Rome Pays Off – There's No Simple Explanation – Trace – TRACECD012 - ****

As part of the trio of electric bassists Rothko, Crawford Blair and Mark Beazley made abstract, throbbing, low-end noise with an edge of danger, sculpted for swooping shots of arctic landscapes in Discovery channel documentaries.
Now playing as the duo Rome Pays Off they sound instead like a continuous edit of de-contextualised snatches of jazz virtuosos noodling up the neck.

Their debut suggests initially some ECM style exercise in glacial tastefulness, underscored by shifting techtonic tones, and dumped in a dub reggae echo chamber, but by the third track, Song Seven, a subtly inculcated tension takes hold.
Quiet music that's best played loud.

(27/3/11)