Barbacana - Barbacana (2012)

"Barbacana is an Anglo-French quartet that brings together some of the keenest young musical intelligences from either side of the channel: British firebrands James Alsopp and Kit Downes and rising French artists Sylvain Darrifourcq and Adrien Dennefeld. Since 2009, they’ve been stunning live audiences with their barbed, angular riffs and hive-mind extemporisations.

The self-titled debut album, Barbacana, is a bristling summation of all their group discoveries to date, hinting at both the long history of avant-garde jazz shared by artistic communities in Paris and London, and the love French audiences and musicians have long held for classic British Prog and jazz-rock groups such as Soft Machine, Matching Mole and Hatfield and the North.

‘Animation’ starts with a Beefheartian tangle of robotic, interlocking guitar and organ jabs, squirling sax, and piston-popping, fractured drum rhythms, before giving way to a mysterious, dreamy coda. ‘Steam; sets off into a murky investigation of bass clarinet and low organ rumbles, smeared with Bill Frissel-like guitar sighs, until diving into a prancing, organ-led riff reminiscent of Canterbury-scene Prog at its most gripping. ‘Migration-Big Big Shop’ rushes out of the gate with gnarled, barbed-wire guitar, and twitchy, caffeinated drums only to tumble headlong into turbulent free-fall with wide, endof-the-pier organ swells opening out like a queasy parachute.

Imagine strapping yourself into a fairground ride that keeps changing direction, switching from rollercoaster to ghost train and back again with capricious wit and skill.

With Barbacana, the only certainty is that nothing is certain..."

Barbacana - Barbacana (2012)



Tracks:

1.Animation 06:57
2.Steam 05:09
3.Adobes 06:00
4.Barbacana 01:49
5.For No Raisin 07:28
6.Migration-Big Big Shop 10:05
7.Outro 05:28

Line-Up:

James Allsopp: tenor saxophone, bass clarinet; 
Sylvain Darrifourcq: drums, objects,toys; 
Adrien Dennefeld: guitar, cello; 
Kit Downes: organ, keyboard, prepared piano.

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