Jean-Luc Guionnet & Daichi Yoshikawa – Intervivos

Jean-Luc Guionnet & Daichi Yoshikawa – Intervivos (Empty Editions) *Editor’s Pick

Intervivos begins without warning. An alto saxophone blasts with urgency, wailing away with a curious elusiveness that begs to be explored. The sound is dissonant, pausing every few seconds or so, only to release again with a heightened sense of tension. It’s a fitting introduction to an album replete with sonics that both challenge and intrigue; it’s an utterly fascinating take on technicality. The record is a set of four improvisations between alto saxophonist Jean-Luc Guionnet and electronic feedback aficionado Daichi Yoshikawa. Every piece finds the two subverting established norms of structure, creating sounds that congeal at the seams. Intervivos doesn’t dictate its path, but rather constructs a highway of vacancy, speculation and expression. But this method of recontextualization is a cognitive tactic, lingering in its own cryptic aura, never quite finding a linear pace.

Rating: 8.4/10

Trial Track: Intervivos I

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