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player ready...Any group that uses “Underground” in its moniker had better be innovative, or else risk mockery worthy of a Second City sketch.
Good thing Chicago Underground Duo’s latest, “in praise of shadows,” is an instrumental wonder redolent with sounds plucked, stripped and vacuumed from a twilight universe, then assembled into canvases worthy of woozy-yet-wondrous fever dreams.
Rob Mazurek (cornet, keys, noise) and Chad Taylor (drums, percussion)–aided by engineer John McEntire of the band Tortoise–herald the proceedings with “falling awake,” which folds into focus with a soft sprinkling of brass, cymbals, vibraphone and toms, as if a thunder-cousin of John Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme.” Elsewhere, the 12-minute title track suggests a spare, hazy accompaniment for exploring an abandoned bungalow, before the final third explodes into a froth of toms glazed by muted horn runs.
And for those who love the synthesis of free jazz and seemingly random static, “pangea” whips puddles of buzz and modulated noise–think groovy, space-age sci-fi–into a sheen fit for Taylor’s supreme, stumble-stomp drum fills and accents.