Courtis/Moore, Brokebox Juke (side A)

If I could have expected anything from 2009's Brokebox Juke, it would have been pretty unapproachable noise. Alan Courtis from Reynols is a strong musical personality, and his work is often somewhat abrasive and challenging. Coupled with the difficulties of a long-distance collaboration, I expected this side of the pair's work to come through. Instead, a diverse record emerged from the process. There are repeating phrases, some of them featuring clear melodic content with a vaguely folky tinge—these parts remind me of Aaron Moore's group Volcano the Bear. The results in the end are a series of new experiments stretching both members of the duo—an impressive and diverse result of the collaboration. The grayscale photos on the gatefold cover are quite nice, and the sound quality is fine (for what I'm assuming is a primitive recording) if at times unnecessarily trebly.