This collaboration involving drums, percussion, gongs, synthesiser, feedback, turntable, and myriad objects, explores a dialectic between the timeless stillness of gamelan and the academic coldness of white noise. And the complex relationships continue: it would be wrong to view The Myth of Persistence of Vision Revisited as a duo improvisation; rather, Belfi and Schick function as a single many-handed entity, attacking the array of instruments nonchalantly, octopus-like, creating a suite of strong, lithe, and cohesive pieces.
I prefer those on the peaceful gamelan-like axis, such as the lovely opener ‘Myth 1’, spacious patterns of clangs echoing against tiny blips and gated streams of hiss. They work these shapes into a steady rhythm, and here, particularly with the stroked buzz of a snare, they closely recall Austrian group Radian, by way of steel panner Yoshio Machida. They also have a sense of humour, basing their longest track ‘Myth 4’ around the most famous bell tune of all, that of Big Ben. ‘Myth 5’ is perhaps the most austere, rubbed metal and flatulent brass arranged into ugly haphazard shapes, but Belfi and Schick remain engaging, in a Euro reductionist improve sense. All good then, and the cover art by Andreas Tapfer is gorgeous.
Joshua Meggitt
