Tim Daisy: Red Nation "1"

On the outside, Chicagoan Tim Daisy is a 21st century musician. He plays drums in the forward thinking bands Made To Break (with Christof Kurzmann, Jasper Stadouders, and Ken Vandermark), saxophonist Dave Rempis' Percussion Quartet (with Frank Rosaly, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, and Frank Rosaly), and Trio Red Space (with Jeb Bishop and Mars Williams). It's his solo work that suggests he is an old soul.

We're talking a century ago, if Daisy had been born back then, he would've taken part in the Futurist and Dada movements. Spin his latest, Red Nation "1" and names like the Italian Luigi Russolo and the American composer George Antheil come to mind. He makes use of not quite found objects: metals scraps and bells, bowls, radios, and a turntable, with which he can alter the pitch of an LP. He had always hinted at his interests, inserting toys and kitchen utensils into his role as a sideman. With this release, plus Relucent // Music For Marimba, Radios And Turntables (Relay, 2016) and On The Ground 'An Amusing Mess' (Relay, 2015), his passion for the intimate details of listening are unearthed.

"East Of Appalachia" opens as a rickety blues, layered with an off-balanced pulse that decays in your hands. Where a collagist would add and subtract in a studio mix, Daisy creates these sounds, amazingly, without overdubs. The scratchy dream-state wobble of "Concord Citizen" floats as lightly as a cloud with ghost voices as musical seasoning. Are these pieces found objects? No, Daisy is assembling the sound with a thoroughness of thought yet, an abandonment Tom Waits would appreciate.

Maybe it is because he is a percussionist first, that these seemingly disparate sounds come together. He doesn't neglect pulse here. The hypnotic pieces "Drunken Captain," "Shadows Play," and especially, "Beats For An Owl" induce movement. The latter piece is a lengthy drum piece performed over constant noise, like a Balázs Pándi/Merzbow performance with Masami Akita's electronic voice hushed.

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