Kumiko Takara/Massimo Pupillo/Paal Nilssen-Love: Raids On The Unspeakable

This limited edition, 12" vinyl album features a rare meeting of threeof-a-kind powerhouse musicians who blur the boundaries between contemporary improvised music, avant-rock and shifting grooves. Norwegian drummer Paal Nilssen-Love and Italian electric bassist Massimo Pupillo (founding member of punk-jazz trio Zu) are the driving rhythm section behind saxophonist Peter Brötzmann's Hairy Bones quartet, and collaborated before in the trio OffOnOff with The Ex guitarist Terrie Ex, among countless other collaborations. Japanese percussionist Kumiko Takara plays contemporary music and collaborates regularly with like-minded sound sculptors like guitarist Kazuhisa Uchihashi's Altered States and Otomo Yoshihide's New Jazz Orchestra.

This live recording was captured in a small club in Copenhagen, and finds the trio in such a powerful moment that even the neighbors protested. "Ochlocracy," the short opening track, features Pupilo building dense layers of distorted and scorching sounds through Nilssen-Love's uncompromising drumming, but the addition of Takara's vibes inject an openness and tenderness to this tough mix. "Cain's Breed" begins as an abstract, spare improvisation that stressed the metallic elements in Nilssen-Love's cymbals and timpani drums, but almost instantly and organically mutates into a hard-rocking and highly addictive groove, still with nuanced rhythmic textures.

The other side of the 33-minutes Raids On The Unspeakable begins with the short, grinding interplay of "The Uncanny," led by the inventive and scorching Pupilo, his electric bass enhanced with many effects, but is soon contrasted by the gentler sound of Takara's vibes. The closing "Sigmund, We Have A Problem," presents the telepathic interplay of this unique trio, while continuing to explore shifting grooves—deeper and deeper into uncompromising rhythm—with humor, elegance and fearless determination.

With Raids On The Unspeakable , this trio demonstrates a rare potential. Hopefully it won't be long until its next release.