Sunday, February 4, 2018

Christian Lillingers Grund - C O R [Plaist, 2018] Germany

Another unfortunate and self indulgent cover, another collective led by a drummer, another splendid record. By far the best thing they have done, this part-orchestrated, part-spontaneous 2 bass vehicle (hence Grund) shall not be easily digested. May its complexity render thee persistent though, for thou shall be rewarded.

No prisoners taken here, the goal is in the travel and Christian Lillinger will go to any lengths to achieve that. Electroacoustic ambience, polyrhythmic fluidity, free jazz, spontaneity in duos and trios, post-avant classical whatever, noise, skrieks and skronks, electronic-like, even drum 'n' bass improvisation and more importantly, energy, team spirit, dedication and balance, that's what's in the main recipe for C O R. Everything on the record is of course produced by acoustic instruments (except for the occasional rhodes) thanks to the stunning musicianship and genius that is Grund.

The band's proceeding like the autocratic mechanism it is and I, the listener, am helpless. This is where new music is going in 2018 and I love it. Induction in the groove, meticulous planning and suffocating freedom is what the guy on the cover brings and I certainly hope many will embrace it. Get past the artwork and invest to traverse through the unknown. And why oh why did they have to omit Plastik from the vinyl edition?!?

Christian Lillinger | drums, composition | Pierre Borel | saxophone | Tobias Delius | saxophone, clarinet | Achim Kaufmann | piano, fender rhodes | Christopher Dell | vibraphone | Robert Landfermann | bass | Jonas Westergaard | bass