P.U.R. Collective – Nichi Nichi Kore Ko Nichi (2015)

P.U.R. Collective

Krzysztof Knittel - electronics
Yuri Yaremchuk - saxophone
Alexey Kruglov - saxophone
Maciej Staszewski - guitar
Tomek Chołoniewski - drums

Nichi Nichi Kore Ko Nichi

FOR TUNE 0056


By Adam Baruch

This album presents a recording of Improvised Music created by the P.U.R Collective, which consists of musicians from Poland, Ukraine and Russia (hence the ensemble's name): prominent contemporary composer Krzysztof Knittel, who is in charge of electronics, saxophonists Yuri Yaremchuk and Alexey Kruglow, guitarist Maciej Staszewski and drummer Tomek Chołoniewski. The album consists of seven spontaneously composed and improvised pieces. The album's title is a quotation from a lecture by John Cage.

The music is an example of radical musical avant-garde, which shuns away everything most people associate with the term music, i.e. melody, harmony and rhythm. To most listeners this album will sound like a collection of random noise, which although made by humans using instruments, makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Only a tiny fraction of people follows collective music improvisation of the kind presented here, but the fact that there are such people is a good enough reason for such records to be made.

Armed with a lot of patience and open-mindedness this music can be actually enjoyed, by following the line of thought (or perhaps intuitive reaction), which stands behind this music. These musicians improvise collectively, i.e. listen carefully to each other and exchange musical ideas between them, even if most people simply can't hear it. The two saxophonists deliver some first rate improvisations, the rocky distorted guitar takes the music into another direction and the excellent drum parts prove that drums are much more than a time keeping devise. The electronics are kept pretty much in the background and provide mostly an atmospheric element.

Overall this kind of music demands total attention and complete freedom of aesthetic definition of the music idiom, expanding the definition considerably. This album is highly recommended to brave hearted and unconventional listeners only.