|˟˟| ('Gate') was founded in 2009 as an experiment in 'free music’ in between free jazz, noise, and drone. Initially it was a solo project, making use of a variety of instruments and electronics that were designed and built especially for the project, but later it became a duo with the addition of a wind instrument player, strengthening the project's jazz element. The tracks on |˟˟|’s two previous CDs released by Fluttery Records, ‘No Exit’ (2009) and ‘iterations’ (2010) were selections from such free improvisation sessions; solo in case of ‘no exit’, as a duo in case of ‘iterations’. This CD, ‘deconstructed’, radically deviates from these previous CDs, and from the basic idea behind |˟˟| itself – the tracks on this CD are not unaltered recordings of free music sessions. Rather in the contrary, these are ‘remixes’; noting that that that term does not really capture the extent of de- and reconstruction and (digital) manipulation involved. Nevertheless, it is still very much a |˟˟| CD – the source material for these remixes are the same sessions from which material for ‘iterations’ was selected. Any track on this CD makes use of longer or shorter fragments of sound from one and only one session from that period. Hence the addition of capital letters ‘R’ after the session numbers. The original versions (the source material) of three tracks on this CD can be found on ‘iterations’. These are 55, 56 and 72. The original session recordings of the other tracks can be listened to at last fm. 81U was recorded on a hill top in a park. Only acoustic instruments were used in that session, |˟˟|'s first and only ‘unplugged’ session. 75 was a session of throat singing (mainly kargyraa) and sax. The other sessions were more ‘typical’.

All 'remixes' by Lajos Ishibashi-Brons.

At the time of the original session recordings, |˟˟| consisted of Lajos & Taka. Lajos: strings and noises (7-string bass, guitar, bassanxi, sousen, zarazara, crank-in-a-box, throat singing, and various effects and electronics). Taka: wind instruments and percussion (alto and soprano sax, soprano and sopranino recorders, ryuuteki, flute, bells, nose flute, various other (small) wind instruments, and found objects).

REVIEWS

Caleidoscoop / Jan Willem Broek

The Dutch-Japanese project |˟˟⌡, pronounced as 'Gate', was founded in 2009 for the purpose of solo improvisation on multiple instruments simultaneously. Founder is the Dutchman with philosophical background, Lajos Ishibashi-Brons (married to a Japanese), who moved from Groningen to Tokyo, and is associated with a university there. Lajos creates improvisations with 7-string bass, guitar, sousen, electric morin khuur, zarazara, and various other effects and noise makers. Half a year after the project was founded, the Japanese wind instrument player Taka joined the project, and with his saxophones, flutes, ryuuteki (dragon flute), recorders, whistles, and didgeridoo, he adds an extra dimension to the project's sound. Lajos's philosophical background undoubtedly contributed to the way of making music, although one shouldn't take the term 'music' too literally. He refers to Spinoza who said that freedom is illusion. Nevertheless, they create a free sound, albeit as free as the listener experiences it. What I mean is that the one will hear unstructured cacophony, while the other recognizes patterns and structure. To that extent freedom stays an illusion. Let me take the freedom to say that they manage to create immense tension between recognizable and undefinable sound. They open a 'gate' to your own interpretation. And that is exactly what makes the different CDRs and CDs 'no exit' (2009) and 'iterations' 2010 so fascinating. The sounds almost became secondary to their elaboration. The result is a kaleidoscopic whole of drones, noise, jazz, industrial, doom, and Japanese traditional music, in which the sounds freely 'wander' through indescribable, capricious soundscapes. |˟˟⌡ now released the CD 'deconstructed', which lets go of the founding principles. Philosophy also means time for reflection and seeing things in a different light. Lajos squeezed the material of the previous CD into the straitjacket of the remix. Freedom gone, one would say, but on the other hand, one could also argue that twisted freedom still is freedom, albeit caught in another reality by electronics; an extrapolation of freedom to a new reality; something like that. That new reality consists here in cacophonous versions of earlier material. With this, Lajos moves into the territory of Aube, Merzbow, KK Null, Otomo Yoshihide, God and John Zorn. It is like looking at a 3D image and suddenly seeing depth. Between the gates of the different dimensions, the music of |˟˟⌡ moves in a wayward and most of all captivating way. Incomprehensibly good!

Evening Of Light

Lajos Ishibashi-Brons‘ project |˟˟| is back again this year, but with a new approach. Where his first three albums featured an eclectic mix of rock, industrial noise, and free jazz that was above all improvised, his latest album Deconstructed focuses instead on remixes/deconstructions of recordings from the sessions of the album Iterations.

While sitting down and treating improvised recordings to an overhaul entails the risk of losing a sense of spontaneity, the resulting tracks on this album are certainly not complacent and over-polished affairs. If anything, a good many of the tracks offer even more layering and sounds from many different directions than what we heard on the previous album.

Some tracks, such as the fourth, “75R”, are a bit more laid back, resting on a constant drone and with subdued woodwind improvisations on top. Others, however, dive deep into chaotic and dense compositions, with screechy loops, guitar and woodwind melodies nearly climaxing into cacophony. Overall, there is a pleasant balance between these extremes, and in this way the album combines tendencies that were heard separately on earlier albums, as well as adding a few textures that are only achieved with later editing and mixing.

As such, Deconstructed has a lot to offer to those who enjoyed any or all of |˟˟|‘s earlier releases, but if you’re a newcomer interested in highly experimental sounds on the borders of jazz and extreme offshoots of rock and industrial, this album is recommended just the same.