Alan Licht, Tetuzi Akiyama

Tomorrow Outside Tomorrow

BY Nilan PereraPublished Mar 30, 2016

5
On Tomorrow Outside Tomorrow, Licht, Akiyama and guests Oren Ambarchi and Rob Mazurek have created two distinct longform excursions into the sound worlds of noise and feedback.
 
The first piece, "Blur Deceiver," is a dark and morose world of shifting shapes that conjure a dense low-energy swirl. The mood is wary and resentful. About two thirds into the piece the mood shifts and whatever creature(s) reside in this mass slowly rise in energy and anger, creating a surge of tension in the wall of guitar/electronic noise.
 
The second piece, "Tomorrow Outside Tomorrow," has less intensity, more space and more recognisable guitar elements setting up patterns of notes in conversation with noise elements. In this selection, Mazurek's trumpet appears and floats serenely over the atonal mass. The effect is curiously incongruous and stands as more of a reference point than an interaction.
 
The articulation of texture and movement in this music is for the most part well executed. The narrative is somewhat less so.
(Editions Mego)

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