Deison Marhaug

Available from Deison Critiano, Via Cormons 33, 33100 Udine, Italy.

LASSE Marhaug's work with Jazzkammer, Origami, Del and Kevin Drumm - as well as his contributions in the celluloid domain - help turn this latest collaboration into an experimentalist dream. Deison's notorious association with Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth and his previous outings with Shee Retina Stimulants and KK Null, meanwhile, ensure that this CD serves as a great example of alternative composition in a minimalist setting. The cover's depiction of barren landscapes and wild grass forcing it's way through brickwork like nature triumphant over human progress, sets the tone from the very beginning.

On the first track, 'En Pest Og Plage', the tap of hollow wood and an impassive rush of wind give way to a series of shrill sirens and electronic beeps. Increasing both in terms of volume and intensity, the result is a loose cacophony of light violence sweet-talking its way into your ears like a cerebral virus. Dipping in tone from time to time and then switching constantly from bearable Noise to harsh Ambient, the track fades away like a transister radio entering its death-throes.

'Piano Theme From Nowhere' grinds its way through crackled interludes like the needle of a repetitive gramophone arriving at Vinyl's End. It's like a scene from a 1920s parlour, but with no bright young things on hand to change the record or send the ghostly strains of Chopin echoing their way through the hallways. And whilst the repetition always remains steady and undeterred, an intermittant rustling adds a slightly louder dimension as it crackles and spits like the flickering embers of a molten fire.

'Picture In A Frame', on the other hand, chugs along slowly in the wake of an initial burst of electronic mortar-fire. The occasional interruption of vitriolic hissing and discordant metal are reminiscent of a scene from 'Invasion Of The Bodysnatchers', whilst several sonic slashes conjure up images of someone running their fingernails down an electrified fence. Behind this lie urgent and distorted vocals and something that sounds like the whimperings of a wounded dalek amid yet more nightmarish hissing and sinister rumblings.

Within the context of an aural timescale 'Il Tempo Di Una Notte' is fairly short and therefore doesn't live up to its name, although I suspect that it took far longer to complete. Busier than the previous tracks on the album, a gradual mixture of tenor-like bubbles and lone sparks flex their muscles within a confined space of almost total minimalism. Ripping and tearing like a pre-pubescent chainsaw in an excessively strict library, the near-silence is soon penetrated by deep thumps and heady vibrational interludes. Deison and Marhaug's ability to turn an atmosphere of electronic minimalism into such a vast and complex flurry of tonal subterfuge must be applauded.

Almost nine minutes in length, 'The Love For Three Oranges - Story In E Flat Major' opens with a sharp metallic pealing and the overall effect is like an angry exchange between two irritable crank-box operators at a telegraph station, each creating a nonsensical hell of dots and dashes. Towards the end the track descends into Ambience, creaking resolutely like a gregarious dolphin or the swaying mast of a decrepid galleon. This CD represents the cutting-edge of European experimentalism at its best and deserves far more respect than that accorded to many of the lesser artists appearing on BBC Radio Three's 'Mixing It' programme. The verdict? 33 minutes well spent.