Marco Polo's Argali/Carbon: Six Songs

AMG Review of Marco Polo's Argali/Carbon: Six Songs

Brian Olewnick
All Music Guide

This recording is actually divided into two parts: side A consists of six songs by Sharp's working band at the time, Carbon (here a trio), while side B is the single, title track. The Carbon pieces are in the fine, brutal style that was Sharp's forte in the early and mid-'80s. Heavy, thudding rhythms (provided by both drums and the composer's homemade percussive string instruments) serve as the bottom for Sharp's harsh, thrashing guitar, a sound unique in new music. Their structures, generally short, have a kind of ock-like structure (including vocals on "Hop-I-e Way"), but refuse to conform to any sort of imposed regularity, allowing themselves significant leeway for radical experimentation. Listeners familiar with Sharp's earlier work with this band (like I/S/M) can expect something of the same here, with perhaps even less in the form of hooks. "Marco Polo's Argali" shows Sharp's fascination with mathematical processes, in this case the Fibonacci series, an additive numerical construct used as the underlying basis for the golden section and found in abundance in nature (including the logarithmic spiral structure of the horns of the ram referenced in the title). He has the band churn out atonal rhythms in this fashion (1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, etc.), using it as the spine for the work off of which improvisations sprout like tendrils off a vine. It's not easy listening, but the tension between the order (the mathematics) and chaos (the improvisations) makes for a thoughtful and, if the listener is so attuned, engrossing work. This is one of Sharp's more intriguing releases; it's recommended.