“Now we’re having some fun now”. The call-and-response throughout the opening intro of ‘Crowfin (Having Some Fun Now)’ sets you on a template between the chaos, mental state, and being caught up in this whirlpool of terror that’ll set up the ticking momentum of not just being completely sane, but how crazy this instrumentality it is. That and the line-up of Markus Reuter, Pat Mastelotto, and Trey Gunn, is an offer you can’t refuse.
Yes, there’s the parallel universes of Stick Men, King Crimson, and the FraKctal units, but Tu-Ner is off the charts! When you hear an album like T-1 Contact Information, you’re not just thinking of the four-letter P-word, but the son of the futuristic tribal rock genre coming at you in a nanosecond. With almost two-hours of music that’s on here, it shows how much the trio have amazing chemistry together.
When I think of ‘31’ with that funky Clavinet effect that either Reuter or Gunn uses on their Touch or Warr Guitar, it adds the groove ship with a lot of hallucinated effects which speaks of Herbie Hancock, Parliament Funkadelic, Tool, and an experimental version of Gentle Giant rolled into one! Is that off the wall or not?!
There’s the dueling effect between Markus and Trey taking in turns with their improvisation by walking on this dangerous tightrope across the Grand Canyon, holding on for dear life whilst they make their arrangements go into complete chaos with some delicious red Krautrock wine that goes with it. Meanwhile, ‘On the Other Side’ walks into some heavy, deep, dark territories which would make Robert Fripp’s socks come off.
With its post-rock and synth-wave attitude which speaks of the late ‘70s, early ‘80s and into the mid ‘90s, Tu-Ner have upped their scales a whole lot more into some surreal avant-jazz beats that Reuter does. He gives both Pat and Trey a chance to enter these dangerous tombs of hand claps, finger snaps, winding-up toys from the ‘50s, and Bowie-like instrumental passages which speaks of the “Heroes” sessions by continuing where ‘Sense of Doubt’ have left off.
Then its time to ascend across the heavenly sky by writing a ‘Poem for a Sad Horse’. Combining the reverbing effects with some beautiful, mourning passages and saying farewell to the only friend they had on the ranch, there’s some brainstorming ideas about looking through an amazing ride this horse had.
Galloping drum sequence from Mastelotto, bluesy rain drops, and ambient voyeurs by guiding our listeners into the nearest century that awaits us. The closing track ‘Poodles’ gets those gears grinding very hard with a heavy industrial taste.
Adding those Trent Reznor arrangements is a crazy-clock ticking monument by adding everything to its procedure from the Pretty Hate Machine years with those Crimson dark flowers coming over the horizon.
T-1 Contact Information may take a while to get into. Yes, it may not be everyone’s cup of tea per se, but when it gets heavier, sinister, ominous, and chilled to the bone, you might want to run like hell for the next hour or so. Because once the three-headed beast comes knocking the door down with a monstrous roar, they’ll be hungry for an enormous amount of cannibalistic human flesh to prey upon.
