23 Jan Luca Venitucci, Michael Renkel
Michael Renkel: acoustic guitar, preparations, zither, Luca Venitucci (Rome): accordion, flight case, objects
CD excerpt track 1: “second order observation”, © 2002, label: linnomable.com
esquilo / (Portugal)
” I’ve always been fond of the word “still” and its two dictionary definitions, one the adjective meaning calm, immobile, the other the adverb, as in “does Berlin Reductionism still exist?” (there’s also an outside chance Messrs Renkel and Venitucci are referring to the large vessel used in the preparation of hard liquor, though I seriously doubt it). The answer to that question above by the way is probably no, since there’s nothing remotely reductionist / minimal / lowercase about this latest outing from guitarist Renkel (of the Phosphor collective) and accordionist Venitucci (of Zeitkratzer fame). Not that either musician was ever really hardcore minimalist in the first place – Renkel’s other outings have revealed a guitarist closer in spirit to the euphoric Olaf Rupp than the ascetic Annette Krebs (compare Renkel and Rupp’s respective contributions to Berlin Strings a while back), a player evidently in love with the sheer physicality of the guitar, and not afraid to make it sound like one. This is a direct flouting of what shall hereafter be referred to as Rowe’s Law – “Thy guitar shall under no circumstances ever sound like a guitar” – which of course has been applied with missionary zeal to other instruments by various practitioners over the past few years. Luca Venitucci, though certainly well versed in extended techniques, is no dogmatic practitioner of Rowe’s Law either (my vote for the most “extreme” accordionist right now would go to Alfredo Costa Monteiro): even the most reactionary devotee of French bal musette could recognise the instrument he’s playing as an accordion. That said, they certainly won’t be dancing to this at the local guinguette. Going back to the album title, there’s nothing still (immobile) about these three extended tracks, of which the first, entitled “Second Order Observation”, is the most substantial. The music is distinctly fluid, even if it advances at reductionism’s leisurely pace. Unlike seasoned practitioners of “classic” reductionism though, Renkel doesn’t go out of his way to avoid repetition – check out the quiet but nervous pattern making on “Serraglio” and “Interferenze”. Venitucci, who’s also credited as playing his flight-case, adds some well-timed thuds and bangs. It all adds up to a remarkably fresh and surprising outing from two thoughtful and creative musicians on a label to watch.”
Brian Olewnick Bagatellen (USA)
Guitarist Renkel, recently heard to good effect in his collaboration (as half of Activity Center) with Phil Minton on Absinth, here teams with accordionist Luca Venitucci for three astringent but fairly rewarding improvisations. It’s a subdued affair, a touch drier than perhaps I’d have liked to have heard, but contains a good deal of careful listening and considered conversation, making good use of the sonic capabilities of their instruments, Renkel credited additionally with zither and “preparations”, Venitucci with flight-case (a first?) and “objects”.
On the initial and longest track (about 27 minutes), “second order observation”, Venitucci sometimes sounds as though he’s emulating Sachiko M, casting out extremely high, sine-like pitches from his accordion, shafts of tone around which Renkel weaves with delicate quasi-scalar strumming or harsher, similarly high-end bowing. Space is employed quite well as when, a few minutes later, soft squeezebox breaths engage with spiky harassment from the guitar, a very attractive and unhurried conversation. The two readily shift attitudes, Renkel soon acquiescing into soft chords while his partner scrabbles nervously about until a gentle truce is reached and an almost pastoral interlude drifts by. Maybe the piece goes on a few minutes longer than necessary as some agitation that sets in during the final moments distracts me a bit from the overall tenor of the work, but by and large, it coheres pretty well.
”serraglio” begins in not dissimilar fashion with nervous scrabbling by Renkel and soft, wheezy accordion. However, a more disjointed feel gradually manifests, the brief episodes flickering in and out of space like lit areas seen from a passing train. It ends up being less satisfying than I’d hoped, perhaps because of what I find to be excessive aridity in execution although that appears to often be part and parcel of Renkel’s approach (I’m not otherwise familiar, I don’t think, with Venitucci and therefore am not certain how typical or not this session is for him). The final selection, “interferenze”, is by far my pick of the lot, wherein the duo gets something resembling a drone up and running, Venitucci on ratchety objects (maybe that flight case, too!), Renkel obsessively iterating plucked notes. When, at its conclusion, an organ-y accordion finds itself in the company of sparse bells and low, thrummed guitar, a very special aura is created. Throughout, the shifts in mood unfold at a natural pace and the ten-minute piece achieves a stand-alone solidity hinted at with greater of lesser success in the others.
Chain DLK / Eugenio Maggi
Recorded in Berlin in late 2002, “Still” features Renkel at acoustic guitar, zither and “preparations” (whatever they are) and Luca Venitucci (also in Ossatura, here at accordion, flight-case and objects). Starting with a rather sparse playing, the interaction between the two musicians soon gets more, ahem, cohesive, though it could apparently sound like a paradox with this kind of radical improvisation. But Renkel and Venitucci are skillfully able to make their instruments/objects talk to the listener; proving faithful to the title, silence and rather quiet pauses give much needed breath to their dialogues.
Eugenio Maggi