s3d (Ear & Eye) (Atoll)
Rating: *****
Strike, Sketches (Strike, both through Ode Records)
Rating: ****
Verdict: Auckland improv summit and Wellington drummers mould enticing soundscapes from unexpected sources.
Don't fret if you missed the three days of s3d at Auckland's Galatos two years back - Phil Dadson and Wayne Laird have captured the highlights of the improv and sonic art festival on a handsome new Atoll CD/DVD set.
Listen to Dadson throat-singing, alongside instrumental workouts on his so-described sprongs, and you can't help wanting to see how it's done. A solo by Yek koo tickles your curiosity as to what part those cardboard record players play in her whirring soundscape.
The Atoll CD gives us Californian Tom Nunn in a hypnotic 11-minute solo on his homemade Crustacean, bowing up textures that veer from valleys of grunge to peaks of purity.
We discover Sam Morrison presiding over a Heath Robinson-like machine. Beer bottles spin on turntables, balloons pulsate on touch, creating sounds of enchantment.
The interaction between musicians is riveting and gentle humour and whimsy of Japanese sound artist Akio Suzuki priceless.
Ten years ago, Wellington percussion group Strike made its debut album with a collection of works by composers from Ross Harris and Don McGlashan to David Downes.
Strike's sophomore album, Sketches, is mostly the players' own work, although Gareth Farr kicks off with what amounts to a rototom fanfare, Pacific-style. There are uncomfortable moments when undulating marimbas evoke memories of New Age soundtracks, but the energy of these live performances save the day.
Listen to Murray Hickman's giddying Water Sketches and you may wonder how a car panel found itself in the line-up. But who would expect anything less from a group that has the DIY nous to conscript ticky-tacky machines and scaff pipe into its musical armament? William Dart
