The debut of Xenofox, the duo of Olaf Rupp on electric guitar and Rudi Fischerlehner on drum playing electric improv that ranges from critically dense to spacious and exploratory, blending rock and European Free Improv sensibilities into a moody and absorbing album.
"Xenofox is Rupp's duo with drummer/percussionist Rudi Fischerlehner, a reduced version of their excellent trio with trombonist Matthias Müller (see a review of their most recent album here). Though they've been playing together since 2010, Hundred Beginnings is their debut album, consisting of six tracks, four of them lengthy (between 10 and 21 minutes). The music is intricate, intense and immediate, something achieved without using extremes of dynamics, tempo or timbre, or repetition. Rupp makes discrete use of distortion and echo effects, and sounds both subtle and energetic, something he shares with Fischerlehner, who responds to Rupp's textures with finely chiseled rim shots and imaginative percussion. When necessary, he can deliver a driving rock groove.
A good example is "HKV 20126", the longest piece. Rupp and Fischerlehner start with pure sound, scrubbing and scraping their instruments. Rupp bangs the body of his guitar, they navigate step by step, before open chords and sustained notes rebound in different directions. There's a dense interplay and often surprising changes in structure and sound - almost complete silence, buzzing, squeaking, chiming percussion, alt rock crescendos à la Sonic Youth and prolonged reverbs.
German jazz critic Felix Klopotek called Rupp's style "monochrome" (in a positive way); I'd describe it as finely grained. Xenofox's debut is a beautiful album full of filigree detail, unexpected contrasts and varied moods."-Martin Schray, Free Jazz Blog