Led by New York-based composers Vicente Hansen Atria and Mat Muntz, The Vex Collection uses new and surprising combinations of traditional instruments and original music contraptions (designed by the composers via 3-D-printing technology) to simultaneously create an alternate sonic history and a new impossible future. On “Fugue,” highland bagpipes and Korean taepyeongso (a conical double reed instrument) intertwine with mesmerizing force. Bagpiper Matthew Welch brings a hypnotic power at the foundation, rattling walls to the ground where Korean woodwind virtuoso gamin begins to lay the new framework.
Atria and Muntz burst to life, their heady rhythms filling the space left in the wake of Welch’s and gamin’s frenetic tonal blasts. Ferocious grooves push toward the peak and once they reach the pinnacle, “Fugue” relaxes into a powerful, moving drone. The Vex Collection is out on an island creating an incredible new world and I can’t wait to explore it further.
“Fugue” appears on The Vex Collection’s self-titled debut album that will be released by Carrier Records on February 18. Pre-order below.
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