Troyka: Ornithophobia | Album Review

When Liebniz suggested that music was the pleasure the mind takes from counting without realising it, he was probably talking about the gratification of a well-resolved Baroque cadence. What he would have made of this British trio's polyrhythmic tricks is anyone's guess. Serialism, psychedelia, spoken word, prog-rock, ambient, trip-hop and math-metal: all are deconstructed by pianist Kit Downes, guitarist Chris Montague and drummer Josh Blackmore, with some interventions from producer Peter Eldh, and reformed into dense sound- scapes that ebb and flow with hypnotic irregularity. Rhythmic complexity is the brave new world of improvised music; if you want a primer on where the younger generation are headed, Troyka should be on your reading list. naimlabel.com