Two trios of Spanish, Barcelona-based guitar hero and sound artist Ferran Fages.

ISYSXAE the trio of sax player Tom Chant, guitarist Fages and drummer Pere Xirau formed during the «joyful spring of 2021» with a high-brow punk mission: construct abrasive dialogs, extend harsh sonic veils, corrupt the silence and remain in a realm of dangerous, raw and ecstatic timbre. The debut album of this trio was recorded at ChrystalChrist Studio in Barcelona in November 2021.

This trio offers nine brief and compact pieces, most of which suggest the sonic experience of colliding with a freight train speeding towards you. Chant, Fages and Xiaru go for the extreme, hyper and merciless sounds, pushing their respective instruments into the most experimental, unchartered territories as if sensing an upcoming apocalyptic meltdown, but, surprisingly, also sound quite inquisitive. The longest piece here, the 5-minute «Higashimurayama» captures best the raw and harsh, nuanced and arresting, and very effective sonic mission of ISYSXAE.

Fages’ other trio Tàlveg also explores unsettling sonic territories, but already released five official and self-produced albums and EP’s. «Live Series II» is the sixth one of this productive trio, featuring baritone sax player Marcel·lí Bayer and drummer Oriol Roca. It offers excerpts from Tàlveg’s live performance at the International Jazz Meeting in Milano’s Jazz I Am club in November 2020.

Like ISYSXAE, Tàlveg acts as a sonic lab but in a totally different direction. The dynamics of this trio are introspective and thoughtful, searching for asymmetries within the elusive and detailed textures. And if ISYSXAE opts for shock treatment, Tàlveg chooses homeopathic methods and applies patiently small doses of suggestive, truthful music. «Live Piece #5» stimulate beautifully the mind and body into a dreamy-psychedelic trip, that lingers on long after listening to this EP.

Eyal Hareuveni   

Tom Chant (ts, ss), Ferran Fages (el.g), Pere Xirau (dr), Marcel·lí Bayer (bs), Oriol Roca (dr)