Beginning with 2020's
Bent Arcana,
John Dwyer of
Osees released a series of all-star group improvisations recorded at his house, each with a different lineup. 2021 concluded with
Gong Splat, the fifth of these releases, and perhaps the best yet. Drummer
Ryan Sawyer, upright bassist
Greg Coates, and percussionist
Andres Renteria all make return appearances, and this time
Wilder Zoby, a synth player who was in
Chin Chin and has collaborated extensively with
Run the Jewels, joins the fold. The title seems more likely to be a reference to the band
Gong than the instrument, as it has a bit of a whimsical space-rock vibe, while also inhabiting the freakier side of jazz fusion. The opening title track applies cuica and scorching bursts of synth and guitar feedback to a lopsided yet funky groove, setting this wild ride in motion. "Cultivated Graves" has a faster tempo yet feels a bit mellower and more spaced out, with
Coates' hopeful bassline standing at the center and everything else flowing in waves around it. The nine-minute "Yuggoth Travel Agency" is an astral sleigh ride equipped with bells and siren-like synths, maintaining the most relaxed mood on the album yet spiking it with enough noise so that it never gets too comfortable. The remaining tracks are all shorter bursts, but "Hypogeum" has perhaps the most fluid, celebratory groove on the record, with whooshing synths rotating around the rhythm section like it's a maypole. "Minor Protocides" is the album's shortest and most chaotic track, and it's sandwiched in between two very different pieces that both incorporate bowed bass. "Oneironaut" is a spellbinding Krautrock-esque rhythm dribbled with spacy effects, and "Giedi Prime" is more of a free-floating, weightless resolution. Like all of
Dwyer's improv collaborations,
Gong Splat has the anything-goes feel one would expect from an impromptu jam session, but there's something in this one's combination of cosmic glide and shocked-out panic that elevates it beyond the previous releases. ~ Paul Simpson
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