The "5 Tracks" CDR, published in a tiny edition of 100 copies in abeautiful silver-on-black circular sleeve, documents a solo guitar andelectronics concert by improvising guitarist Giuseppe Ielasi in Athens,Greece. Ielasi's improvisations do not contain many typicallyinstrumental gestures; every track sounds like a composed piece of tapemusic, with careful attention paid to the stereo field and to suddenshifts in dynamics and texture. Only a few times do we hear arecognizable volume pedal or a hand rubbing some glass on a guitarstring. For the most part, the level of detail and patience here arethe kind most often found in meticulous studio creations. The highpoint for me is the fourth track, a lengthy piece that starts as hightones and feedback and very slowly (VERY slowly!) adds percussiveelements and crackling synthesizer; the sense of assured calm thatpervades every piece is rare, and just wonderful. There are certainlyaffinities between "5 Tracks" and Kevin Drumm's seminal "Guitar" CD,but I don't think any improviser with an interest in electronic musicwasn't inspired in some way after that album came out. 
Recorded after "5 Tracks', the "Right After" CD does not appear tocontain any guitar at all (at least, not according to the credits).Ielasi's partner on this album is Domenico Sciajno, formerly a bassistand currently one of the most musical and interesting of allimprovising laptop players. Sciajno's computer and Ielasi's electronics(a tableful of gadgets, I imagine) are integrated here into a seamlesssingle voice. I can only assume that the music is improvised due to thehistory of the publisher, Erstwhile Records, but if I had no suchbackground I might not guess as much. If "5 Tracks" only occasionallybelies its uneditted live and improvised nature, "Right After" does notat all. The high sine tones are out in force right from the start,which can be either exhilirating or annoying, depending on yourpatience for such things. The second half turns somber, with calm quietprevailing over the jarring cuts that open the disc. Much moreaggressive and strange than Ielasi's other recordings, "Right After" isalso one of the very best and most cohesive releases on the Erstwhilelabel. More info at www.anet.gr/absurd and www.erstwhile.com.samples:
A very different improvising group from Italy is the strangelypunctuated tu m'. There is virtually no information given on thepackage of tu m's debut CD, but it sure sounds like a laptop to me(that telltale digital high-pitched whine is unmistakable). The groupmoves carefully through six relatively beat-oriented improvisations.The pieces develop slowly and deliberately, with loops rising up andfading out, sine tones entering steadily and cutting out, muted beatstaking a place somewhere in the background and thump thump thumpingalong. Though the music is improvised, it sounds more similar to theabstract Mille Plateaux or Ritornell bands (Neina springs immediatelyto mind) than to what one might think of as "improv". The recordingquality is muddy at times, especially when tu m' brings out the heavybass, so many of the digital details are lost in an undifferentiatedmurk. This could have benefitted from a cleaner production, but theideas still come across. More info at www.cut.fm. -
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