Though he has made quite a few recordings in various combinations with people like Radu Malfatti, Axel Dorner and Toshimaru Nakamura, this is Lucio Capece's first solo offering. Using his arsenal of prepared (or dismantled) reed instruments, sruti box, "double plugged equalizer" and cardboard tubes, Capece has constructed a set of beautiful and finely wrought drones.
The opening "Some Move Upward Uncertainly" is a solo workout on sruti box, a type of hand-pumped reed organ. The underlying drone has a rhythmic quality and there are a lot of strange, low pitched thumping sounds, presumably the instruments' bellows being pumped. An interesting study of movement within the seemingly static, and an apt opening gambit which lets us know what we're in for. The title track features an odd underbelly of metallic ringing that sounds like it could be the bell of the soprano sax played with a dowel, in the manner of a tibetan singing bowl. Over the top of this Capece lays breathy hisses that sometimes ramp up into low roars. Then a definite bell circumambulation starts up and gets modulated somehow, the timbre and pitch changing. Weird distorted notes are then piled on top, which bring about a startling interaction with the rubbed metal, the whole instrument vibrating violently, as if it may come apart in his hands. Mechanical sounding rattles enter and exit, more motorcycle than saxophone.
"Inside The Outside", in three parts, is the richest piece here in terms of the number of sound sources. With the sruti box we get a series of chords which start and then stop, becoming more complex with each entering. Additional sounds are then added: a very low pitched thrumming throbs and engulfs most everything that comes after, making it difficult to tell exactly what's being played. The interactions of the various sounds here are fascinating: prop-plane fly-overs and sighing reeds, a rising and falling electronic-sounding buzz. A lot of attention and care have gone into the making of these recordings, and attention in listening will be rewarded.
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