Pat Thomas / Chris Sharkey / Luke Reddin-Williams: Know: Delirium Atom Paths

Anyone wondering what a mash up between Sun Ra and Krautrock pioneers like Tangerine Dream might sound like? Delirium Atom Paths supplies one possible answer. The product of an encounter between the esteemed veteran Pat Thomas on keyboards and two representatives of a younger generation in guitarist Chris Sharkey and drummer Luke Reddin-Williams, the unbroken 44-minute album presents a kaleidoscopic extravaganza of overlapping electronic textures and shifting beats.

Thomas should need no introduction. A multifaceted artist equally at home on acoustic or electric instruments in jazz, improvised or contemporary settings, he played in Derek Bailey's seminal Company, and since with an increasingly wide range of international talent which includes Tony Oxley, William Parker, John Butcher and Matana Roberts. Based in Leeds, where this album was recorded, Sharkey also spans boundaries. He cofounded the Leeds Improvised Music Association, as well as being part of the punk jazz TrioVD and Acoustic Ladyland band. He has also been a band mate of Reddin-Williams in the Roller Trio since 2011.

Both keys and guitar prize an abstract blend of ambience, minimalist reiteration and atmospherics over tune or even rhythm. Which is where Reddin-Williams comes in. It is his urgent forward motion in a constantly fascinating whirlwind of varying density and pace which elevates the date, without ever becoming overly repetitive. Various moods emerge: drones with cymbal spume, three-way improv exchanges, proto grooves, faulty electronics crackles. The second half of the title offers a very apt image, though you half expect a space chant to break out at any second.

While the duration might tax some listeners, perhaps the best approach is to let the music wash over and cleanse, for a reveling in a state of trance. On such a long haul there are inevitably moments when they seem to be waiting for inspiration to strike, but happily these pass quickly before they alight on more fertile gambits. Thomas and Sharkey enjoy clear channel separation, which makes this a captivating experience on headphones, though there is little to sonically to differentiate them. The journey finishes with a brief snatch of melody, repeated twice by Thomas. Not quite a denouement, but certainly suggesting there might still be pathways to unknown worlds to explore.

Thomas, Sharkey and Reddin-Williams combine in a superior mix of freeform and fusion.

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