(Creative Sources)

The extraction of specific languages from conventional instruments – in this case a pair of trumpets – comes pretty comfortably to Hautzinger and Kerbaj, whose two-edged duo offers a series of sockets where we can plug to recharge the spent batteries of the “been there, done that” mechanism alimenting certain improvisations. Franz and Mazen are pushed by a delightful crosswind, directing their music towards the open waters of implausible remodeling of common sense; among telluric lingual utterances and labial contortions eliciting animal chatter in a rust-eaten power station, the couple puts the finishing touches to a fresco made of prickly suggestions and sultry currents. Throughout this well-mannered series of nitty-gritty duets, these artists managed to spoon-feed our curiosity for new timbral explorations without losing their grip on an almost schematic precision that’s this record’s best quality, especially considering that it was recorded as played, with no cuts or overdubs.

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