Christian Marclay

Except for the familiar static and popping of vinyl there are moments when these turntable trios convincingly mimic larger free jazz ensembles. Christian Marclay’s experiment of assembling three DJs for live improvisation succeeds in proving the untapped possibilities of the turntable as musical instrument. Toshio Kajiwara, DJ Olive, Marina Rosenfeld and Erik M joined Marclay various times and places in groups of three over the span of four years documented by this release. None of the artists have traditional, beat-oriented approaches to vinyl, concentrating instead on tonality, space and the physicality of the record itself. DJ Olive’s technique of transparently mixing bell and vibe tones is countered by Marclay’s excavation of soft jazz debris and Kajiwara’s rapid cut/paste/warp/scratch approach to surface noise. Marina Rosenfeld’s approach is almost elemental and pure, while Erik M’s work, honed by collaboration with sound design groups like Voice Crack and poire_z, is more about transmutation of the sound. Unlike jazz trios forced to push the limits of chosen instruments the turntablists can change tone, tempo, timbre by slapping down a new record, making unpredictability and surprise their secret weapon.