Jon Abbey continues his documentation of all things Keith Rowe, here with a live recording from Tokyo, as a part of the AMPLIFY 2008 festival. I have listened to this recording several times now, and each time brings something different and new. From a crackly start he constructs a fairly typical (for Rowe) solo, along the way dealing with his self-disruptions and stumbles in a masterly way. At first, the use of what I take to be radio broadcasts (they could just as easily be samples on a laptop) was mystifying, but I hear now that they are perhaps a way of throwing the unknown into a very familiar situation.

Rowe buries a first bit of flute music in hissy statics (perhaps turning the radio dial?), and later deals with an aria by mostly leaving it alone until the end of the passage, where he brings his guitar in so subtly that it seems to be a part of the broadcast. That this section wasn't pre-planned makes it seem all the more startling. In between these points are Rowe trademarks, assembled carefully to form a winding fascinating story. Perhaps there is nothing new on offer here, but it's always nice to hear a master at work.