Faith Brackenbury / Tony Bianco

Frédéric Aurier & Sylvain Lemêtre

Superklang

Umlaut records UMFR-CD36

Two singular takes on the simple strings and percussion duo finds each arriving and projecting contrasting parameters as well as an array of sound sources. Unfolding in the realm of imaginary folklore, Superklang from France is a suite of 11 performances that mix the violin, nyckelharpa and voice of Frédéric Aurier, who with Quatuor Béla specializes in contemporary notated music, with the zarb, percussion and voice of Sylvain Lemêtre, who has played with Sylvaine Hélary and composes theatre and film music. Rising Up in comparison matches the violin and viola of the UK’s Faith Brackenbury, who has recorded with Martin Speake with the drums and double bass of Tony Bianco, a UK-based American, with long improv cred beside Paul Dunmall and others.

Dividing his textures among Iranian goblet drum and other non-specified percussion Lemêtre references vaguely Maghreian rhythms that brush up against Aurier’s Western yet unorthodox twists, turns and pressure from Scandinavia nyckelharpa or violin. At times, as on tracks like “Sucre d’org” as the theme slows down and speeds up, it seems as if the two have created a Métis sailor’s hornpipe with jolly fiddle swipes and a slapping spoons-like beat. While other, usually shorter, tracks have Lemêtre sticking to a more regular booming drum beat and Aurier expressing conventional violin tropes including harsh pizzicato and in the case of “Retour aux Chazeaux” moderated, melodic romanticism, the stand out duets are those displaying unexpected textures and interactions. One is the eerie and atmospheric “Sans Additif” where high pitched, probably nyckelharpa slices and twangs judder against zarb-driven pops as the two chant nonsense syllables in unison. A shift at mid-point hardens the continued intonation until the unison voices split into one singer scatting and the other projecting bel canto tones. As the tune moves downwards, string strokes and echoing hisses combine to mark the piece as rustic modernism. Multi-glissandi timbres and sul tasto squeaks from the string player plus percussion clinks and bell-like pealing from the percussionist add to the imaginary folklore. Yet for every hoedown or sea shanty interlude, the two preserve enough technical finesse and sophisticated time changes to confirm the contemporary thought in the dramatic program.

More attuned to the currents and liberation of improvised music, there are no folkloric tropes on Rising Up. Bianco’s probably live processed bass line which thumps throughout the two extended and one brief improvisation confirm the duo’s decision to evolve sounds within sonic restrictions. In-the-moment creativity is expressed on the two first half-hour tracks with the third, “Assassin” serving as a staccato coda and conclusion, created by consolidating thin string stops and thick drum pumps. Otherwise the first and title track and subsequent “Gypsy Softbread” are pretty much of a piece. String expositions that seem to reflect Jean-Luc Ponty’s techniques and Billy Bang’s rhythmic power attain high pitches and low, triple-stopping and repeating patterns and substitutions stretch the themes tauter and tauter without breaking chromatic lines. Meanwhile bass drum thumps and expressive rattles hold onto the same motifs. Frog-on-string slaps and prestissimo stropping torque the narrative so that it appears unable to get any higher pitched. Yet it does so, but due to the double bass and drums anchor tones never scatters into unpleasant stridency. Stop-time crying slices and martial drum rat tat tats pause the improvisation from the first track, although free impressions intensify with a similar pressure on “Gypsy Softbread”. Pizzicato strums and off-centre formalism characterize Brackenbury’s initial thrusts, but soon criss-cross slices and sul ponticello digs make the improvisation as liberated as the first track. Recurring drum motifs are initially moderated, but they too become brawnier by mid-point, especially as Brackenbury’s shrilling takes on erhu-like timbres. Seconded by Bianco’s popping cymbals, vibrating snares and thumping basso echoes, the final fiddle sequence ripples from formal to free and back again plummeting to a conclusive string slide and cymbal crash.

Uncommon, at least among the traditional, each group here confirms the tractability of the string-percussion duo.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Superklang: 1. Fred et Moi (Bonjour) 2. Trois Totems 3. Horloge 1 4. Sucre d’orge 5. Rétro Passacaille 6. Rage de Danse 7. Horloge 2 8. Sans Additif 9. Horloge 3 10. Retour aux Chazeaux 11. Sylvain et Moi (Au Revoir)

Personnel: Superklang: Frédéric Aurier (violin, nyckelharpa and voice) and Sylvain Lemêtre (zarb, percussion and voice)

Track Listing: Rising: 1. Rising Up 2. Gypsy Softbread 3. Assassin

Personnel: Rising: Faith Brackenbury (violin and viola) and Tony Bianco (drums and bass)