Dry Thrust: The Less You Sleep

Legend has it that if Blue Note founder Alfred Lion was seen dancing in the engineer's booth during a recording session, the forthcoming release would be a hit. Listening to The Less You Sleep by the trio Dry Thrust makes one wonder what kind of dance label boss Konstantin Drobil was performing while the tracks for this disc were being laid down.

The Less You Sleep is the first document by this thoroughly unconventional trio of Georg Graewe who, as he has with the Sonic Fiction Orchestra, swaps his piano for an organ, guitarist (plus an entire array of electronics) Martin Siewert, and drummer Didi Kern. Graewe, the elder statesman here, is comfortable in both free and more traditional styles, having written for various ensembles from trios to chamber orchestras. His distinctive acoustic piano technique is easily recognizable, and that is what makes this outing intriguing. He choses the organ as both a complement and foil to Siewert's guitar & electronics and Kern's drum barrage.

The assault of this music is a combination of glitchy guitar processing and askew pulse. The mostly shortish tracks range from the demolition of "Unruh" to the hushed sounds of "Afterburner" with Siewert's guitar pickups, Graewe's monastic organ, and Kern's driving pulse. Siewert's guitar—heard in (Fake) The Facts with Mats Gustafsson and Dieter Kovacic, Radian, and Trapist—has an inclination to shred with some anarchistic electronic disturbances thrown in. There is a similar modus operandi for Kern, who performs with the avant-rock band BulBul and with improvising artists such as Elisabeth Harnik and Ken Vandermark. The sounds offer a melody before disfiguring it, or hint at tranquility only to conjure a storm. Magnificent storm or new dance craze? You decide.