Viviane Houle

Intimate, eerie, electrifying, Treize is a tour de force of vocal improvisation. With hair-raising, stratospheric squeals and percussive, glottal stops, vocalist Viviane Houle matches sonorities with cellist Peggy Lee on opener "Mandrake." "Molehills Mumps" is lyrical, as Houle reacts gracefully to pianist Lisa Miller's exquisite dialogic accompaniment, a CD highlight. Guitarist Ron Samworth provides a kind of creepy, looped backdrop for "Quiet Eyes" that finds Houle's confidential, speechified poetics draped dreamlike in space. "Song Not for You," with guitarist Brent Belke, sounds like a Sonic Youth track, with seriously crunchy power chords and feline vocalizations. Improv interaction doesn't get more responsive than the interchanges on "Betters and Bads," with violinist/producer Jesse Zubot. Laptop-ist Stefan Smulovitz creates an ever-evolving soundscape that pulses like an alien life form on "Curves." With its cinematic scale and beautiful production, Treize is an auspicious debut recording from an attention-riveting artist. Recommended.