Urs Bollhalder Trio
Lucerne, Switzerland
Sunday 12 Oct 2008
Festival City
Distortion, feedback, delay. All once the exclusive property of guitarists but no more, and their usage has opened up intriguing possibilities across the instrumental spectrum. In applying them to the vibraphone, Benjamin Flament has found sound something wild in the heart of an instrument so often typecast as polite and mannered. The bright colours have given way to darker matter, buzzing with overtones and ambiguous pitches, and spiritually connecting the vibes back to its distant relatives like the Javanese gamelan, Tibetan singing bowls and African thumb pianos. The other two thirds of MeTaL-O-PHoNe have responded accordingly, and bassist Joachim florent and drummer Elie Duris give no quarter in creating a swirling tempest of rhythms and textures that’s perfectly in sync with this altered percussive landscape.
