poire_z + Phil Minton - Q/Norbert Moslang - lat_nc

poire_z + Phil Minton
Q
For4Ears
1551

Norbert Moslang
lat_nc
For4Ears
1549

I was fortunate enough to be in attendance at this poire_z plus Minton concert, held at the Musique Action festival in Vandoeuvre in May of 2002 though, admittedly, by the time of this performance, the music-appreciating portion of my brain was likely more than a bit addled by several days packed full with amazing shows. In any case, my memory of the event was rather different than what appears on the disc, mostly involving intensity level—I recalled it as being louder and more balls-to-the-wall throughout and, evidently, missed much of the subtlety. Asking the doyen of British free improv singing to sit in with the cast of poire_z (Gunter Muller, Norbert Moslang, Erikm and Andy Guhl) seemed on the face of it to be an intriguing idea. Their music tended to rich and bubbling enough to easily absorb and integrate even the wilder vocal articulations Minton often proffers. And, indeed, the fit is fairly seamless. During the course of the long, main track, the four instrumentalists rumble and lurch into the sort of off-kilter quasi-patterns (with brief interspersions of rhythms) they did so well as Minton darts in and out of the matrices with a wide range of groans, shouts, baby squeaks and more, not very far at all from what Guhl or Moslang might elicit from one of their light-activated, “cracked” electronic devices. There’s a good deal of fluctuation in volume and density level, including an especially lovely section about halfway in where someone (I suspect Muller) generates a fluttery, low drone that accommodates some wonderful spurts of creativity from his companions. The piece ends in a chugging, catchy rhythm with Minton sputtering atop, Daffy Duck expostulating over a surreal Warner Bros. soundscape. A brief, rather unnecessary encore closes the disc. “Q” is a good, solid album that fits comfortably amongst poire_z’ all too limited discography.

Voice Crack (Moslang and Guhl) have since parted ways, resulting not only in the dissolution of that duo but in poire_z as well; the above recording turns out to have been their last performance. “lat_nc”, Moslang’s first full-length solo effort was actually recorded a couple of months prior to the Musique Action date but only released in 2004. It’s a little difficult to get past the idea that something is missing, as attractive as much of the music is. Voice Crack’s success depended heavily on the duo generating a massive sound-wall, at once dense and liquid, allowing the listener numerous areas for discreet concentration while at the same time threatening to overwhelm anyone determined to be so discriminating. Moslang pares matters down a bit here—it feels very much like what it is: a solo recording. Rhythmic loops are often in play although, in a sparser context such as this, they stand out a bit much for my taste (as opposed to existing as a single element among many others, as was often the case with poire_z) and some of the actual sounds employed get a bit too close to spacey electronica (bloopy, moog-like lines and such) for comfort. It’s perhaps an unfair consideration and maybe I’m simply having a problem making the required mental shift, but I have a nagging sense of waiting for the other shoe to drop, of desiring to hear a collaborative element. “lat_nc” is perfectly fine, if ultimately unexceptional, as is and I imagine Voice Crack fans will enjoy hearing Moslang’s individual experiments, but part of me can’t shake the sensation that it’s half of a Voice Crack disc and wants the sweet with the sour, the yin with the yang.

~ Brian Olewnick