Will Guthrie - Building Blocks/Matthew Earle, Will Guthrie, Adam Sussman - Bridges

Will Guthrie
Building Blocks
Antboy
04

Matthew Earle/Will Guthrie/Adam Sussmann
Bridges
Antboy
03

Over the last several years, I’ve been hearing more and more fine electro-improvisatory music emanating from this strange continent called Australia, a place situated, I’m told, somewhere south of China. While I’m hesitant to draw any overarching conclusions (I understand that more than several thousand people occupy this territory, after all), I do tend to hear something of a consistency with regard to both drones and a subtle tonality—rarely (so far) have I encountered the sort of rough-cut, atonal herky-jerkiness that one hears elsewhere even when the music enters the rarefied air sometimes ventured into by, say, Philip Samartzis.

These two releases on Antboy are great examples of what’s been occurring: two recordings by hitherto unknown-to-me musicians that more than hold their own with most of what currently appears emanating from the usual suspects and realms. Will Guthrie’s solo effort, “Building Blocks”, is a wonderful exercise in solo amplified percussion as well as various toys, machines and whatnot. Awash in drones, he nonetheless maintains a scrumptiously rumbling undertone, always reminding the listener that, at heart, we’re dealing with struck objects. Guthrie goes for a very full sound, something that befits his personal history as a student of Tony Williams. There’s almost ceaseless activity, constantly churning, as one has the impression of peering into some alien hive bubbling with industry. He has a marvelous ability to coalesce a wealth of seemingly casual sounds, events that have no apparent relationship, into an entirely convincing, cohesive whole, as is the case on “Eleven”, the briefest of three tracks here. This and the first piece, “Blanket” were recorded in the studio while the final selection is a live performance and a lovely spatial expansion, a gorgeous mix of dry clatter and resonant clangs, underscored by subtle drones. It’s an excellent, fascinating disc and one of the finest solo percussion albums I’ve heard in recent years.

On “Bridges”, Guthrie is joined by Matthew Earle (electronics) and Adam Sussmann (guitar, electronics). The atmosphere is somewhat sparser, a little more akin to what you might often hear emanating from the Japanese scene but still quite alive with multiple levels of detail and interaction. My closest comparison point might be groups headed up by Xavier Charles, he of the upended speakers with dancing objects thereupon. This trio is something of a high-medium-low configuration, with Earle spending much time in upper sine-based reaches, Guthrie supplying the earthier undertones and Sussmann making great use of the tense space left open in the middle. Not that it’s easy to tell who’s doing what. The trio accomplishes two essentials of improv: they’re pretty much seamless and their pieces last for exactly the right duration, never coming close to overstaying their welcome, indeed leaving the listener wanting just a bit more. They gurgle, hum and chitter with the naturalness of a bunch of loose change tossed into a clothes dryer. The pure luxuriousness of the soundfield is more than enough to sybaritically wallow; if anything, I might find myself desiring the occasional disruption, that small piece of grit thrown into the gears just to let us know that things aren’t that easy. But by and large, both of these discs are thoroughly enjoyable, very rich offerings causing Northern Hemispherians like myself to wonder what else I’ve been missing all this time.

Further info available at: www.antboymusic.com

~ Brian Olewnick