Double-CD set of Uneven Eleven playing their set on Live At Cafe Oto (SUB ROSA SR391)…this is an ad-hoc trio of avant-rock big names, Charles Hayward, Kawabata Makoto and Guy Segers. I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you their credentials and the other great bands they have played in, although personally I had to look up Guy Segers since I have no records by his parent combo, Univers Zero. As expected, the sound they make is a strong combination of latterday psychedelic-inspired guitar colliding against the lean and hungry sound of post-punk oppositional rock from the rhythm section. These ten lengthy instrumentals are fantastic, played with assurance and vigour, with not an ounce of self-indulgence or flabby “jamming” in sight; there aren’t many musicians in the world who could bring off such a team-up as successfully, and they even put Nazoranai in the shade for my money. I’d love to know how they came together, whether the music is pre-planned or spontaneous, how long they stayed together (this was recorded in May 2013) and if they plan to do it again; can’t find out very much information about their configuration, in short. Mind you, Hayward has been more occupied recently with his very successful “This Is Not This Heat” project, another conspicuous Cafe Oto success. This from 17 March 2015, highly recommended.
