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***White Out is a sound terrorist collective of two, arising from the freedom-charged excitement of the NYC improv community. Drunken Little Mass marks the summit meeting between the combustible duo of multi-instrumentalist Lin Culbertson (analog synthesizers, autoharp, flute, and treated voice) and Tom Surgal (drums, gongs and infinite percussion), and free agent/renaissance maestro Jim O'Rourke (powerbook and guitar). The contents of this album are totally improvised, recorded in one take, with no overdubs or studio effects. The end result is impressive, the range of sound expansive, the interplay precise. Every note put forth was the combined effort of three performers working as one. Drunken Little Mass is a volatile work, at times delicate, at others raging, sometimes both simultaneously. One moment the music might lull the listener with its psychedelic space drone minimalism. The next moment could induce electric shock with its soaring distortion attacks. Culbertson and O'Rourke strive to create an electronic collage like no other, while Surgal tirelessly accompanies with his unique brand of free drum association. The CD also contains two duo tracks recorded live in concert. Just imagine Phil Wachsman commandeering Sun Ra's mothership, en route to El Saturn, with stowaways AMM and Popul Vuh duking it out for cosmic domination. O'Rourke's credentials are so voluminous that they almost don't bear mentioning; suffice to say that he has worked with everyone from Takehisa Kosugi to Stereolab to Sonic Youth. Surgal and Culbertson have also performed with a wide array of other artists including Mike Watt, Peter Br^tzmann, Charles Gayle, Beck, Cecil Taylor, Elliott Sharp, Nels Cline, Zeena Parkins and Thurston Moore. White Out has appeared in the Roulette concert series, the Skif II and CMJ music festivals, and were recent guest artists of the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble. |
