Mouture by Olivier Dumont, Rodolphe Loubatière

Olivier Dumont, guitar
Rodolphe Loubatière, snare drum

This french guitar/percussion pairing produce few surprises, having found a comfortable slot in the post-reductionist, texturally aware corner of modern Improv. But what makes their music consistently interesting is the depth of the duo's palette. For every sound that resembles anything like percussion, even fewer sound anything like a guitar and a fair amount can't be easily attributed to either musician. Individual personalities, egos and characters diminish, and the focus is left on the sound of the music alone. Things scrape, roar, rumble and whine through a slow, finely detailed morass of constantly churning sound (the album's title translates fittingly as Grind). At different points both claustrophobically murky and airily glowing, this is engaging, absorbing music, but it's no easy listen, and patient attention is required befor it gradually seeps out its rewards.

The Wire Magazine (October 2013)

Tracklist