Etienne Jaumet and Fabrizio Rat – Etienne Jaumet and Fabrizio Rat

Bureau B

Both Etienne Jaumet and Fabrizio Rat are trained pianists, but they have done their level best to obfuscate that fact under layers of progressive experimentation that finds Etienne concentrating on modular synthscapes while Fabrizio treats the piano in a far more percussive manner than we might be used to, distending the strings as he hammers the keys.

Due to these experimental leanings, the album has a far more dramatic, soundtrack influenced vibe and one that causes the listener some wild changes in direction leading from Tangerine Dream-esque synthscapes to far more visceral and abstracted avenues.

The piano purrs and vibrates under the repetitively meditative modular, but there is a dark, shadowy underworld feel to “Rive Opposte”, while “Sentero” revels in its dystopian sci-fi tone, the tapping of the keys removing the piano from its usual comfort zone and pushing it further into the shrouded distance. The modular synth meanwhile brings to mind a soundtrack for fractals, the way the sound constantly evolves with changes of pitch and glitchy spurts.

I was always intrigued that the piano is referred to as a percussive instrument in an orchestral set-up, but here on this album, it really lives up to that reference. In fact, the rhythm that is developed on “Transmutazione” is almost techno in the simplicity and insistence of the plucked strings allied with the synth’s spooks and flashes. Its slow evolution and repetitive groove insist on the term acoustic techno, which describes the sound rather well across a few of the tracks but the interplay between Etienne and Fabrizio across the whole album is a joy to behold. They know exactly how to interweave their respective parts to generate a committed whole.

It isn’t all relentless rhythm though, and where they find the opportunity to slow down and unveil a more relaxed vibe, our breathing too slows and it is possible to become lost in the gradual unfolding. There is a delightful element which sounds like somebody using the freewheel of a bicycle, but I assume must be the piano strings. It is an effective experiment and made me think of lazy sunny afternoons, aimlessly cycling down forgotten byways.

This ability to stretch our imaginations using a relatively limited palette of instruments is impressive, but the sounds that they coax from them appear to be endless. This is a real treat.

-Mr Olivetti-