- If you didn't know already, Elektro Guzzi don't use any machines. No samples. No loops. Nothing. According to their biography, it took the Austrian trio "several confirmations in mails and personal meetings and a rehearsal video" to convince Macro Recordings of this truth. Can you blame Macro for their scepticism? I can digest the fact that the trio's live music isn't actually machine-made, or at least machine-backed. Sort of. What's harder to come to terms with is that three such skillful musicians would have the inhuman level of patience—or even the inclination—to play such repetitious passages for up to ten minutes at a stretch.
Here, the why is obvious, of course: to create interesting and unique music. And like their past work, Allegro fits that description entirely. Built around gruff, ascending chords, "Asteroid" almost sounds like a Robag Wrhume creation; weird but entirely satisfying. "Fat Pony" channels some serious krautrock vibes, with incredibly tight arps ringed by miniature bells and haunting echoes. It's hard to believe most of it is done with drums and guitars. In "High Noon," these components are slightly more apparent, a heavy, tribalistic beat cantering along and swathed with drawling licks of sleazy guitar. Last, the rapid-whirling "Jangu" immediately calls to mind Ricardo Villalobos and his oddball ethnic creations. No idea which tradition this one is drawn from, but its wild, cartwheeling plucks and insistent drums are utterly captivating. Who needs machines when you have humans like this?
Tracklist A1 Asteroid
A2 Jangu
B1 Fat Pony
B2 High Noon