Simon James Phillips - Blage 3 [Mikroton]

An improvised concert / sonic performance exceeding the usual hour-long concept can be a tough bite for an audience to take but stretching things to a maximum of five - !!! - hours is a bit of a badass move, even more when doing so without letting the audience know upfront. But exactly this is what Simon James Phillips had in mind for the Berlin-based performance of  "Blage 3", executed by six of the cities most recognized experimental artists including himself, Werner Dafeldecker, Liz Allbee and more which has been, although in a condensed, edited form of a close to two hours double CD album, released via the Mikroton imprint in mid May. Within these two hours we're taken on a journey through layers and layers of various instrumentations underpinned by mostly warm, athmospheric drones and noises providing an organic bed for multiple waves of piano improvisations, chaotic percussions, crushing waves and ambient'ish,  slightly balearic guitars which, although embedded into sonic disarray, seem to restructure and ease off the musical ruckus to a certain extent, being a landmark to focus on amongst jazzy improv, rumbling anti-grooves, clanging percussions and other ADD-inducing events. And if it wasn't for this imminent, although subconscious structure, we're pretty sure that a journey through these two - or five - hours of cacophony would surely be able to drive listeners insane. But now, in it's recent and edited form, even this barely controlled succession of sonic events has a surprisingly calming and relaxing effect rather than being obnoxious and nerve wrecking for a reason. Defo a specialists album anyway.