SeieS

by Rick AndersonLarsen are a quartet of Italian musicians whose apparently mainstream instrumentation (two guitars, bass, and drums along with the occasional glockenspiel or shruti box) masks a deeply strange sonic temperament. And good for them. SeieS is their fifth album, and the palindromic structure of its nonsense title is a good indication of what you'll hear: most of the seven tracks on the program are slow pieces that sway between two chords, offering little in the way of internal logic (when there are words they're often mixed so low as to be incomprehensible) but still providing plenty of interest if you're willing to be patient and listen closely. On "The Snow," there are orchestral strings and strange percussion sounds swinging back and forth between the song's two chords, while "Mother" is structured similarly but features faintly recorded male and female vocals and a more densely orchestrated sound. On "Rever," there are vocals again, but this time they move very gradually from background to foreground over the course of the song. "2nd" is more droney than the previous tunes. The album ends with "Marzia," a collaboration between Larsen and Lustmord (aka Brian Williams) that drags on a bit too long but is fairly interesting for at least the first six minutes. As is often the case with releases on the Important label, the disc is beautifully packaged. Recommended.