Monday, April 22, 2019

Oogui: Travoltazuki


Oogui is a new trio combining the talents of keyboardist Florence Melnotte, electric guitarist Vinz Vonlanthen and percussionist Sylvain Fournier. For their Leo album Travoltazuki, they’ve concocted a bonkers mash-up of disco, funk, free jazz, electronics, and rock with an overlay of Dadaist absurdity. Dada began as an art movement in Zürich in 1916, and just over a century later in Geneva, only 172 miles away from the Cabaret Voltaire, Oogui revisits Dadaist sound poetry and bends it for their own needs as the spice for these ever-surprising compositions. The band’s name means “glutton” in Japanese, where “big eaters” seem to have a devoted following. Metaphorically speaking, it seems that Melnotte, Vonlanthen, and Fournier are “big eaters” of musical genres, blending them into a continuously changing and brashly unpredictable stew. All the tunes are original compositions by the members of the trio, mostly separately but the four shortest tracks, which don’t sound like improvisations, are credited to all three. It’s all pretty crazy, and a whole lot of fun.
Leo CD LR 861; Florence Melnotte (p, kybd, kaossilator synth, vcl) Vinz Vonlanthen (el g, vcl) Sylvain Fournier (d, perc, vcl); Geneva, Switzerland, September 7-8, 2017; Mupulupu/ Fournibus/ Shitimogo/ Sprung/ Melnottika/ La Brignoire de Claude/ Vinz Day/ Toigrandebrute/ Grugenbulles/ Night Fever/ Réminiscence Acid Dance Floor/ Gatogato; 53:51. www.leorecords.com

No comments:

Post a Comment