There's something about improvised music – particularly electro-acoustic improvised music – that rings alarm bells. Unless it's reined in it's usually a mess, where it distinguishes itself as improvisation by the wanton egos, self-indulgence and ultimately tuneless masturbation. But what if you get not just great musicians who expand the scope of their instrument, but players playing for the music, not just to hear themselves over the others? Food are at times a six-piece – part-jazz, part-electronics – but they play with such subtlety, such touch that you rarely believe that there could be this many participants.
It's ostensibly the work of Norwegian drummer Thomas Stronen, and English saxophonist Iain Ballamy. In fact, it's their fifth album, however, when you rope in guests such as Austrian guitarist and electronics experimentalist Christian Fennesz, or even Norwegian trumpeter Nils Petter Molvaer, some control must be relinquished, and to some extent that's what makes this such a good album.
It stems from live performances across Norway, the UK, and Germany, as well as some studio work in the city of Oslo. The key here is that they're never searching. It feels considered, like they're creating new forms and updating a genre consumed by the past.
Other assistance comes from Indian slide player Prakash Sontakke and Norwegian guitarist Eivind Aarset, who combine on Magnetosphere, with Sontakke adding some vocals to push it into the realm of the spiritual. It's an eclectic mix for sure, drawing upon the sensibility of each guest, yet it's also music about subtlety, about delicate nuances, about texture and space. It has beautiful lush soundscapes, endlessly fascinating both sonically and structurally, yet at the same time completely satisfying, complex and unique.
