(Free Improvisation, Electroacoustic, Sofa) [WEB] Vertex (Petter Vagan & Tor Haugerud) - Shapes & Phases - 2010, FLAC (tracks), lossless

Shapes & phases is the debut release of the duo vertex, consisting of Petter Vågan (lapsteel, acoustic guitar, electronics) and Tor Haugerud (percussion, signal generator, field recordings). Together they have delved into their own blend of electro-acoustic improvisation, with elements ranging from lowercase electronic drones, via country/folk-influenced minimalism, to distorted industrial walls of sound. Vertex manage to move between these diverse sources without losing touch of their own sound.
As the album title reveals, this music focuses upon shape and form and how it develops with time. Although this is free improvised music, the duo always tries to sustain the mood and direction set from the opening sound. This approach creates an honest expression, free from clichés that could chain the music to any specific connotation or genre.
The sound of the album has been further enhanced in the mixing process by the great Giuseppe Ielasi; accentuating the focal points and revealing the nuances of the interaction between the two musicians. - Sofa Music
Those Norwegians are pretty extreme when it comes to Black Metal, but there's something quite accessible about this debut album of Trondheim-based Petter Vågan (lapsteel, acoustic guitar, electronics) and Tor Haugerud (percussion, signal generator, field recordings). Well, maybe that isn't the word to describe all nine tracks on Shapes & Phases – there's plenty of aggressive fuzz and buzz and a lot of nasty friction going on in "Attractor", the longest of them – but it certainly applies to Vågan's mournful lapsteel on the opening cut, and there's a real feel for melody in the descending chromatic scales lurking behind the blips and beeps of "Solitary Wave". Elsewhere, the album pushes all the right buttons as far as recognisable influences go, and with its savvy mix of EAI, drone, field recordings and nearly-tonal (well, diatonic) harmony, one senses Giuseppe Ielasi, who's in charge of mixing and mastering here, is one of them. If your personal collection includes Tetuzi Akiyama, Emeralds, Alan Licht, Toshi Nakamura and Oren Ambarchi (Supersilent too, but I guess that goes without saying), you'll certainly enjoy this. For myself, I'm curious to see which of the many avenues this album opens up these lads will choose to explore in the future. -- Dan Warburton, Paris Transatlantic

Lap Steel Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Electronics – Petter Vågan
Percussion, Signal Generator, Field Recordings – Tor Haugerud
Recorded at Skansen Lydstudio, Trondheim, Norway, September 2008 and March 2009 by Stein Bratland. Mixed and mastered by Guiseppe Ielasi, autumn 2009.