Hartmut Geerken / Valeri Scherstjanoi - Stalllife

I truly have no idea what half the instruments played on this unusually listenable slab of crazed hat-stand improv are? At one point there's the wonderful sound of someone twanging a cross between a thumb piano, a plastic shatterproof ruler and a slinky. A slinky is one of those amazing wiry things that you had as a nipper that wormed it's way down your stairs at home and they usually worked great for two hours before getting irretrievably tangled up and going in the bin. There's a lot of chimes, bells, gongs and clattering pan percussion on here, a man (men?) unintelligibly chuntering, barking, gibbering and moaning into the mike, sounding like one of those incredibly strange tropical birds that Attenborough will blow your mind with on one of his ace nature programmes. There's clearly a restraint & cerebral pacing to this disc mind, the mix isn't at all cluttered and everything unfolds and evolves in an impressive fashion. The acoustics on here are incredible, warm, vibrant & intimate. There's quite an esoteric jungle/tribal feel at times that will appeal to fans of the more out-there realms of African or South American music. Also,the demented vocal gymnastics scattered throughout are almost meditative & thought-provoking instead of jarring & annoying! A fantastic start to the day, Geerken & Scherstjanoi, although I know nothing of you as people apart from this strange document of your art, I salute you both!!