A summit meeting of sorts, a hivemind of aural haute cuisine, a triptych of tone, as it were, between this collective gathering of pre-eminent electroacousticians. Keith Rowe's pedigree and historical rendering is beyond reproach at this point; he's practically sui generis amongst the avantist jazz/avant garde/laminal noise set, a guitarist who's spent the better part of four decades recontextualizing the syntax of his chosen tool. Reed has marked out a rigorous, if smaller, territory amongst the peripheral experimental music scene found scattered along the tumbleweed connections of Austin, Texas, having released a number of arch, angular, and able recordings on that state's estimable Elevator Bath label. Thompson's the least known member of the three, his work no less integral to the proceedings here, his background splayed across a handful of CDRs and numerous international sound/art installations. His ability to morph a broad system of electronic devices and the resultant effluvia live and in the moment seems to have led him on an intersecting path with his cohorts; each of the two lengthy pieces found on both discs of this set testify to each individual's delicate yet vibrant touch within a very broad context of sound.
Shifting Currents actively works the crowd, the room ambience, and the surrounding environment, all of which are necessary components just as key to the overall sonic fabric under development. Improvisation, what that entails, masks, and reveals, divvies up the environment in an ever-widening process of wow and flutter. Who does what is made mostly irrelevant — clinking glasses, shuffling feet, clearing throats, errant chatter, and random happenstance all assist the trio in realizing a multitude of febrile events.
Reed's EMS synthesizer provides differing, gesticulating, occasionally irruptive glances, forward movements, hushes, and sighs; whether stroking the dials for a series of corrosive purrs or bending it wildly out of shape, his exploits make for nary a dull moment or briefest respite. Rowe's well-wrought mutilation of his string-driven thing is legion amongst both novices and aficionados; here he often commands the spotlight, abusing his frets, assaulting the wood-bridge, sending cascading electrical sparks across the strings in sudden, short-circuited bursts. All the while, Thompson's caught in flux, stuck between these warring entities, but he's no slouch; whatever push-and-pull he exerts throughout is tough to discern solely from the recordings, but it's reasonable to assume that his hand isn't sleight or his reach ineffective. Taking various cues from Reed and Rowe, Thompson seems to delight in orchestrating the entire, thorny enterprise.
Tense and terrific, evolving and alienating, the title of this set couldn't be more apt — Shifting Currents turns the ear on itself, wakes you up to your surroundings, pivots your sensibilities, and lifts you out of your stupor. Witnessing this trio in action couldn't have been anything less stimulating.
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