Phosphor is a Berliner octet dealing in the smallest of improvisation. A mix of acoustic and electronic instruments, the group specializes in sparse improvisation consisting of sudden noises and quiet textures. Their self-titled debut, nearly an hour in length, finds the group mining relatively the same territory over the disc's duration, with mixed results.
It's not always easy to discern which member of Phosphor is responsible for the sounds being made, but each contributes equally, and what results is a ensemble whose chemistry and unspoken communication are well refined. The silences that span large gaps within the group's performance are wrought with both a feeling of tension and that of unpredictable potential, as the seemingly democratic work of Phosphor guarantees that sound could emanate from any one of the group's musicians at any time. Rarely do the members of Phosphor coerce traditional sounds from their instruments. Soprano Saxophonist Alessandro Bosetti and trumpeter Axel Dörner produce long, wavering tones or hushed breaths of air from the bells of their instruments with little or none of the tone expected from them, while Annette Krebs' and Michale Renkel's guitars provide more texture and ambient background than explicitly strummed notes. Andrea Neumann's work inside the piano results in much of the same. Burkhard Beins handles the percussion, which is made up of the small, almost incidental sounds of bells and the sounds of a drumstick being rubbed on a drum head, rim, or cymbal. Dörner, Neumann, and Ignaz Schick also provide various forms of electronics, the most apparent of which are the often obtrusive bursts of static which Schick calls forth periodically. These shocks of sound, though they sometimes offer some body to the spare menagerie of sounds that his bandmates create, seem to go against the groups modus operandi, and, within the context of Phosphor's work, can soak up too much of a listener's attention by clouding over the other sounds present at any given time. It's true, however, that Phosphor sometimes need a spark, as many of the discs less abundant (and audible) moments wander for too long in near-silence without a sense of direction, however scattered, that binds the better work on the disc. Yet, it is the tracks with the smallest amounts of electronic output that prove to be the album's best. The beginning of "P1," along with "P6," offer glimpses of the group at their sparse, surprising best. Staccato, percussive attacks punctuate the air, as more controlled ambience drifts underneath. In a recording that depends so much on the volume of the sounds it contains, Phosphor find the most success when equilibrium of volume and intensity is forged, but in this outing, the group don't always find a delicate balance.
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