Tom Ludvigson and Trevor Reekie: Roto (Southbound)

The duo at the core of Trip to the Moon here embark on more uncharted territories with Tom Ludvigson on piano and synths, Trevor Reekie on guitar, e-bow and various effects for half a dozen pieces improvised in the studio and recorded on the spot without resorting to overdubs.

While we may not know how many other similarly spontaneous pieces failed to make the final cut for whatever reason, these spacious, quasi-ambient, innovative and sometimes ethereal tracks roam between downright gorgeous, weightless space-ambience (the still slightly disconcerting Fantasy Garden) to challenging passages from Reekie which hint at the Frippertronics/Fred Frith prepared guitar axis.

From bubbling electro-prog (the opening synth passages of Ghost at the Crossing which resolves into some gravity-free guitar) through elegiac piano passages and beyond, this seemingly modest project stakes out a lot of ground and distills a considerable number of ideas past and present into soundscapes for the imagination.

The most conservative piece here, a three-minute stately piano ballad In a Vision, appears at the end and closes this considered collection on a warm note.

In passing, let's also draw attention to the recent excellent and improvised album by Tom Ludvigson and Gianmarco Liguori Espiritu Santo Variations, and also Ludvigson's graphic art/music miniatures series Nanostructures at vimeo here where you can also find clips for the Roto tracks.