(July 2009) I got passed a demo from this Michigan duo a couple of years ago and was quietly blown away by it. 70 minutes of nearly formless electronic improvisation done with live instruments (not laptops), mixed almost haphazardly and bursting with lo-fidelity, DIY, “just do it” spirit. Now, in 2009, comes the debut album, and it is a wonderful continuation of that same ethos.
For 53 minutes, Creamy Water Quiz (CWQ) push the envelopes of composition, appearing at times carefully structured and at others completely free-form. Mostly melodic but not in a memorable sense, the whole album works as a long suite, with individual pieces alternately flowing into one another and cutting into one another. What makes this album so fun though is the fearless sense of adventure it has. It sounds like the duo laid down some basic improv tracks (maybe keys or bass guitar), and then went nuts over them with whatever was at hand. Really fearless, this. Skipping across genres, CWQ touches on idm, electro-acoustic improv, music-concrete, dub, etc. Imagining what the sessions for this record were like brings to mind a brainstorming session where no idea was thrown out, but all of the ideas were good. Their motto, according to the label website, is “we make sounds until the tape runs out.” How lovely, that they recorded this on tape.
This is easily on my top 10 for 2009.
Flojo, Loco y Enigmatico is out now on Infinite Number of Sounds Recording Company.
