Moth Bucket

*100 copies limited edition* The Pennsylvania improvising trio of Kevin Sims, James Searfoss, and Justin Dorsey continue to hone their fierce and potent relationship with texture, rhythm, and amorphous sound forms. This album is laced with musical paths travelled and skirted, conversant with drone, electroacoustics, and free jazz. “Glint” functions as a bit of an overture, and as “Once Threw” expands on the clatter and clamber, Dorsey’s bass becomes a focal point, taking a prominent position in the mix and making radically clear signal-point gestures that bring about significant changes, exploring new rooms and leading the way into them. The arresting “Chiffon Blues” opens with Sims’ psaltery, leading a mournful bluesy atmosphere into melodic sweetness, tumbling into undulating percussion held lovingly by a walking bassline and Searfoss’ honest and energetic saxophone playing. The assuredly paced “Until” orbits eccentrically between vertiginous sustained passages and swirling, fragmented chases of resonant metallic percussion and mysterious and distant textural tape loops. Tension is a central tenet of this trio, and here they keep things so taut that an engaging dynamic balance is maintained throughout.