No Horns is the Amsterdam-based duo of the Dutch-Mexican violinist Miriam den Boer, whose musical interests range from folklore to jazz and free-improvisation to experimental and multi-disciplinary art projects, and Israeli violist Maya Felixbrodt, a visual artist, dancer, and one that investigates movement and music. No Horns plays free-improvised music that is strongly rooted in many folk traditions, blended with the sound-oriented subconscious stream of dreams, memories, and landscapes woven into that moment right before you wake up. The debut album of No Horns was recorded in September 2019 in Tel Aviv, later processed and arranged into eight short compositions.

No Horns begin their colorful sonic journey with a playful yet dissonant «Funnel» that soon gravitates into a choral drone; visit a brief chant with guest percussionists Arnau Obiols and Rodrigo Alfonso Acevedo Rodriguez on «Shake on top»; explore a tense and abstract mode of interplay on «Pixeled both ride»; dive into a modern chamber atmosphere in «Pixeled ocean» where both employ multiphonics that intensifies the interplay with a mysterious aroma and create a buzzing kind of industrial sounds on the brief «Below».

The center-piece of «No Horns» is the three-parts «Gathering fantasies» that realize best the cross-disciplinary approach of this duo. These pieces move freely between stormy Balkan or Klezmer dance, with clever references to the musical «Fiddler on the Roof», passionate strings duels, and playful but also moving chamber duets, all woven organically into this detailed suite. And all highlight the rich and nuanced musical language of No Horns.

Eyal Hareuveni 

Miriam den Boer (vio), Maya Felixbrodt (viola), Arnau Obiols (dr, chant), Rodrigo Alfonso Acevedo Rodriguez (vase, chant)