Four substantial cuts from Argentinean player Anla Courtis on his Los Líquenes (KIRIGIRISU RECORDINGS kgr055), produced by layering several instruments or multiple field recordings. As ever, we admire his bold hands-on approach to working with electric guitar, lapsteel, and percussion; on ‘Racodium’ for instance he creates clouds of metallic noise from the inside of a piano (I would surmise) strumming and banging in a way that John Cage would either have loved, or else found a shade too excessive as he pursed his disapproving lips. But Courtis is not a composer as such; he just keeps on making sounds until he stops, without any clear idea of how to shape his actions into a meaningful whole. If necessary, he’ll just add more instruments to the mix, which is probably how we ended up with the overloaded jumble of ‘Xanthoria Parietina’. From 17/02/2025.
