LOCATION LOCATION

Following Of The Body Prone, Ahleuchatistas underwent another change in personnel when long serving bassist Derek Poteat handed in his notice and Shane Perlowin elected to continue the band as a duo with relative newcomer Ryan Oslance on drums. Location Location is the first of two promised albums from this new configuration, and was recorded piecemeal over roughly two years.

Of The Body Prone saw two significant changes in Ahleuchatistas' sound; Shane Perlowin had cautiously started using effects pedals, and the music became rather more improvisational and open ended. These changes have come to full fruition on Location Location, and while there is still plenty to engage the listener it's a long way from the tightly composed and focussed music that came before it. It's essentially a series of ten sound collages on which it isn't always obvious whether a particular sound emanated from the guitar or the drums. In the absence of a bassist Shane Perlowin uses effects, in particular looping, to fill the gap, the results having audible elements of both Frippertronics and Fred Frith. All of which is fine and dandy, and it's good to see the band evolving and progressing, but the album would have been much stronger if at least a couple of tracks had been effects free guitar/drum pieces in the style of earlier work - Shane Perlowin is a remarkable guitarist but his excellent lead playing often either absent or buried between layers of sound. Similarly Ryan Oslance is capable of making Perlowin's compositions swing and the duo are capable of some breathtaking interplay - let's hope that we get to hear them doing what they do best on their next album.

If you enjoyed Of The Body Prone then Location Location is worth getting and persevering with. If you're a newcomer to Ahleuchatistas, start with one of the earlier albums. This is a perfectly decent contemporary avant rock album, but not a great addition to Ahleuchatistas' otherwise highly impressive discography.