A blast from the past! Or, rather, a whisper from those long ago days when reductionism (that hated term) held reign and only the merest sounds were often discerned during the course of a concert. A welcome return, in this case.
Previously available in exceedingly minimal quantity (like 50), Confront has generously allowed these two sets to once again see the light of day. Davis was often heard on trumpet and Wastell on cello or percussion, but here it seems (no instrumentation is listed) that both are employing electronics and perhaps contact mics. The first of the two pieces here, which were recorded on consecutive days in 2002, adheres most closely to the ultra-quiet aesthetic and succeeds in classic fashion, by the careful deployment of those minimal sounds as well as the textural contrast they still evince even at low volume levels. It's all sine tones, rattles, low hums, all pppp and simply transfixing. The second selection is certainly more active, though by no means frenetic. The sound density is greater and the range of timbres and sonorities wider, low, rough contact mic scratchings set against swirling twitters, for example, creating a palpable sonic space between them.
A fine little set, happy to have it back.
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