Tristan Honsinger & Günter Christmann, Earmeals (side A)

I remember an ICP Orchestra concert at Tonic, a few years back, where a friend pointed to Honsinger and reminded me that he'd played cello on "We are All Prostitutes" by the Pop Group. While only two years earlier than this legendary single, 1978's Earmeals could not be further removed from the Pop Group's jarring avant-punk. It's a pretty standard improv record from the era. It seems typical of 1978 that any jazz referent had gone away but the minimal/pointillistic aesthetic had not yet begun to emerge. The result is a lot of crazy playing, with some call-and-response interaction displaying a careful chemistry between the players. Christmann's large beard on the record cover would be the height of fashion in 2010, but his sunglasses not so much.