Live recordings by this Russian pair: Belorukov on prepared alto sax, iPod with mini speaker, contact mic and amplifier, motors and objects, and Liedwart using ppooll, objects and field recordings. Though new to me, they've been around since 2009 and have played many festivals and live shows as a pair or in combination with other musicians. The recorded evidence is rather scant currently, but judging by the careful work offered here, that may soon change.
The stated focus of their work according to Belorukov's blog is "research of structural and microstructural sound organization", which translates here as much focus on detail and layering. Several sound sources are often employed, with each slowly developing over time, independently of its companions. Whereas some groups use of field recordings makes them sound tacked on, the sonics here are often of a piece, meaning that even though you may be hearing a sine tone/sax tone/scraping metal/field recording of dump trucks juxtaposition, the sounds seem to fit together, nothing sounds out-of-place or brought in from somewhere else. Long periods of extreme minimalism serve to partition the more "lively" goings on, somewhat in the manner of room dividers or the spaces between paintings in a gallery. At times they switch to a pointillist approach, with sparse breaths and hisses separated by quiet room tone. For a live recording there are amazingly few outside sounds or interruptions.
All the usual things one could say about this kind of improvising: indefinite sound sources, careful listening, tension and surprise, are apparent again here, and even though this type of playing is becoming more and more prevalent, I am all the more glad for it.
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