Max Kutner's "The Illustrated Interior"

A NYC creative musician of my acquaintance once remarked that the reason everyone in the city (and by extension, in the touring ecosystem) does improv is that the only way one can afford to rehearse compositions is by winning a grant. 

Brooklyn-based guitarist-composer Max Kutner has found another approach. Having already released the heavily conceptual home-recorded gem Rogue Lash earlier this year, Kutner went back to the drawing board and, using the same materials -- loops, beats, and samples; synths and sequencers; live guitar and bass -- in a more freewheeling and experimental manner, birthed The Illustrated Interior. Like Jazz from Hell-era Zappa, its chilly vibe might not be everyone's taste, but for those who can suspend their affection for the artifacts of human imperfection, it's a thought-provoking and occasionally exhilarating listen.

While lesser lights use repetition and mechanized sounds for their own sake (like guitarists with huge pedalboards who play an E chord for an hour), Kutner's imagination is tireless, creating multilayered worlds of texture, rhythm, and melody. Opener "The God of the Moment," for example, sets a pounding rock groove against a background of swirling ambience, leading into a tortuous stream of melody -- imagine the Police, but freed from the constraint of needing to support songcraft.

"Rashomon" starts out sounding like a visit to an out of control video arcade before streams of contrapuntal melody kick in and weave their way through the syncopated jungle. "Somnambulant Parade" is a shimmering soundtrack for a sci-fi flick that only exists in Kutner's mind, while "Joyful Wraiths Seeking Intelligent Heaven" is an excursion into mutant funk. "Centripetal Phantom" overlays restless layers of syncopation with curtains of slow-moving melody, recalling the '80s electronic gamelan version of King Crimson. Things reach a climax with the tumultuous "Tantalus," which gives way to the relief of the gently pulsing, incandescent "An Attic Beneath the Earth." 

Max Kutner's an adventurous sonic explorer who's found ways of using home recording to produce works of depth and complexity. While I miss the live kick of his Partial Custody trio, which we lucky few in Texas got to experience a couple of years back, I'll stay tuned to to hear what's next to emerge from his laboratory.