Duo Milano documents an exceptional mind-meld meeting between two of America’s finest avant-guitarists: Elliott Sharp and Nels Cline. Recorded on a single day in April2006 the results are divided into five tracks of unplugged acoustic guitar interaction and five tracks with full electrical amplification; running the gamut from improvised scrabbling to stellar string bending and hitting all manner of points in-between. Playing off each other with an ease and fluid- ity that suggests some kind of telepathic connection their acoustic interchange mixes rapid strumming with percussive strikes, fitful clusters of notes and arrhythmic picking to create a tangled, absorbing weave. Embellished with feedback and effects the electric side, meanwhile, is more open and drawn out with two of the pieces only narrowly falling short of the ten minute mark. While both parts definitely warrant investigation it’s the latter that arguably bears the most interesting fruit – eschewing discord in favour of space and a more cohesive resonance.
Andrew Carden