Two guitarists, two drummers, an openended improv setting: the potential for a long and self-indulgent blowout is pretty high, as anyone unfortunate enough to own the Metheny/Bailey fiasco The Sign of 4 will know. But this foursome – two Montrealers, two Vancouverites – specialize instead in wriggly, pointillist, accretive improvisations, made out of sonic flickers and blips and spurts thrown in the air like confetti. The results are like a user-friendly version of classic 1970s scritch-scratch improv. The pacing is generally languorous – it’s never really in a hurry to get anywhere but always slipsliding to some unexpected destination anyway – but there’s always plenty going on. Sometimes these guys get all epic on you, like the moody, ravaged guitarscape at the end of the 18-minute “Pink Crimson” or the squalling conclusion to “It Was Nice!” But they can also sound like daft birds twittering in the rafters, or a cart with a squeaky wheel, or a lone guitarist noodling on “Rockabye Baby.” The palette is further varied on “Oh My!” with the addition of electronics – though frankly, I could have done without the lengthy snippets from a pregame radio sportscast – and there’s a nifty banjo-and-guitar encounter on “Yes Happy Chew,” sounding like a barnyard squabble between Bill Frisell and Eugene Chadbourne. Maybe it’s just that I can’t get The Sign of 4 out of my head (anything after that sounds pretty mild), but I found listening to The Unexpected One a surprisingly relaxing experience: it’s pleasantly topsy-turvy music, a constant source of small delights and discoveries. Check it out.

Nate Dorward

Exclaim, 2004