On the second volume of Atavistic's Out Trios project, guitarists and electronics manipulators/architects
Jeff Parker and
Kevin Drumm join master percussionist
Michael Zerang in an almost unbearably indulgent series of improvisations where noise and more noise is the order of the day. While music such as this certainly has its place, the fact that these gentlemen used four selections to indulge in a complete lack of imagination or improvisational acumen is pretty much unforgivable. None of these pieces go anywhere, they begin, move around the same sonic universes, and end making for an entirely forgettable listening experience. No, make that an irritating experience because with musicians of this caliber, the notion of aggressive noodling for 45 minutes is an old and tired concept that outlived the novelty of its usefulness in the 1980s. For those interested in the non-cartoon aspect of free improv, Out Trios, Vol. 1, with
William Hooker,
Lee Ranaldo, and Roger Miller, delivers virtually everything this one lacks. ~ Thom Jurek