Civil War - When Fact Threatens Belief

Civil War
When Fact Threatens Belief
Longbox LBT 031 3"CD

Chicago's Adam Sonderberg and his Longbox label epitomise the stubborn independence – whatthefuckness, I described it elsewhere – that characterises the best of today's new music. Coming from an improviser who refuses to play by the unwritten rules – check out his compendium of anti-duets with Boris Hauf – it's hardly surprising that this debut ("and, by default, finest recording", deadpans the press release) from Sonderberg's Civil War trio with Amy Cimini on viola and Katherine Young on bassoon consists of three solo tracks (Sonderberg himself is credited as playing bass drum, but his contribution sounds more like bowed cymbals to me). So much for the idea of a group, and recording studios be damned too: this was recorded in an abandoned grain silo, "pregnant with rich textures and overtones that only a relic of American agriculture could help foster" (can't resist another quote from the blurb). It sounds, as one might expect, amazing, and not at all like improvised music's "supposed" to sound: well, OK, Eddie Prévost comes to mind in Sonderberg's offering, but Cimini and Young's offering could easily pass for Scelsi or Radulescu. A copy of this should be sent post-haste to Werner Dafeldecker and Uli Fussenegger – a label like Durian that bridges the gap between improvisation and composition would be an ideal home for a full-length Civil War outing. Live in hope.

~ Dan Warburton