Tyft

Avant-jazz with the feel of disassembled rock. Guitar, sax and drums with an aggressive but sparse sound ... there's lots of noise but it feels slow-moving overall. Often, they'll have the drums (Jim Black) pounding explosively, behind patient guitar-and-sax lines (Jenssen, and Andrew D'Angelo, respectively).

Dark and sometimes harsh... but with serene, pretty moments of solo guitar (2,5,7,12). Black's drumming on the rock-like numbers is a particular treat - he's an exciting player who can lay down a ferocious beat.

Side note: These guys all hang out together. Black and D'Angelo shared a Seattle flat years ago and played in a band called Human Feel (with Chris Speed and Kurt Rosenwinkle). And Jenssen, an Icelander, plays in Black's band, Alas No Axis. "Tyft" is Jenssen's first album as a leader, AFAIK.

1*- Midtempo, after squirrely free intro
2*- Solo guitar, sparkling, gliding
3*- Starts with quiet Matmos-like chirpy sounds, ends with an upbeat Tim Berne-like composition
4- Tumbing chaos; not that fast.
5- Quiet and sparse, w/noisy finale
6- Choppy, fairly loud, w/busy drums
7- Acoustic solo
8- Disturbed. Ends floaty.
9- Morose strumming. Atmospheric.
10- Sparse, w/slow composed bit at the end
11*- Spry and Beefhart-like, with spoken word
12- Minor-key strumming