Xavier Charles / Bertrand Gauguet - Spectre [Akousis Records 001]

Put out onthe circuit as the very first release of the fresh Akousis Records-imprint on May 8th, 2k20 is "Spectre", the new collaborative album effort created by Xavier Charles and Bertrand Gauguet who've been on stage together for the better part of the last decade now. Working both on acoustic and amplified clarinet and alto saxophone as their respective instruments of choice whilst exploring the possibilities of multi-phonic spaces and recording as part of their artistic approach the duo creates a calm, quite minimalist and stripped down realm of mostly droning, solemn and slow moving quality, bordering on somewhat time dissolving Dark / Isolationist Ambient infused with remnants of what used to be called DarkJazz at times whilst catering a crackling soundtrack for ones inner void with the crackles and Field Recordings of "Point Fantome" whereas tunes like our favorite "Phonomnese 2"evokes more of a cold and desolate, space / sci-fi oriented feel in tense minimalist midrange frequency droning and makes us think of HAL9000 for some strange and hard to explain  reason. Furthermore "Etendue 2" employs more of a swell of klaxon'esque soundwaves being blown over from afar before drifting off into Noize-driven territories and the final cut "Phonomnese 3" harks back to the solemn, moody opening tunes of this album. Quite a good one, this.

Album artwork on Instagram!