AMG Review of Knoxville

Andy Kellman
All Music Guide

Christian Fennesz (guitar, electronics), David Daniell (guitar), and the Necks' Tony Buck (drums) recorded this improvised set at Knoxille, TN’s Big Ears Festival in February 2009. Soundcheck excepted, the trio members had never played with one another. That makes the intuitive, continual rise and drop of energy all the more impressive, but no context is required for the sake of enjoying these four bristling instrumentals. The quietest moments tend to be as tense as the loudest, and the contrasts -- lambent, sparsely played guitar offset by skittering and rattling cymbals and transitory electronic thrums, for instance -- are deeply affecting with close listening.