Konk Pack - Big Deep
(Grob)
While countless ad hoc improv ensembles obsess over minutiae, the aptly
named Konk Pack--featuring Henry Cow cofounder Tim Hodgkinson, analog-synth
master Thomas Lehn, and percussionist Roger Turner--has less time for such
subtlety. Konk Pack prefers its gestures writ large as a triphammer slamming
your skull. It's easy to lose sight of communication concerns when making
such a big and boisterous noise, but these players are too astute to careen
into hapless clamor. There are finely honed instincts at work on these
tracks, recorded during three live performances. Turner's spirited
percussion instigates the exchange between Hodgkinson's guitar, played
"flat" a la Fred Frith or Keith Rowe, and Lehn's sparking, spitting synth.
On "Scuffling Branca," "Moment Legs Leave," and "Not Head Only In," Turner
alternately moderates the ruckus and intensifies its aggressive tenor,
goading the musicians into ever-wilder responsive warbles and groans.
Hodgkinson switches to alto sax calls and squabbles on "Longer Blue Goes
Bone" bringing Konk Pack closer to the pointillism of the
Spontaneous Music Ensemble, encouraging Lehn to summon furious scratching
sounds like a synth-scouring Derek Bailey. Though the joys of noise are
undeniable, Big Deep's strongest moments evidence more deliberate tending.
"Odile Meets Kipper" flirts with a steady beat, but ultimately settles into
abstract three-way communication. "Dream Behind Lick" comes together from
diverse percussive and electronic elements, making the climactic welter of
watery glissandi, wildly wobbling analog frequencies, and bowed sounds seem
that much more monumental.
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