Supernatural Hot Rug and Not Used

EM Records
EM1055CD

When last we convened several months ago, there was some confusion as to the title, if there was one, of the previous disc by this duo on Gule. They’ve since apparently adopted Supernatural Hot Rug and Not Used as their working name (why not?) and this recording appears as un- or self-titled. Whatever! Tim Olive (electric bass) and Bunsho Nisikawa (electric guitar) serve up eight tracks of rambunctious improv peppered with a strong sense of fun.

“Tsutenkaku” sets the pace with unfettered and raucous scrabbling on both axes, seeming to include input jack disenfranchisement as well. You get the picture, and I mean this in a positive way, of two young kids having at their parents’ previously off-limits possessions with mischievous glee. Even the more restrained pieces like the ensuing “Spa World” have an ADD-like disjointed loopiness to them. Throughout, the two instruments are used imaginatively, their output almost equally divided between recognizably sourced and not. Semi-regular rhythmic figures occasionally emerge (“The Neon Cross”) and when they do, the pair slides into territory perhaps adjacent to that cultivated by the likes of Muller/Moslang, which is to say, quite enjoyable. But they’ll quickly swing back onto harsher, more disruptive turf with equally interesting results as in the longish, crunchy “Blue Tent” where Nisikawa’s guitar (as nearly as I can tell) cycles through a series of hacking, retching gurgles over low bass moans; I find something nicely, if disturbingly, conversational about that track.

Other highlights for me include “New World” with its tangy, burbling stew of twangs, pops and scrapes and the brief closing cut, “The Tower”, all ringing feedback atop a steady, deadpan click.

It’s one of those recordings that may not knock you out on first blush but seeps in through the side-cracks, gradually winning you over with its wit, playfulness and a good-natured sense of excited exploration.

EM Records