Lol Coxhill & Morgan Fisher - Slow Music
£25.00
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Another knockout release from Aguirre with the reissue of Morgan Fisher's collaboration with Lol Coxhill, originally released on Fisher's own short-lived Pipe label in 1980. It remains one of the best pieces of music Fisher has put his name to. Coxhill's always expressive sax playing is more diaphanous than ever here, as Fisher processes, stretches and loops it into new, deeply mournful shapes, clearly revelling in the freedom afforded by a new studio built thanks to an arrangement with Cherry Red. Opener Que En Paz Descanse sets the tone, an 8min+ funeral march into the sunset, set deep with cinematic existentialism. Indeed, the rest of side A has a distinct filmic quality, verging on the sound design of Luc Ferrari, the ornamental titles themselves feeling like descriptors of a wider narrative arc - there's some kind of psychoterror afoot here. More so, Fisher's sampling of Coxhill's saxophone is truly masterful, often sounding nothing like a saxophone while still retaining its rich timbral quality. The entire B side is taken up by one track, the 26min Slow Music/Pretty Little Girl, which seems to tie together all of the ideas explored on the A into one knotty, seasick drone that's among the saddest pieces of music I've heard in some time. Fisher's often seen as a bit of a prankster, the fox in the chicken coop of the avant garde, but on Slow Music he made something truly pure and elemental. Can't recommend this highly enough.
