Kieran Hebden & Steve Reid - Tongues

Improv heaven includes reworking of Greensleeves…

Like Don Cherry and Ed Blackwell, Kieran Hebden and Steve Reid have become a touring and recording duo making music without plan or preconception. Whereas the two volumes of the Exchange Sessions were extended drum and electronic improvisations, Tongues finds the duo working on shorter pieces with some internal structure. Rather than work out compositions in the studio, however, this music springs from a chemical reaction between the two that has been developed during their extensive touring in the last 18 months.

Opening track The Sun Never Sets is a delightful melodic m�lange of drums and electronics. Sounding fresh and inventive, it also takes the mind back to the early 70s German synth pioneers. Squid is a simply grooving analogue bass and percussion track. As Four Tet, Hebden has always delighted in blending sampled and electronicallygenerated rhythm with bells, chimes and all manner of acoustic clatter. On tracks the likes of Our Time and Brain, however, Reid is there to take care of this engine room, giving Hebden free rein with his laptop palette of sonic stews.

With no overdubs or edits, Tongues is not only a highpoint of jazz-electronica, but affirmation of how all great music comes from personal interaction.

Domino | WIGCD 189

Reviewed by Ian Shirley
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