Author: Liam Izod
View album and artist detailsArtist/band: |
Pulsar Trio |
Label: |
T3 Records |
Magazine Review Date: |
November/2018 |
German group Pulsar Trio have transplanted the emblematic instrument of Hindustani classical music – the sitar – into a northern European sound-world. Their album Zoo of Songs is firmly in the jazz-trio tradition established by seminal Swedish group Esbjörn Svensson Trio, all crisply controlled odd-time ostinatos and euphoric post-rock contours. Pulsar Trio's dark grooves are lent a mischievous edge by Matyas Wolter's sitar. The Indian instrument is employed deftly on a succession of catchy hooks and affecting melodies. Only briefly, amid the muscular riffs of the first two tracks, does the sitar display signs of strain, but the wave breaks on the third track ‘SRC’, which offers a simple but powerful melody that rises and falls like meditative breathing.
The album's more restrained moments stand out as a counterpoint to its intense grooves. ‘Rambos Muscledance’ builds from drummer Aaron Christ's sparse beat, breaking into a punchy piano solo from Beate Wein. Wolter's sitar shimmers above it all, proving that there is no place or country that any instrument is bound to when employed with this much respect and creativity.
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