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Big Satan: Souls Saved Hear
Ducret's supple acoustic guitar opens "Ce Sont Les Noms Des Mots," almost antithetically to what follows. The piece builds momentum, with Ducret and Berne trading statements. For emphasis, producer David Torn allows the horn to echo, adding additional sonic color and a touch of drama. Guitar noises and skittering drums introduce "Hostility Suite," a frenetic tune that has Berne hanging on notes and bleating short phrases, before the tune melts to a spacious conclusion. "Geez" is another spry tune, with Berne and Ducret's parts becoming tightly wound together as Rainey whips them along. He does it again on "Rampe," locking into a chunky groove with Ducret's snarling bottom-end sound, allowing Berne's horn to slink through the spaces. The sax-guitar duet of "Emportez-moi" offers a brief respite, before Rainey's solo statement introduces "Deadpan," a stuttering Berne piece that hints at themes before fully stating them. The tune boasts intense exchanges between the drummer and his partners individually, and erupts when all three converge. After a kinetic intro, "Mr. Subliminal" features Berne's insistent horn, before Ducret joins him for snake-charming effect. A Torn remix and recombination concludes the CD, and suggests how deep the musical mine runs.
Despite the overlap of players with other Berne projects, Big Satan has a collective identity of its own, with each member contributing compositions, and has built a tight interplay over time.
Track Listing
Ce Sont Les Noms Des Mots; Hostility Suite; Geez; Rampe; Emportez-Moi; Deadpan (for Mat Maneri); Mr. Subliminal; Property Shark; Plaintain Surgery.
Personnel
Big Satan is Tim Berne: alto saxophone, Marc Ducret: guitar and Tom Rainey: drums. Produced by David Torn. Recorded June 9-10, 2004.
Album information
Title: Souls Saved Hear | Year Released: 2004 | Record Label: Thirsty Ear Recordings
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