Erik Truffaz & Murcof — Being Human Being

It's been over seven years since Murcof's last studio album Cosmos. Since then the mercurial Mexican electro-acoustic composer has appeared primarily in collaboration, notably on First Chapter with Philippe Petit, and Mexico an EP with trumpet player Truffaz. By far the most fruitful of the collaborations the latter's bluesy tone and willingness to embrace the potential of electronic intervention cried out for a fuller treatment. What we have here is the best bits culled from the duo's multimedia collaboration with celebrated French comic book creator Enki Bilal who also provides the album cover art.

From the opening of the first track Origin of the World you know you're in for a treat. Soundtrack is an all too common term, most frequently used to describe music which lends itself to the accompaniment of images or is itself suggestive of some form of visual narrative. In the case of Being Human Being this appears to have been the intention all along which is not surprising given that the music was conceived as counterpart to the images and storyline presented by Bilal. Murcof is an arch proponent of atmosphere and his sense of space and dynamics which were so well deployed on Cosmos here provide the perfect support for Truffaz's pathos filled playing. At times, as on the opening track his ambience provides a simple backdrop for the weaving of bluesy trumpet melodies, but for the most part the Mexican's full range of talent is utilised both in modulating the playing of Truffaz (who also plays tuba, and piano) and layering his signature complex electronics.

Just as the album as a whole forms a convincing soundtrack so too each song is a little micro soundtrack in itself. The longest piece WarhoI is a case in point. Over nearly fifteen minutes the music divides itself into several movements each with its own tone and emphasising one or more parts of the whole. At times Murcof's electronics threaten to overwhelm the mix with beats and walls of noise only for the trumpet to slither back into the mix tempering the storm. The track ends with a repeated dissonant synth wash fading out to a minimal tone over which piano and trumpet layer noirish gestures. The album's tone as a whole is pretty dystopic in keeping with both Murcof's previous output and Bilal's narrative vision which plays on ideas about the future of the human species.

Chaos has a characteristic glitchy skittering beat from Murcof around which Truffaz improvises discordant trumpet and tuba sounds. Often the acoustic instruments are rendered almost entirely unrecognisable by the electronic treatment which transforms the trumpet into a squall sounding almost like an overdriven electric guitar and at other times short burst are looped and layered into yet more complex patterns which invite yet further improvisation over the top. The playfulness of this music and the interplay between the electro-acoustic composer and Blue Note trumpet player is remarkably natural. Nils Petter Molvaer is perhaps the obvious touchstone for this sound, but it should be borne in mind that the Norwegian trumpet player also provides the electronics and acoustic manipulations on his records whereas this collaboration between Murcof and Truffaz could be described as a genuine meeting of worlds.

The core of the album are the tracks The Eye and Human Being. Between them these two pieces showcase everything this duo are capable of delivering. The first track has Truffaz in full flow weaving moody muted trumpet melody over a subtle atmosphere of deep ambient chords from Murcof. It's a perfect demonstration of how the expanded possibilities of electronics combined with traditional instrumentation can produce highly emotional and original music. Human Being is like Warhol something of an epic. It begins like the best cover of the Bladerunner soundtrack you've ever heard with tense electronic rhythms punctuated by piano and distant ambient sweeps. The trumpet ghosts into the mix augmenting the sound pallet which Murcof responds to by upping the pace of his beats. After four minutes or so the piano and trumpet depart making way for what could be highly modulated drum rolls or someone breaking up wood! In any case these odd sounds are no obstacle for Truffaz whose trumpet returns sounding even more alien, the notes squealing out of his horn like anguished newly born life forms. The track continues in this vein before finally Murcof fills the sound field with suitably dystopic sci-fi electronics.

Anyone with a love of trumpet driven electronic music hybrids is spoilt for choice right now. This year has seen albums from the aforementioned Nils Petter Molvaer as well as Arve Henriksen and re-issues of classic work from John Hassell. But in my view none of them have produced quite such a compelling marriage of their instrument with the possibilities of electro-acoustic music as have Murcof and Truffaz. Combine that with the overarching themes provided by Bilal's work and you have something of a masterpiece on your hands.