Trahnie

They may seem like an odd couple, but when you forget about who's playing acoustic instruments and who's playing electronics, Lucio Capece and Mika Vainio approach music in a very similar, compatible way: through minute sonic details. Recorded over three years in Berlin, Trahnie is their first release together. And a mighty strong, puzzling, and fascinating release it is. This album is much more than a simple set of sax-and-electronics duets. First of all, the instrumentarium is larger than that: the Argentinean reedsman is playing soprano sax, bass clarinet, preparations, mixer feedback, and a shruti box; the Finnish electronician (and Pan Sonic member) contributes electric guitar alongside his circuits and treatments. Second of all, the 11 tracks featured on this disc are for the most part composed (either prior to recording or at the post-recording level). Acoustic and electronic elements are juxtaposed, superimposed, contrasted, and blended in occasionally troubling ways. "Juurake," for instance, starts with a thunderous bass clarinet scream, followed by squelletal sub-bass frequencies that develop into an Alva Noto-like beat, followed by a lengthy silence, a reprise of the beat, then an increasingly disorienting construction of awkward textures. It brings to mind the pioneering music of Polwechsel: severe block-based compositions. Other pieces are closer to the noisy kind of electronica you would expect from Vainio, although again, the insertion of a sustained soprano sax note in "Tolmavuo" destabilizes the ear in a marvelous way. And although the album features a decent range of diversity, each piece is a self-contained proposition that retains its purpose and interest when listened to by itself. Trahnie is more than a meeting, a true, deep-running collaboration. It's music you can come back to often, always to find new elements and different emotions. And it's one of the best experimental albums of 2009. ~ François Couture, Rovi