Did It Again
Circum Disc/Tour de Bras, 2022
9/10
In celebration of their 15 years of existence, Jérémie Ternoy (Fender rhodes, piano, bass), Ivann Cruz (electric guitar) and Peter Orins (drums), i.e. TOC, have assembled 4 performances on 4 discs that illustrate their raw, polyrhythmic, and experimental formula.
“Dragon” opens the listen with the sounds of water amid the mysterious climate that manipulates sound with bouts of firm drumming, twinkling keys, buzzing guitars and plenty of buzzing, sci-fi noises.
“Lumen” then leads with a droning minimalism, before building into hypnotic landscapes of thumping drums, dense guitar and well timed keys, while “Base” finds a very cinematic place to reside with its strong attention to mood and angular post-rock bursts of dynamic energy.
The final disc, “Le gorille”, is the only one not recorded in 2021, and showcases the trio in 2008 across 3 movements that span sparse and soothing, to ambient noises and even thick moments of tense rock.
Certainly artistic, highly improvised, and redefining what noise versus tunefulness can sound like, though I don’t generally find live recordings to be an ideal introduction, the creativity and execution from the trio made me a fan immediately.
Travels well with: Peter Orins- VRTN & VBTRN; Adoct- Ouvre-Glace