The Impossible Shapes - Horus - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

The Impossible Shapes have been merrily music-making under the radar for a decade now. At the root, these four long-hairs are a pop band who've been strained through British folk as well as the whole post/beat/mystic literate gob. Look for them on tour in the US this summer. Also look for their Cassette Box Set Compendium, featuring six hour-long tapes of all the band's released material, and some unreleased tracks spanning 1998-2007.

The inspiration for the Infinity project was the permanent breathing technique. The flautist - Natalia Jarzabek - can apply it almost inaudibly and imperceptibly, doing it in a fluid and natural manner. The album was recorded in cooperation with outstanding pianist Emma Wils, a graduate of the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. The repertoire included on the album is very diverse It contains pieces for flute, as well as transcriptions of original works for piano, violin or both, performed by Natalia Jarzabek. The presence of newly created compositions written specifically for the Infinity project constitutes a significant value of the album. As part of the project, a special textbook for learning permanent breathing was created.

Formed in 1988, Indiana's Impossible Shapes have kept a profoundly articulate sense of classic song/dream structure whether they're billowing in drenched multi-tracked gauze like Indianapolis forefathers Zerfas, or snarled in amp-buzz annihilation of power-quartet stage performances. On the flip, Barth (guitarist/vocalist) can pixie dance from guitar play/vocal slay in a quaint yet sexually sly role of piper against Deer's (organ, bass) counterpoint-heavy arrangements of tape-spliced fuckery. Easily the rawest tapes of the Shapes' canon, InchTumInch is a potent album.