Comfort

Groups that decide to combine the acoustic and the electronic in their work generally draw heavily from one and add the other as an afterthought. Italian duo Alessandro Baris and Leonardo Chirulli take a much more balanced approach. On the rock side their bass/piano/drums framework is as complex and far-reaching as any Tortoise jazz/rock essay. Rather than resting on this level tracks like "The Missed Environment" rework the script to include microtonal violin loops, hissing electronic percussion and synth textures. While it calls to mind works by Crescent or Radian, Comfort's sound is much more expansive and not as dry. Tracks like "Florian" and "Iceberg" successfully combine hints of classic '60s soundtracks, '70s European jazz and modern digital effects in one cool, detail-rich flow. And though their scope is broad and guests many the duo are careful to let the instruments breathe and the silences matter. There is no abused space and each track comes with a fresh new secret waiting to be discovered.