I/O - Polytone

The I/O project features Andrea Reali (vocals), Luca Mauri (guitar), Paolo Romano (double bass) and Paolo Benzoni (drums) engaging in a kind of “minimalist rhythmic improvisation.” This definition, coined by the musicians themselves, captures the essence of the band's style. Already on their self-titled debut album (Ebria, 2003), their penchant for free form and improvisation is clearly evident (halfway between a chamber quartet and unconventional post-rock), built on subtle sonic layering and systematic rhythmic-harmonic reworkings (from the cerebral patterns of Can, to electroacoustic and minimalist adjustments, to Canterbury-esque and Davis-esque decompositions).

The same goes for “Polytone,” their second official album, in which their rhythmic fastidiousness makes extensive use – beyond the usual broad spectrum of complex time signatures – of ostinato, syncopation and off-beat accents. The fourth track features a bass line straight out of “Bitches Brew,” a minimal drum framework and swarms of cacophonous guitar ectoplasm: besides displaying micro shifts in tempo, the whole thing gradually condenses into a kind of haughty tango, eventually becoming a curious wall of sound that the Starfuckers of “Sinistri” would appreciate. Similarly, in the closing track, the Argentine-tinged bass figure gives rise to a danse macabre built on drums and angular guitar, culminating in a sort of collective final transfiguration (almost industrial-noise).

The seventh track is accompanied by a hushed ambient swell laden with distant voodoo noises, out of which emerge lounge-style arrangements and hazy Gregorian choral tones. The opening piece, the most complex and programmatic of the set, relies on the guitar's pulse as a germinal core for exercises in free rhythmic association (first motorik in the style of Neu!, then a free-form groove with warbling vocals reminiscent of Wyatt, distortions and dissonant double-bass counterpoint), along with micro harmonic variations for bass and exploded guitar. Gradually, we move on to amplifier stasis, hardcore riffs demoted to industrial alarms, the voiceless (and demonic) croaking of filtered vocals and the extreme off-beat rhythms of track 3, the gurgling, ambient hiss and limping drums (Bertacchini docet) of the fifth track, right up to the dynamic momentum of the sixth track's post-bop jam and the hiccups and neurotic scales of the second.

A work that shows ascetic rigor and consistency, without giving up on inventive imagery and connotations. Paradoxically, despite all the fanfare that accompanied the album's release, what actually works are the effective sub-tropical detours, the sulfurous satanic touches, the impossible forms that keep reshaping one another. Not so much the tracklist, too uniform with itself, nor the cultured intentions, excessively lauded with the presumption of listening autonomy.

Post-production is by Giuseppe Ielasi, the best current heir to Berio's legacy, but the album was recorded live in one take. Cul De Sac open for them on their Italian tour in May 2007. Side project: Two Dead Bodies (Reali and Mauri), with a hand from Bar La Muerte, refining and further stylizing their improvised-accountancy grooves.

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11/05/2007