The Original Silence is the six-piece improvisational noise/jazz/rock ensemble of Mats Gustafsson, Thurston Moore, Jim O’ Rourke, Terrie Ex, Paal Nilssen-Love and Massimo Pupillo. Mats Gustafsson, is a well known member of the international free jazz society, but what would i know about that. The only reason I first tuned in to Original Silence, it was simply because of The Man, Thurston Moore. A shoking discovery that was. Never being a jazz man myself, let alone free jazz I was quite blown away by their high powered coctail. Thurston Moore’s noisy guitar mixed with O’Rourke’s electronic and Mats Gustafsson’s sax playing made a hell of a mixture.
This, their second release opens with a monster of a song, Argument Left Hanging - Rubber Cement, 7 minutes and 34 seconds of scrathy guitars, heavy bass and drumms along with Gustafsson’s sax lead to the closing all left to O’Rourke and his electronics. The rest of the album doesn’t follow this exploding beggining. Still, it offers a different look on their music. Their first album being an energy packed one, here we have an album offering a diversity of sounds. All elements of their first release are here, a bit less tense or maybe more sophisticated but, O’ Rourke’s electronics are more present than before, dominating songs, like High Trees & a Few Birds - The Doll’s Reflection which opens with a 5 minute solo by O’Rourke.5 minutes of sonic blasts of noise followed by calm ambient bits, that keep on going after the rest of the ensemble kicks in. The album closes with Crepescular Refractions - Mystery Eye, kind of like closing a cyrcle, since it’s a song very close to this album’s heavy powered opening.
1 Argument Left Hanging - Rubber Cement (7:35)
2 A Sweeping Parade Of Optimism - Blood Streak (22:24)
3 High Trees & A Few Birds - The Doll’s Reflection (18:31)
4 Crepescular Refractions - Mystery Eye (8:24)
Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth),
Terrie Ex (The Ex)
Jim O'Rourke
Mats Gustaffson (Thing)
Pall Nilssen-Love (Thing)
Massimo Pupillo (Zu)
