Kevin Drumm & Taku Sugimoto "Duo" CD (Meme, 1998) ultra-minimalist guitar duets

Description: Here we have an astonishing ear-opener for those seeking the ultimate in minimal sound, created by two artists well versed in the art of saying more with less, KEVIN DRUMM and TAKU SUGIMOTO: Duo, a Japanese import released in 1998 by the Meme imprint, now long unavailable. The now defunct and much-missed Meme was a label dedicated to “noise/sound/silence conceptually expanded minimalism,” releasing CDs that explore sparseness and simplicity to a near-unheard-of degree. Even their cover art was pared down to the bare essentials – all Meme discs were packaged with plain white inserts and tray cards, the name of the artist in tiny lettering upon the back and what few credits there were printed in a spiral beneath the CD tray. Drumm and Sugimoto are two guitarists whose development has run in wildly different directions, yet here, their styles fit perfectly to one another. To refer to the nine untitled pieces featured here as “challenging” is pure hyperbolic understatement… here Sugimoto and Drumm create by a radical and perhaps brutal stripping away of most of what we consider the defining attributes of music, casting aside such niceties as rhythm, harmony, melody, emotion. These pieces focus on the smallest of details and the barest movements in a way that is almost zen-like. Imagine contemplating a pebble in every possible way for an hour, finally realizing that this tiny rock contains a universe within its exterior. Indeed, most folks would be hard pressed to even consider this music. More fools they, then, as this is magnificent stuff – meditative without descending to flaccid new age dribble, rewarding the thoughtful listener with a near-hypnotic intensity. This is advanced class experimentation minimal enough to make Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians sound like Wagner’s Ring Cycle, and it will utterly infuriate most casual music listeners… but devotees of such sculptors of sound and silence as the Hafler Trio, Bernhard Gunter, Morton Feldman and Organum will be appropriately blown away. Duo was only available for a very short time, and has been out of print for ages. The disc is in beautiful, near-mint condition. ***** This 1998 release on the enigmatic Meme label out of Tokyo sees Chicago guitar abstractionist Kevin Drumm in an unlikely pairing with his Japanese colleague Taku Sugimoto. While the duo members share a similar interest in silence, their styles differ greatly to fans of minimal electronic improvisation. Where Drumm's scratches and buzzing noises see him often compared to Keith Rowe, Sugimoto's guitar is all subdued chimes and bluesy harmony, closer to that of Loren Mazzacane Connors. On this duo meeting, the guitarists are not on such opposing poles as one would think, and the contrast in styles makes for intriguing slow-motion integrations, where lilting blues give way to fax-modem noise delivered by Drumm. The blend of tones and textures works in the way that makes this kind of improvisation most successful: When it is impossible to define where the sound source is coming from, the music takes on another form, more akin to modern classical or electro-acoustic music. Hence, both guitarists possess the skill to go beyond the limitations of their instruments, as they casually move between the phrasings of silence and noise. ~ Dean McFarlane, All Music

Price: 15 USD

Location: Brentwood, California

End Time: 2025-01-24T22:07:14.000Z

Shipping Cost: 5 USD