True to its title, there are five members of the cross-continental Berlin-Buenos Aires Quintet, with instruments ranging from tuba and piano to electronics and saxophones. But you won’ often hear those sounding like themselves, or even in unison. Rather, this untitled 43-minute piece – recorded back in 2004 – has the feeling of incidental, almost accidental musique concrete. There’ shuffling discord first and foremost, but even that is made low-key by frequent patches of silence or near-silence. It’s tough to tell what’s making which sounds, especially since member Andrea Neumann plays “inside piano,†manipulating the inner workings of the instrument without use of its pedals or keys.
Eight minutes in, we do hear brief smatterings of piano from Gabriel Paiuk, alongside something vaguely resembling a woodwind. Later there’ a lone tuba honk, followed minutes after by a sudden frenetic buzzing. Faint, fleeting whines contrast with sounds recalling buzz saws and dentist drills. At times it’s all too industrial in nature, as if a recording of some mundane factory tour. Things get more itchy and ambient near the half-hour mark, and from there the atmosphere is disturbing and almost violent, with blurted, noisy whines punctuated by barely-there moments. Soon it’s like a nightmare lived inside a video game, before closing with an unsettling twitchiness.
In line with recent releases by Perlonex & Charlemagne Palestine and Snake Figures Arkestra, this 250-run CD-R navigates the outer reaches of exploratory improvisation. It’s not for everyone, but it’s very much a curiosity.
Doug Wallen
