Curiously prolific but difficult to observe or pin down, the enigmatic electric guitarist Michel Kristof is one half of the noise band Other Matter (where he is joined by Julien Palomo). On Michael's latest release Astarte, for Florida-based Muteant Sounds, he is joined by percussionist Wayne Rex. Like most of Michael's work, it's not always easy to interpret what he's attempting to accomplish, but it is worth investigating. It's like a sonic brain puzzle, where the pieces of the rotating cube you're attempting to assemble in the proper order correspond with bits of free-jazz pummel and guitar chords that sound like badly transcribed messages from a crashed satellite. There are times when the rhythms resemble a demo take from the Art Ensemble of Chicago and others time where you'd swear the shadowy, Residents associated, Ralph Corporation was in the studio with Michael and Max giving notes. I really love the squishy quality of Michael's guitars on "Athame," it's fantastic to witness "The Dove" weave between a straightforward bebop jam and the sounds of a locomotive derailing as it passes a station platform at full speed, and you can't miss the messy "Chalice" which delivers a surprisingly sturdy sense of orchestral melody that sounds like it is attempting to reimagination the theatrical score to Ben-Hur with some lysergic additions cribbed from Death Race 2000. I honestly can't believe this is a record made by two individuals and didn't involve a team of ex-communicated NASA scientists. Astarte is a truly baffling but consummately intriguing EP.
