Laurence Pike - Distant Early Warning review

The Guardian 80

This Australian drummer’s solo debut introduces pleasing layers and textures to a minimalist palette

Laurence Pike is an Australian drummer who has appeared in a variety of settings over the past 20 years – making ambient jazz with Triosk; working with his brother Richard in the jerky math rock outfit Pivot; duetting with the one-time ECM pianist Mike Nock; and exploring tantric music with electronic artist Luke Abbott and Portico Quartet saxophonist Jack Wyllie in Szun Waves.

His debut solo album, however, sounds very little like any of those lineups. It’s basically minimalism – drones, pulses, hypnotic arpeggios that alter very gradually – but with drums rumbling over the top. Drum kits are rarely invited into the pristine world of minimalism, a world of clean spaces and right angles. The only percussion you’re likely to hear in the music of, say, Steve Reich or Philip Glass will be the minty-fresh plonk of a vibraphone or marimba. Throughout Distant Early Warning, however, Pike’s drums grind, flutter and growl, adding several pleasing layers of scuffed texture to the smooth surfaces.