NOUT

Solidifying their quest to become the best Punk-Improv band featuring drums, flute and a harp, members of the NOUT trio members have released this quintessential set. Unlike Rock bands’ common live run-through of hits the French threesome expands both its lyrical and lusty flanks with the addition of Basque singer Beñat Achiary on one track and Swedish baritone saxophonist Mats Gustafsson on three others.

Additionally flutist Delphine Joussein, harpist Rafaelle Rinaudo and drummer Blanche Lafuente get sufficient solo space, demonstrating for instance that the harpist can create floating lyricism as well as harsh chording and that the flutist can trill quiet melodies alongside rugged blats and sighs. Achiary’s bel canto vocal on “Nuit De Sabbat” is soon transformed into diffuse screams and scatting to intersect with the trio members’ faster and heavier playing. They also operate as a backup chorus adding harmonized vocal tension to his altering tessitura.

A specialist in Punk-Free Improv himself, Gustafsson’s snarls become more powerful, prestissimo and pointed as tunes work up to crescendos. His thick reed-shredding blasts owe more to early Rock’n’Roll than Metal. Yet at full volume on tracks like “Ca Sent Le Brulé” and “Noutsson” concentrated pressure is elevated, especially when tempo changes join enhanced reed shrieks with rapid drum pummeling, speedy flute peeps and ricocheting guitar-like flanges from the harpist.

On their own NOUT members can replicate what could be the soundtrack of a traffic jam with its equivalent cacophony. Yet in spite of transverse overblowing and vocalized buzzing Joussein’s processed echoes force from her instrument, she’s also able to suggest Jazzy swing, or create chamber music-like trills as the introduction to “Gadget City”. Weighted ruffs and bangs from Lafuente make an strong impression as they prod the narratives without overpowering the group’s linear flow. As for Rinaudo, pivots to Baroque-liker glissandi are sometimes heard alongside the more common febrile twangs, sizzling flanges and overamped drones that suggest she’s playing a knob-twisting six-string guitar not a 34-string harp.

Suggesting that there’s some mind-thinking going along besides head-banging, NOUT’s live adventures solidifies its sonic reach and suggests there’s much more the formation can explore musically.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: 1. La Mare Aux Canards 2. Inondation 3. Gros Canard  4. Miskine 5. Slow 6. Nuit De Sabbat#7. Les Boulettes 8. Gadget City 9. Sauvages 10.  The Last Train*11. Ca Sent Le Brulé*12. Noutsson*

Personnel: Delphine Joussein (flute, FX, voice, drums); Mats Gustafsson* (baritone saxophone); Rafaelle Rinaudo (electric harp, drums); Blanche Lafuente (drums) and Beñat Achiary # (voice)