New Haven Improvisers Collective, Inflection (nhic-records.com). Improvisation can take many forms. Jazz is, for the most part, a genre of improvisation — that is, within the structure of existing songs and agreed-upon chord changes. What NHIC does, however, as far as I can tell, is to throw away all structure and just play (in the same spirit as the Elm City Guitar Quartet +3, which shares guitarists Jeff Cedrone and Bob Gorry). Songwriters are listed for each cut, and I'm assuming this means those are the people who played the first notes and utterances, setting the mood that everyone else then followed. The results are consistently random sounding. Sometimes it sounds like the Grateful Dead, 20 minutes into the deconstruction of one of their songs during peak tripping time, or like an outtake from the Beach Boys Smile sessions. Sometimes it's Zappa-esque. Sometimes it sounds like a high school jazz class messing around before the teacher arrives. The moments when everything clicks and something interesting happens make it all worth it. But be warned: This is not for everyone.
—Mike Sembos
New Haven Improvisers Collective plays Nov. 7 at Firehouse 12.
Run to Water, Mefaniana (myspace.com/runtowater). "We were never really made to fly so high in aeroplanes, or sink down in submarines, so many distractions from what's true," sings Noah Goldberg in the leadoff track "Livin' For Oblivion." For over an hour, Goldberg explores his quirky universe, playing most of the instruments himself, piling synths, guitars, bass and vocals over drum loops, creating what might be classified as computer rock. Add four cups of Flaming Lips broth to the pot, a pinch of Primus and stir. Bring female vocalist Katie Stephens to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer into Magnetic Fields territory. Sprinkle some Postal Service to taste, and then finish off with some vocal frosting care of the freecreditreport.com commercial guy. Terrible cooking metaphors aside, Mefaniana is a giant melting pot of styles and genres, as seen through geeked-out synth glasses. Though the album is all over the place, it's tied together by the sounds. Goldberg takes us on a strange but creative journey — but can our attention spans handle the entire ride?
—Mike Sembos
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