Another Slowfoot release, Ouch Evil Slow Hop is a collaborative effort between two musicians who are committed to approaching music through innumerable projects and bands. British drummer Sebastian Rochford has been easing his ecstatically jazzy paradiddles into the collective consciousness through Polar Bear & Acoustic Ladyland, whilst American Theremin manipulator Pamelia Kurstin is busy receiving accolades from Bob Moog, as well as playing in Barbez and releasing solo albums on John Zorn’s Tzadik label. This album is the result of improvised sessions that took place in Brighton, after playing the seaside town’s Loop Festival. Edited by Seb, and further augmented by Adrian Utley from Portishead, Ouch Evil Slow Hop is chock full of an inquisitive dada spirit, undoubtable instrumental prowess and modern studio alchemy, rendered into shiny rare-earth ingots and pure sine waves, then reconstituted anew to astound and inspire in equal proportion.
“Ouch” kicks straight into a heavy drum apocalypse, complete with manic Theremin sonorities unlike any I’ve heard before. Similar to an imaginary pairing between Squarepusher, circa 1998’s Music is Rotted One Note, and Dutch improv drummer Han Bennink, the scuzzed-out tensions that pull the drums and Theremin in multiple directions at once slowly descend into the cavernous hold of a ghostly square-rigger becalmed in the doldrums. The three movements of “Evil” at times approach a curious stasis reminiscent of Tony Buck’s solo percussive forays, although the scalded cat cries of Kurstin’s looped and manipulated Theremin are entirely without parallel, (except maybe for the odd brutal reductionist power trio, recording for Japan’s PSF label). The stop/start scattershot rhythms of “Evil (iii)” are supplemented by telemetry transmissions from an invisible galaxy, before reconfiguring into an electronic/ecstatic jazz outfit, somewhat akin to those found on Norway’s Rune Grammofon label.
The scene-setting introduction of “Slow” would not be out of place on an Ennio Morricone soundtrack, as a dusty vista on the cusp of twilight is rendered purely through sound. The duo demonstrates an outstanding sensitivity and finesse towards improvising together throughout the album, or is that post-production studio alchemy reconstituting sound files into a coherent whole? Either way, the slow-motion high-pitched Theremin loops meld into each other with a stately Baroque majesty. “Hop” kicks into gear in a dynamic (and proggy) fashion, as a half-remembered, drunken version of the Chinese national anthem is butchered by Eddie van Halen and Delia Derbyshire. Suddenly, a woozy Arcadian atmosphere descends as spooked birdsong twitters and robotic nursemaids sing a Martian lullaby. Ouch Evil Slow Hop could possibly be the missing link between Aphex Twin, Zeena Parkins, Battles and Supersilent, get on board.
Oliver Laing
