Kantarell

Spunk's fourth studio CD sees the all-female free improvising quartet charting more territory. Their playful yet profound music has always been evolving, gaining assurance with each album and changing in a less tangible way. Kantarell (notice the short title, compared to earlier albums) may be a bit more electronic-sounding, although it depends on how you define electronics, and on what track you listen to. There are plenty of analog electronic manipulations of voice and French horn, at least, plus dirty home-made electronic noise amidst the strings, winds, raspy vocalizations, and miscellaneous small instruments that make up Spunk's arsenal. A track like "Antisolar Point" is messy, noisy, almost childish but so good-humored (and short) that it doesn't sound gimmicky. And it chronicles an undeniable facet of the group. On the other hand, the ten-minute "Bipolarity" is a master class in group listening and graceful interaction used to brush an alien but very real aural landscape. And "Quadralogue" goes the other way: four simultaneous monologues, a pile-up of solos where serendipity is left to take care of things, or so it seems. Kantarell is proof once again of the creativity and brilliance of this avant-garde quartet. That said, it is somewhat harsher than the previous two CDs, so it may not be the best place to start. The only thing missing now is a document of their live performances, where they successfully apply the same ideas to longer time frames. ~ François Couture, Rovi