Chattanooga Pulse

Duet for Theremin and Lap Steel
Live
(duetonline.net)

The Theremin is one of the most difficult musical instruments to master, because it has no tactile reference points—it has no frets, keys, open strings, or anything to guide the player toward discrete notes.  This is not a stumbling block for the Atlanta outfit Duet for Theremin and Lap Steel; it’s actually the basis for the duo’s sound and approach.

The lap steel, used almost exclusively for country music, can actually be a versatile instrument, and it’s a perfect companion to the Theremin, as every note from either instrument glides smoothly and weightlessly, without being anchored to any construction.  At times, synthetic drum beats enter the duet’s mix, but I much prefer the rhythm-free style; then, the music is totally unstructured and has nothing to follow, making it some of the most wonderfully abstract music I’ve heard this year.

The duet’s latest CD features two live sets from 2008, with Scott Burland on Theremin and Frank Schultz on lap steel giving completely improvised performances.  The recording is pristine, likely taken from the soundboard, and, if it wasn’t for the applause at the end, it could pass for a studio recording.  Burland and Schultz both channel their instruments’ sounds through laptop computers for real-time processing, making their notes echo and bubble eerily, with fluctuating timbres.

Valid comparisons can be made to Brian Eno’s ambient music, but the music lies a bit closer to the Kosmische music of certain German bands like Cluster.  The duet’s sound is generally easy on the ears, and one strength is being continually stimulating in a subtle, non-jarring way.  There are a few conspicuous diversions, such as the aforementioned drum beats and some manipulated French language vocal samples, but mostly, the CD is the sound of two untethered astronauts with a strange and elegant sonic choreography.

OOIOO
Armonico Hewa
(Thrill Jockey)

The new, sixth album from the Japanese all-woman band OOIOO is entitled Armonico Hewa, which is a language mash-up:  “armonico” means “harmonic” in Spanish, and “hewa” means “air” in Swahili.  Similarly, the group’s music itself is an international blend, but it’s not so simple to define in two words.  The outfit often gets called “tribal,” due to the upfront, tom-heavy drum rhythms, frantic chanting in unfamiliar languages, and other peculiar vocal exclamations.  The songs on Armonico Hewa typically feature short melodic fragments or guitar skronking, hammered out with a throbbing repetition; new wave-style synth chords are prominent on “Ulda,” but usually, the electronic sounds linger in the background, as seasoning.

The front woman of OOIOO is Yoshimi P-We, best known as a drummer in the group Boredoms and the titular character of the Flaming Lips album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots.  Few bands today are as intensely compelling as Boredoms, but OOIOO sometimes gets close to matching that adrenaline level, bearing certain similarities; at times, Boredoms deliver an updated, overcharged kind of primitivism, like the German band Amon Düül on uppers, but OOIOO seems to go more aboriginal, when it comes to its sources.  The bass lines on “Konjo” and “Agacim” allude to African roots, but this is hardly Paul Simon’s Graceland.

Armonico Hewa is a restless album, although not to the level of early Boredoms material, with violently abrupt stops and starts.  The flow of the album is a bit difficult, so it’s best experienced in manageable doses.  As wild as it sounds, the band seems confined and not quite spread out widely enough.  There typically isn’t sufficient time to allow its rhythms to dig their hooks in deeply or to let the mounting intensity levels reach their full potential.  The album may be about harmonic air, but it could stand a little breathing room.