Lappetites

Before the Libretto

BY Eric HillPublished Nov 1, 2005

Born of a 2001 event at the Tonic in New York (curated by Kaffe Matthews), the Lappetites are billed not as a group but a "…forum, meeting place, a concept within which to make and exchange new music.” For the purposes of this recording the meeting place welcomes a cross-generational group of women in the field of electronics and improvisation. Matthews herself is joined by electro-acoustic pioneer Eliane Radigue, who studied with Pierre Shaeffer and Pierre Henry. Antye Greie, alias AGF, lends her poetry and electronic cutup style to the project. Youngest member Ryoko Kuwajima, like Matthews, is a real-time sound gatherer/manipulator. Before the Libretto is a surprisingly balanced affair, expertly combining all of the artists’ modus operandi into a fascinating, teetering but ultimately stable environment. A dynamic mix captures the many simultaneous sound events that whirl like the head of Janus on a Lazy Susan. By combining live playing with sharing of digital data over time and space, the foursome are able to disseminate the best moments of the experiment and present the evidence in these 13 startling tracks.
(Quecksilber)

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