Forge, Mathias / Olivier Toulemonde

pie 'n' mash

Label: Another Timbre Country: UK

"Two more relative unknowns deserving of greater attention: Mathias Forge is a young but virtuosic French-based trombonist, and Olivier Toulemonde is a Brussels-based electroacoustic composer-turned improviser who has now developed an extraordinary instrumental set-up which has moved on from electronics altogether. Their duo - recorded with and without audience during a tour of the UK in early 2010 - immediately creates a unique and distinctive soundworld, marking them as significant new voices within post-reductionist improv."-Another Timbre

"In concert, the duo of Mathias Forge and Olivier Toulemonde are great fun, putting on an impressive show. This is largely because Toulemonde, who previously played flute, saxophone and electronics, now manipulates an extraordinary array of purely acoustic objects including a resonant trestle table, whisks, bowls, plates, marbles, Styrofoam and a bow-like some hybrid between a conjuror and a deranged chef. Maybe that explains the album title, the name of an English "delicacy." This recording faithfully reflects the diversity of sounds that he generates with his objects including assorted scrapings and resonances (Toulemonde is truly in the footsteps of the great Hugh Davies.) In amongst all this, though, let us not lose sight of the brass component. Forge finds plenty of space for his trombone in amongst Toulemende's performance. His breathy playing, with occasional use of mutes, does not try to compete with Toulemonde, instead adopting a complementary role. In fact, some of his sounds are highly relevant to the culinary theme, sounding like sizzling food or steaming pans boiling over."-John Eyles, All About Jazz