This release appears as either a CD or digital download on Norwegian label Sofa Music- who always put out worthy/ interesting work in the improv/modern composition fields. As with other releases I’ve seen from the label they’ve once again presented the release in a classy & arty form. The CD is presented in a fold-out six-panel digipak, and fitting the sonics lo-key/ stark feel- it features a minimal black & white design, with interlock thin black squares against a white background, and minimal black texts. Inside we get seven-page booklet featuring mesh of grey & black lined static.

The players here are Martin Taxt- Microtonal Tuba, and Inga Margethe Ass- double bass & Viola da gamba- It was recorded at Levinsalen- the Norwegian academy of music in October 2019.

The single track here comes in at the 35.30 mark. It opens with a series of overlaying bass tones created by the tuba & the double bass- these both hoover & mingle with each other to create both a feeling of omnipotent dread and building unease. As the piece progresses the tones start to drift & somehow smudge, bringing on this feeling of pressing-yet-hovering sonic sinisterness & glum grandeur. At around the ten-minute mark the relatively thick & overlaying weight of the now built up drones suddenly stop, and these are replaced by a mixture of spread-out and eerie fog horn lay bays, neck creeks, string drags & mid-range tonal darts. By around the nineteenth-minute mark- more stretch & pronounced bass tones have taken hold, but instead of the overlay tones of the start there’s a rawer/ cruder feel to them- these are added to by mid-range scapes ‘n’ forks, piping atmospherics, and malevolently slurred bays.

First Room shows it’s two players mapping-out a sparse, at times slightly seared sonic landscapes, which is alive with hovering dread, and simmering unease- another most worthy release from Sofa Music, and I certainly be keeping my eye for future work from each player here.