Sonar with David Torn: Tranceportation, Volume 2

American guitar wizard David Torn joined the Swiss quartet Sonar for a week’s worth of sessions in the spring of 2019. Now what’s billed as Sonar with David Torn is back with Tranceportation, Volume 2. When I wrote enthusiastically about Volume 1, I described the sound as “neo-psychedelic trance music with a beat.” This second helping is, not at all surprisingly, more of the same. The grooves are relentless and the electronic textures are raw over the course of 4 long tracks. Sequels like this one that live up to their predecessors are easy to write about: if you were transported by Volume 1, you’ll be more than happy to get lost in Volume 2. Great on headphones, by the way, especially on the dub-wise Tranceportation. 

RareNoise RNR0114 (CD)/ RNR114LP (vinyl); David Torn (el g, live looping) Stephen Thelen, Bernhard Wagner (tritone g) Christian Kuntner (tritone b) Manuel Pasquinelli (d, perc); Bellmund, Switzerland, April 29-May 3, 2019; Triskaidekaphilia/ Tranceportation/ Slowburn/ Cloud Chamber; 42:10. www.rarenoiserecords.com

 

Sonar with David Torn: Tranceportation, Volume 1

Cool and unusual guitar sounds abound on Tranceportation, Volume 1, by the Swiss quartet Sonar with David Torn. The music was recorded live in the studio. It’s a sometimes sinister mass of electric guitar textures over a solid beat from drummer Manuel Pasquinelli. Stephen Thelen, Sonar’s main composer, and Bernhard Wagner are credited as playing “tritone guitars;” and Christian Kuntner is similarly noted as playing “tritone bass.” It’s a particular tuning that lends itself to the hypnotic and propulsive minimalism that Sonar is known for. This is the unit’s second collaboration with guitar wizard David Torn. They saved the best track for the end, with Tunnel Drive. Pasquinelli really bears down on a hard groove, Kuntner plays deep bass lines, and the guitars wail and collide on top. Neo-psychedelic trance music with a beat: just what the world needs right now.
RareNoise RNR0113 (CD)/ RNR113LP (vinyl); David Torn (el g, live looping) Stephen Thelen, Bernhard Wagner (tritone g) Christian Kuntner (tritone b) Manuel Pasquinelli (d, perc); Bellmund, Switzerland, April 29-May 3, 2019; Labyrinth/ Partitions/ Red Sky/ Tunnel Drive; 39:03. www.rarenoiserecords.com

Sonar with David Torn: Vortex

Guitar whiz Henry Kaiser introduced fellow plectrist David Torn to Sonar, a Swiss quartet with Stephan Thelen and Bernhard Wagner on guitars, electric bassist Christian Kuntner and drummer Manuel Pasquinelli, thinking that they would all make some fantastic music together. Vortex, recorded over three days in Switzerland, proves him spot on with his idea. With loops within loops and rhythms within rhythms, this mass of guitar noise and muscular drumming is a load of big electric fun. More about atmosphere and feeling than heroic soloing or pyrotechnic displays of rapid-fire unisons, the rock-oriented fusion of Vortex succeeds rather nicely at imparting a sense of purposeful unity as the ensemble explores and elaborates on the minimalist compositions. Stephan Thelen is the main composer, working with Torn on Monolith and Swiss composer Don Li on the combustible Part 44. Highlights include the shifting grooves of Wave and Particles,  the super-charged title track which features more dynamic movement than the other pieces, and the peaceably angular Monolith, which Torn describes as floating along, “like a cross between Miles Davis and Jon Hassell.” Closing the show is the odd-metered Lookface!, a group improvisation laced with Hendrix-isms and staggered beats, ending with a startlingly quiet and meditative passage that fades slowly back into silence. With Torn’s grit sprinkled over Sonar’s sparkling textures, the results seem to have made everyone happy. Well worth a listen.
RareNoise RNR087; Stephan Thelen, Bernhard Wagner (g) Christian Kuntner (el b) Manuel Pasquinelli (d) with David Torn (el g, live-looping, manipulation); Maur, Switzerland, February 15-17, 2017; Part 44/ Red Shift/ Waves and Particles/ Monolith/ Vortex/ Lookface!; 56:14. www.rarenoiserecords.com