james rushford and joe talia, km28, berlin

the first set was announced as piano solo and then drum solo, so offered some potential for self-indulgence. rushford played from a single small sheet of music, which i didn't see, but probably it offered a choice of notes to be delivered in changing patterns, distributed over two layers: dryly minimalist, slightly nervous notes rubbing against each other, and beneath and between that deadish notes barely reaching the threshold of existence making for a brittle mood. this went nowhere, but then we liked nowhere, and as soon as we wondered what he might do with it since as a statement in itself it would have been slight, talia switched on a computer patch that seemed to focus on some of the same tone centers, atmospherically bridged things until he had slouched over to the drum set and begun some similar patterns, a bit more wavelike, mostly on cymbals that stood on stands or lay on snares, then slowly exploring more of the kit, the first hits of the bass drum or a tom feeling like awkward exploratory steps (or even practice room bungle) until the new element was integrated into the pulse and we approached full drum solo, but patiently, ending on a rather fast (possibly electronically enhanced) bass drum stutter. wrapped up like a perfect lp side, these two have vinyl in their blood. the second set was two computers and as hoped for dwelled in some of the same territory as the duo’s excellent manhunter lp (without that record's nods to queasy downer genres), ominous static vibes that sounded sourced from vintage synth emulations or field-recorded atmospheres, plus wafts of prerecorded music, muffled mutterings through some kind of lo-fi talk box, and drumpads sometimes verging on idm. more than on manhunter, the atmospheres appeared tuned and playable and the moods more unpredictable, some transitions organic, some forced, improvisatorily so, yet their sound always had the necessary weight and their demeanor was sufficiently stoic so we could trust the music to have made sense once the performance was finished. a gratifying evening.