Spiro & Adrian Utley
Album: The Vapourer (EP)
Label: Real World
Tracks: 6
Website: http://www.spiromusic.com

The intense minimalism of the four-piece Spiro has enchanted me for a few years now, and their second CD Kaleidophonica (which came out last year) was a triumphant assertion of their unique sound which unites the centuries and genres (village-band folk meets contemporary-classical, it's been tagged) in delectable invention. So I guess there's more than a whiff of deliberate provocation here, a sense of positing the feasible, then going ahead and doing it, just for the delight of "see what happens" and then rejoicing in a new-found kinship. Well, perhaps. Thus with the creative transportation, on tracks 2 and 3 of this EP, of Spiro's glorious cyclic progressions and intelligently selective texturings across into the techno-universe; this feat is achieved via the medium of the hallowed Moog synthesiser, here entrusted to the care of Portishead's Adrian Utley.

First up, however, we get a straight group rendition of The Vapourer, a new composition that shows off the special bond and lively, uplifting interplay between the four instrumentalists. Then comes the aforementioned transportation, which brings transformation, and vice versa, to two Spiro compositions: We Will Be Absorbed (a key track from Kaleidophonica) and The Vapourer itself. Unsurprisingly, the end result is distinctly retro, slightly akin to a cross between the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, Mike Oldfield and Kraftwerk but principally filtered through Terry Riley; this, in effect, arguably removes the essence of any kind of physical contact with the musical notes and themes, by having self-evidently stripped the compositions of any specifically identifiable "human" instrumentation. Most of all, though, it resembles the highly disciplined, formalised electronic traceries of the Walter Carlos Switched-On Bach adventures. This kind of depersonalisation of the music, which we often associate with the Moog, is all very well, and seems to suit the animated progressions and lines of The Vapourer, which sparkles vibrantly in its clattersome electronic guise. Strangely, not so for We Will Be Absorbed, the true glory of whose original acoustic texturings, dynamics and intriguing interweavings of mandolin, accordion, violin and guitar can only be revealed through performance on "real" instruments rather than the listener being forced to follow the Moog's ostensibly sterile (albeit ingeniously configured) lines of potential melody. The live recording of that same piece which brings this EP to its close must serve as the most persuasive proof of the sheer electricity of those unartificial ("real") instrumental textures. As indeed, and evidenced by the audibly uproarious audience reaction, you can hear also on the remaining two stupendous live tracks, Yellow Noise and Shaft (both also recorded at 2012's WOMEX), where you can really feel the tangible thrill of Spiro's music-making in that all-important being-there connective context.

So, while this EP may be somewhat of a curate's egg, it still embraces a useful and worthwhile experiment, and is thus not exactly an honourable failure.

David Kidman