TV Pow is a trio of composers/free improvisers first formed in Tokyo 1995 by Michael Hartman and Brent Gutzeit, and later joined by Todd Carter in the move to Chicago in 1996. They employ samplers, percussion, invented instruments, synthesizers, turn [+]TV Pow is a trio of composers/free improvisers first formed in Tokyo 1995 by Michael Hartman and Brent Gutzeit, and later joined by Todd Carter in the move to Chicago in 1996. They employ samplers, percussion, invented instruments, synthesizers, turntables, tape manipulation, computers and multi-speaker surround-sound systems in a constantly evolving soundscape of sparkling electronics, ambient drones, minimalist techno, and cinematic field recordings. Creating through live performance something both new and recombinant, born from the ashes of Liminal and Pencilneck, TV Pow has toured throughout Japan, US, England, Germany, Austria, and Spain..*
*still we are banned from Canada.
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http://dustedmagazine.com/reviews/2890
By Bill Meyer
TV Pow are often characterized as a laptop trio, and they've oft played in that guise. But in truth, the Chicago-based ensemble has never been purely electronic; from the beginning they've used homemade instruments such as the canjo (a stand-up stringed instrument made from a repurposed Hershey's chocolate syrup can) and good old-fashioned drums and guitars, and their most important assets – restless intelligence and intransigent attitude – require no power strips. Still, it's a quite shocker to find them using a very nice, in-tune piano from an audiophile studio, and virtually incomprehensible that this record's been released by a label whose website trumpets itself as a source of “Real jazz made in Chicago.” Willie Pickens this is not.
“The International Brigade” opens the disc in a sort of chops-challenged AMM mode, with stately chords trudging across a surface of groaning scraped drumheads. Within two minutes flickering electronic tones and swooshing traffic noise ease onto the scene, like cutout magazine photographs of fruit surreptitiously tucked into a hyper-realist still life painting. It's all quite lovely, and the tinkle of bells raises the question; are TV Pow mocking the beauty they've created, or inviting us to meditate upon it? Or both? The next piece, “Maybe It's The Alternator,” foregrounds its electronic effects more, contrasting unnaturally elongated bell tones and digital pops with more moody piano. It also features some lonely guitar plucking that somehow makes me ponder the irony that Chicago, o
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