Crustal Movement
Libra, 2023
8/10
The innovative Ikue Mori handles electronics and Kaze, the cooperative quartet of Christian Pruvost, Natsuki Tamura, Satoko Fujii and Peter Orins, come together for this iconoclastic way of making music that meshes pre-recorded files and live performance.
“Masoandro Mitsoka” starts the listen with much ambience, where a cinematic quality unfolds with wild electronics, chaotic drumming from Orins and squealing horns, and “Motion Dynamics” follows with a spacey demeanor of seemingly random noises that benefit from Fujii’s sublime piano playing.
“Rolle Cake” and “Shifting Blocks” reside in the middle, where the former blends the firm keys and brass from Pruvost and Tamura for sci-fi friendly textures, while the latter is quite exciting amid the strategic buzzing and ominous screeching.
The title track arrives at the end, and welcomes lower registers from the piano and rock influenced drumming alongside the unpredictable and exciting electronics from Mori.
Somewhere between music, noise and rich assemblies of sound manipulation, there isn’t a second here that isn’t creative, atypical and enthralling, as Kaze Quartet and Ikue Mori birth an innovative listen.
Travels well with: René Lussier- Au Diable Vert; Adoct- Ouvre-Glace