Flatten The Curve
Carton, 2021
8/10
The trumpeter and composer Timothée Quost assembles a very interesting listen here, where he meshes ‘documentary’ sound and instrumental compositions across 5 musical pieces and interviews with elderly people.
“Hudi Kot” starts the listen with atypical and unpredictable drumming and percussive sounds, where talking also enters the unusual 3 minutes, and “Pohorje” follows with clarinet, cello, piano, vibraphone, and Quost’s amplified trumpet in a very atmospheric and often chilling display that rumbles, squeals and even gets minimal in a highly artistic sort of way.
Elsewhere, “de l’evolution” is largely interviews before some soft droning enters, while “Lame” brings several violins, viola, flute, clarinet, saxophone, guitar and drums to a very cryptic, haunting album standout.
Further down the line, “Seck Gorgui” makes great use of a tuba amid the oboe, flute, clarinet, trumpet, horn and saxophone to emit a cinematic, nearly sci-fi display, and “Divine” arrives soon after with a quivering and unconventional form of chamber music that you can’t help but be in awe of.
A record that gives a voice to those not often represented in everyday life while showcasing Quost’s iconoclastic vision that is capable of a busy mashing of strings, winds, brass and electronics, just as it is more intimate ebbs, Flatten The Curve is a truly inventive effort that is worth many listens.