eventually the variations and main theme combine into a hushed ending.

Basement textures aren’t the duo’s only preoccupation however. Intermittent key positioning, chiming inner string echoes and elevated tinkles on the piano’s highest pitched keys characterize some of Dubois-Taine’s expositions, while scrapes on unyielding surfaces are used with restraint by both partners. The pianist even pivots to energetic cadences that are almost play-party simple at the conclusion of “Blouse” backed by equally elementary ruffs from the drummer. “Conversion”, the extended final piece, converts most previous motifs into a consistent narrative. Euphonious and experimental short percussive keyboard clips alternate with celeste-like tinkling from the pianist, with Carreras’ stop-time strokes intermittent. Detours to lyrical motifs are superseded by a thickened final section confirming both the preciseness and the physicality of the interface. Piano and drums duos are quite common in improvised music. Partners from two continents actively demonstrate why this is so.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Mythographer: 1. Dry Wood Talking 2. And Yet She Turns 3. The Extent to Which We Still Need Beauty 4. Curious Terrain 5. Strange Luminant 6. Mythographer 7. Put to Sea

Personnel: Mythographer: Alister Spence (piano, prepared piano, percussion) and Tony Buck (drums and percussion)

Track Listing: O: 1. Prelude 2. Microscopie 3. Emballade 4. Grattage 5. O’putain 6. Bricolage 7. Blouse 8. Usinage 9. Poursuite 10. Artic 11. Conversion

Personnel: O: Dom Dubois-Taine (piano and objects) and Tiri Carreras (drums and objects)