From Madrid we have Áridos (LA OLLA EXPRÉSS LOECD034), played by the duo of Pelayo Arrizabalaga and Eli Gras – new names to this old tree, but they made a record together previously as long ago as 2012, and now they’re significant enough to warrant inclusion in an exhibition called Audiosfera which was put together by the big Kahuna of Spanish experimental music himself, Francisco López.
As it happens both Pelayo and Eli might feel more at home in a museum or art gallery, as they both come from a fine art background, and have form in other non-musical and visual art modes of expression, as well as their experience in experimental rock groups and collaborative musical endeavours. Pelayo Arrizabalaga – whose free-jazz career started in the 1970s – has even played with Victor Nubla, an extremely important and visionary musician and mover-and-shaker in that part of Europe. If anything can be said to characterise these nine experiments made with a record player, live electronics, electric guitar and “sound engines”, it’s a sense of playfulness mixed with a spirit of discovery. Having set up a foundation of abstract, textured electronic drigglements, or proposed an endless loop with a stuck tonearm on an old piece of vinyl, our two mavens from Madrid proceed to layer on their clarinet riffs or crazy free-improvised guitar licks. They pull back and forth between trying to create a memorable and atmospheric sound world and inhabiting it with jazz-inspired workouts.
That’s a good blueprint to follow – I just wish our two friends could be a bit more adventurous in the execution of it. A lot of the music seems tentative, afraid of going too far, or uncertain about where to go next. There’s some exciting and innovative moments where they spark something genuinely new and vibrant into the ether, but they can’t seem to sustain it for very long. If they simply took a few more risks, they might inspire a few more followers. (31/10/2023)