While looking at the instrumentation one would expect a jazz album (saxophones, guitar, percussion, electronics), the result is more of a jazz damaged electro-acoustic improvisations that manages to be both extremely minimal, yet surprisingly complex.
I must give Michel Doneda credit: he has managed to get achieve of the most unnatural and painful sounds out of a saxophone that I have heard in my life. Along with the normal jazzy rapid-fire bursts, he manages to get chokes and wheezes out of his poor reeded instrument. The opening track "Floating on the Mass of Blossoms" is based on a bed of minimal rumbling percussion and muted guitar work from Ielasi, overlayed with Doneda's abused saxophone, sounding like the last gasps of someone dying in the desert. The arrangements become increasingly lush towards the end, augmenting the previously mentioned textures with crystalline electronics.
"One Wing of Matter" is more focused on improvised percussion, found objects being used to create the rhythmic elements as a more conventional rapid fire sax blasts out over top. The ending portion of the track has a feeling of massive openness, augmented with metallic percussion sounds and the distinct rattle of an old time 8mm film projector. The closer, "Run Fingers Over Turquoise," is closer in feel to the opening of the disc, the clicks and clangs of minimal improvised percussion and wheezing saxophone over a quiet line of electronic tones and guitar chords. The electronics build to be the focal point at the end of the disc.
As sparse as the instrumentation is, the whole work is extremely complex and subtle. It has a very natural feeling to it. Listening is like being there in the studio with the musicians as they are playing the music, yet each listen reveals a different facet to the sound that was seemingly not there before. It's not the kind of work to put on in the background while doing something else as it commands full attention like it or not. I can't help but focus on the music if only to determine exactly what is going on. It does require a focused and critical ear, so non-adventurous types need not bother.
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