Tuesday 22 August 2017

Sote - Sacred Horror In Design / Philippe Petit - Buzzing But Not Hung Up On Hip


Ata Ebtekar aka Sote with Arash Bolouri's santour (Persian hammered dulcimer) and Behrouz Pashaei on the long-necked, four-string setar. That's the technical information. What else? It's an astonishingly good electroacoustic album which perfectly fuses tradition with synthesised treatments expertly rendered so as to frequently blur the boundary between both. Yes, that good. Opal Tapes




Phillippe Petit is, as I'm sure you already know, an artist worth following. An artist, that is, in the deeper sense of the word. Few can rival his track record over the last few years and Buzzing But Not Hung Up On Hip simply strengthens his position. Clunky title aside (we hardly need reminding of the superficiality of modern 'hip') the album is a fine antidote to all that is fashionable and the sonic 'bearded' efforts (eh? hope you know what I mean, because I don't, not knowing what music 'hipsters' prefer).

Petit has no truck with fads, preferring to not only forge his own supremely talented compositions but bring on board collaborators. Mind you, I'm not happy with the 'rockin'' Second To Last Thoughts, but at least it confirms he's human (therefore, can make errors). It stands out like a sore thumb. Si Parla Italiano is much more like it, if 'it' exists in Petit's world since he is eclectic. It's an excellent hybrid of tape manipulation, 'free' sax and Jazz trumpet with an increasingly frantic electric bass rhythm. 

As with Sote, Petit conjures fantastic electroacoustic forms, but in a different fashion. Sounds and the shapes they form constantly shift and there are too many instruments featured to mention. Suffice to say it spreads out through dark space to the superb Cymbalomentums (imagine John Barry on a bad trip) and many other points.

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