The photograph of Jim White and Marisa Anderson in the studio that adorns the inside sleeve of The Quickening says a lot of what you need to know about this album. The pair face one another, playing in real time, but they are intent on their instruments.
Recorded in Mexico City, the album draws some South American atmosphere into its swirling orbit, but it is only part of the story. Rather like desert dwellers Scenic and Calexico, Jim and Marisa’s ability to conjure up the dust and heat are impressive, considering rehearsals took place in Portland, Oregon. Perhaps it is that dichotomy of working in an unusual environment that brings other facets to the work.
The work was improvised in the studio and the immediacy is obvious to anyone listening, as is the clarity of the production. The range of textures of the drums and the tones of the guitars make it feel as though you are right there in the room with them. The ferocity with which the album opens is a real wake-up, the drums on “Gathering” exploding from the speakers like a dervish, scattered shards all over the room as unseen pattern follows unknown pattern. The sounds are in each other’s heads. The Spanish influence is there on “Unwritten”, and here the sound is stripped down to impressionistic notes, surrounded by clear blue space. The soft animal skittering of the drums is understated, while the guitar sounds harsh at times. There are moments when the drums roll like distant thunder, threatening but always staying in the distance, allowing the guitar to lead; while there are moments; as on “The Other Christmas Song”, where Jim unleashes that thunderstorm and the listener is sheltering in some old tin barn in the middle of nowhere, waiting for the lashing to cease.One of the fascinating things about this kind of improv is not knowing what will happen next and so you follow the lead instrument with a kind of tension. I remember seeing Chris Corsano years ago and you just had know idea what was coming, and Jim is just a master of that sort of intrigue. It is really great fortune that in Marisa he found someone equally as adept at following intuition.
“Last Days” is about the closest to what I would call normal structure; a strutting rooster of a track, with simple chord progression and roiling drums that explodes into cacophony, while “The Quickening” has a touch of “Dry Bones In The Valley” in its nagging repetition, and here the snare is noticeable, standing out from the bubbling rhythm. Jim White and Marisa Anderson’s ability to allow each other to increase the drama or affect the atmosphere in more subtle ways is a joy to experience, and as a one-off feat of dusty, grazed and vagabond companionship, it is hard to beat.-Mr Olivetti-
