Gmackrr and Brandon Valdivia

Sans Nuage is a collaboration between Montreal's Emilie Mouchous (aka Gmackrr) and Brandon Validivia (the multi-limbed percussionist from Toronto, ON's Not the Wind Not the Flag). The eight pieces feature Valdivia's trademarked, rapid-fire, ramshackle percussion, alongside plucked and bowed strings, analog synthesizer and field recordings, courtesy of Mouchous. Crafted during a tour of France and Belgium, Sans Nuage includes scattershot percussive clusters, meandering string exercises and a few droning passages. Things really get exciting on the sixth track when Mouchous pits her squelching synthesizer against the thunderous blasts emanating from Valdivia. At this point, the players have reached a zenith and seem to have become a single entity. The closing piece, in which the players sound like they're beneath a bird-filled tree, emits a percussive melody that manages to be nuanced enough not to scare the birds away.