Reviews:
(Vital Weekly) Behind Tungu is Sergey Senchuk, who plays voice, acoustic bass, field recording and sampling. His first album, he calls “abstract ambient”, followed by two rhythmic albums and then he invited Aya Ogawa for a collaborative track, which was much to his liking, so he asked others to send a bit of music and create improvised music even when not in the same room. Ogawa isn’t on this CD, but with find (among others, I am mentioning names I recognised, Renne Lussier, Fred Lonberg-Holm, DJ Sniff, Xavier Charles, Phillippe Petit, Sainkho Namtchylak, Giuseppe Verticchio, Jaap Blook, Guillaume Garguad and others, 19 in total. How does one approach such a release? Cover in hand, looking at names and instruments? There is a variety of them here: turntables, bass, voice, sampling, clarinet, electric guitar, violin and so on. Because Tungu plays various himself, figuring out who’s doing what here is always challenging. Tracks are typically between three and five minutes, which means there is entirely some speed and variation in this album, but one also gets easily lost in the melee. Many of these pieces are traditional improvised affairs, with some exceptions, adding to further confusion. It’s, however, also a most enjoyable album, with the duet with Jaap Blonk my favourite one, with voice, guitar and cello merging into almost a pop song. It’s only sometimes my cup of tea, but indeed an excellent, highly varied album. - Frans de Waard
(Downtown Music Gallery) TUNGU a/k/a SERGEY SENCHUK with SUSAN ALCORN / SAINKO NAMCHYLAK / GUNDA GOTTSCHALK / JAAP BLONK / DJ SNIFF / XAVIER CHARLES / JEAN-MARC MONTERA / RENE LUSSIER / FRED LONBERG-HOLM / et al - Successful Utilization of Elements (Public Eyesore 157; USA) Featuring Tungu (a/k/a Sergey Senchuk) on voice, samples, field recordings & acoustic bass, Susan Alcorn on pedal steel, Sainko Namchylak, Jaap Blonk & Guylaine Cosseron on vocals, Gunda Gottschalk on violin, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Hui Chun Lin & Ulrike Brand on cellos, Rene Lussier on guitar, Jean-Marc Montera on corsican catera, synth & effects, DJ Sniff on turntables, Xavier Charles on clarinet & processing, Philippe Petit on Buchla synth, etc. Initially I thought that I hadn't heard of Tungu before now but another disc showed up this week with Tungu, Mia Zabelka and Stephan Strasser on FMR Records plus Tungu does have a half dozen previous releases. Since each of the 19 pieces is a duo, Tungu gives his guests a chance to stretch out, often quietly, the combination often restrained yet mysterious.
Starting out with experimental vocalist Sainko Namchylak, we hear her whispered voice surrounded by eerie electronics, subtle yet effective. It sounds like Tungu had each musician send him a short solo piece which he added to with acoustic bass, samples, field recordings or voice. Tungu obviously listened closely to add sounds which enhance whatever was recorded first. Since the pieces are relatively short, every duo sounds focused and complete with a flow of electronics or samples which seem to bridge the entire long disc. Although I know about half of the musicians or vocalists here, each one has their own career/music path which can be viewed on Discogs. Originally I was going to list the highlights heard here but as I listen every piece is interesting whether I know of the player or not. I will mention one highlight though since it did knock me out and I put it on repeat for several listened. Pedal steel guitarist Susan Alcorn remains one of my musicians ever and here her distinctive steel guitar is framed with a gauze of haunting sounds and perhaps a ringing alarm in the distance. Essential! I listened to this entire disc in two sittings and considering that the disc is around 70 minutes long, I was thoroughly enchanted throughout. - Bruce Lee Gallanter
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