4 out of 5

Label: Astral Spirits / Monofonus Press

Produced by: Can Aykal, Sinan Sakızlı (recorded by)

We know Thurston Moore can get loud, but its fascinating how some dynamic interplay – say from multi-instrumentalist Umut Çağlar, here playing guitar – can push that loud even louder.

The two side-long tracks build on each other, but you could also split things up as experiments in volume: Kensaku is loose, and patient. It’s not quiet, but it is subdued; built on clean sounds, with an unnerving undercurrent – Moore and Çağlar withholding the secret of when they’ll let loose. Which they don’t, not exactly, just waking up as the song goes along, and then you turn around after 15 minutes, and you’re surrounded by the song’s controlled chaos.

Which leads into the brilliant The Red Sun, which is chaos, Moore and Çağlar trading Skullflower-esque guitar abrasions, kicking into impossible overdrive halfway through; surprisingly punishing work on the Astral Spirits / Monofonus imprint.

An amusingly bouncy, structured outro caps things off.

Admittedly, my tastes lean towards noise: Red Sun is perfection; a focused assault.  Kensaku has a bit too much of an improv bent and tends to lose me while the duo find their way. But I can nonetheless admit that the journey is very, very worth it.