*** This blog post first appeared in TSMM's February 25th Newsletter, where you can get all the tips (and more) first ***
I’ve mentioned before I’m not a big fan of live recordings, but I’m making an exception for the latest show recording from Oren Ambarchi and drummer Eric Thielemans that was recorded in Poitiers just over a year ago and then given a welcome mastering polish by Joe Talia.
There is an obvious synergy at play here honed through prior concerts, and possibly aided by Ambarchi’s percussive history as a free jazz drummer. For this show though he’s ditched the sticks for his guitar, although you’ll barely recognise the instrument. I’m not quite sure what he’s doing with it - nothing normal that’s for sure, but aided by a Leslie cabinet, and a host of effects units presumably, he’s ringing sounds out of the strings that you wouldn’t imagine possible and which can only be achieved through years of imaginative instrument mistreatment.
You’d better buckle up, although its ritualistic inception and proceeding percussive ambience are welcoming enough, as it’s not long before outsider jazz meets psychedelic spa music and free drumming and electronica jostle with more jolting, but always appreciable noise; each passage eventually seamlessly melting into the next like it’s the most natural thing in the world. It’s a trip and a half.
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