Totem - Voices of Grain
SKU
New Atlantis NA-CD-007
"With Voices of Grain, the New York-based collective improv/noise rock trio TOTEM> have constructed a dazzling follow-up to their 2008 debut for seminal experimental music label ESP-DiSK, Solar Forge. Their ESP-DiSK debut garnered rave reviews around the globe, topping year-end 'Best Of' lists at tastemakers The Wire, and Point of Departure, among many others. Voices of Grain makes for an unimpeachable, hearty, coruscating and enthusiastic follow-up, reestablishing this unit as a band operating at its full potential, at the forefront of the Downtown creative jazz community.
While the domain of creative improv often births fleeting collaborations and one-off ensembles, it is always refreshing to witness the lifecycle of a real band blossoming over the course of countless rehearsals and gigs, defying the economic odds and discarding the oft-perceived need for one single leader. TOTEM>'s new offering is absolutely the sum of its very potent parts.
Drummer Andrew Drury supplies a dazzling mix of extended techniques, stirring up waves of raucous energy, and directing the musical flow of the trio. Guitarist Bruce Eisenbeil's playing is always maddeningly articulate, alternately playing the role of melodicist and flayer of splintered atonality across the stereo field. Bassist Tom Blancarte provides shredding, rumbling harmonic counterpoint, and impeccable underpinning for the trio's cosmic gyrations.
On Voices of Grain, TOTEM> have outdone themselves, creating one of the most jaw-dropping sets of guitar trio improv yet committed to record... In the process, the band has expanded the lexicon of creative trio improvisation to include a bevy of mind-bending extended techniques for electric guitar, percussion, and upright bass."
- LabelNew Atlantis
- UPC61689215934