The Signal Quintet's tour of Japan in March 2005 has been quite fruitful, especially given the releases that have sprung from their tenure at the Yamaguchi Centre for Arts and Media. Alongside a recent CD on Cut from the electroacoustic quintet, there are now three volumes of the Signal To Noise series available, dedicated to the different playing scenarios dreamed up by those involved.
You shouldn't expect any flare-ups or disruptive presences laying waste to the carefully plotted improvisations on Signal To Noise Vol 2, where saxophonist Katsura Yamauchi sits in with Tomas Korber (guitar, electronics) and Christian Weber (contrabass). Yamauchi's grasp of his instrument is complicit with both extended technique and movements in Reductionism and electroacoustic improvisation: the hiss of air and spit through valves and barely traceable sighing tones make up the bulk of his language, each breath slowly welling up and then disappearing just as calmly. But it sits nicely with the slow motion electronics that Korber conjures from his kit, while Weber spools dolorous notes from the contrabass with spot-on timing.


Jon Dale