Neo Arche: Pearls

Neo Arche is the duo of Fabio Rambelli (shö, uchimono, saxophone) and Rory Lindsay (gaku-biwa and effects). Forming out of the lockdown, Pearls is their debut album, released on Edgetone Records. The twosome, along with guests: Lish Lindsey (ryūteki), Nobuo Nishimura (trumpet, and effects), Andrea Raos (lyrics, voice, electric bass), Takashi Seo (contrabass, percussions), and Ryan Song (cello), use traditional and ancient Japanese instruments to create an improvisational and completely experimental platter of dissonance. Although this is a minimalist affair and there are many ambient moments, there are also more concentrated sounds, and at times quite other worldly, building in cacophonic intensity. Trumpet and saxophone add unusual textures whether on the verge of droning sounds or more wild discordant freak outs. The use of shö mouth organ (a Japanese reed instrument) often incorporates beds of sound, gives the music much of the drone and spacey tones and the gaku-biwa, a Japanese lute, takes the place of guitar, incorporating unusual strum patterns and picked lines of harmonious discord.

I am not going to discuss individual tracks as I best leave it you, dear reader, to listen for yourself. Although this is not in my regular wheelhouse, I can appreciate what these musicians achieved with Pearls. An experimental album that should appeal to fans of unconventional and improvisational musical forms.

Track Listing:
1. Pearls (2:37)
2. Amber Variations (8:19)
3. The Fire Inside (6:50)
4. Wild honey (8:25)
5. Where the Sylphs Play (7:39)
6. Hyenas (3:31)
7. Cani (6:20)
8. The Stuff of Dreams (8:05)
9. Pearls II (1:59)

Added: January 21st 2024
Reviewer: Jon Neudorf
Score:
Related Link: Band @ Bandcamp
Hits: 485
Language: english

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