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Cline/Giffoni/Licht/Ranaldo, "Nothing Makes Any Sense"
This single track, 18+ minute improvisation by a veritable super-group of six string abuse and experimentation (including members of Wilco and Sonic Youth), aided and abetted by the No Fun Fest curator and analog electronics wizard, actually has a misleading title. While these guitarists could be expected to create a squall of guitar noise like a bag of wet cats rolling down a hill, it instead shows an admirable level of free jazz type restraint and balance.
While it is balanced and restrained, it is never dull or too subtle. Instead, it has a massive sense of space in which the three guitarists are allowed to experiment and improvise; occasionally with massive amounts of effects, other times stripped down to the purest of guitar tones. Monotract member/solo artist Carlos Giffoni's electronic noise never overwhelms or dominates the space, but instead functions as yet another instrument that provides a good contrast to the generally more lower-end focused guitars.
Unlike would be the case with a similar conglomeration of pretentious 1970s rock guitarists, I for one have no way of clearly identifying the work of any specific artist over another, which makes the improvisation more of a cohesive entity instead of an exercise of whammy bar masturbation. The more quiet, reflective passages of lesser treated guitar work might be more consistent with some of Nels Cline's work with Wilco, while there is more than enough screech and feedback to show Lee Ranaldo's Sonic Youth background. And, I'm not going to lie; I'm not familiar with Alan Licht's stuff, so I won't pretend to be.
Over the duration of the long track, the sounds waivers from warm noise sheets to quieter, guitar driven passages. As aforementioned, there are never extensive harsh noise passages, but there are times in which haunted house style tones mix with carefully controlled feedback and deep, explosive pulses of electronic noise. When the noise is more prominent, it has a greater sense of tactile texture and thickness. It is plenty harsh and distorted, but in a complex, fascinating way. Giffoni even manages to work out a few solos on his electronic gear, sometimes resembling a trumpet, other times a snake charmer's flute.
Free jazz is the greatest parallel I can think of to describe this release, because these artists show that same level of restraint and working of each other's playing as would be expected from the likes of Sun Ra or Ornette Coleman's genre defining album. The liner notes, originally written for Lou Reed's Rock 'n Roll Animal are appropriate for the force presented here but sell short the subtly and complexity of sound that is also present.
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