David Grubbs, Mat Gustaffson, Rob Mazurkek: The Underflow

Rating: ★★★

Record and Artist Details

Musicians:

David Grubbs (g)
Rob Mazurek (picc-t)
Mats Gustafsson (fl, fluteophone, bar s, elec)

Label:

Corbett Vs. Dempsey

April/2020

Media Format:

CD

Catalogue Number:

CvsD CD063 (CD

RecordDate:

31 May 2019

Though recorded live in Athens, Greece – at the Underflow Record Shop And Art Gallery, thus gifting the project its name – there’s a distinctly Chicagoan pedigree to this heavy-hitting trio’s debut: Mazurek has been a major figure there for decades, making his name with Chicago Underground Quartet and Duo; Grubbs is best known for Chicago-based post-rock outfit Gastr del Sol; while Gustafsson has a long history with the city stretching back to the 1990s and his involvement with Brötzmann’s Chicago Tentet. Perhaps unsurprisingly then, there’s an easy rapport between the three, even while they step out into unfamiliar territory. Opening track, the 18-minute ‘City Stones Sleep’, stretches furthest, combining tactile electronics, sci-fi whooshes and Mazurek’s strangely off-hand wordless vocals to build a throbbing meander reminiscent of a noughties noise set. At the other end of the spectrum, the 16-minute ‘Not In A Hall Of Mirrors’ moves from a rare Gustafsson flute solo into a more conventional guitar/sax/trumpet investigation. In between these two poles, the shorter tracks essay some unexpected moods. ‘Goats And Hollers,’ for instance, with its glistening computer sounds, feral vocals and lofty trumpet fanfare sounds like Don Cherry in space. It all adds up to a highly imaginative date.

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