Nauseef, Mori, Quintus, CourvoisierAlbertReview

This is a tribute to Albert Hofmann, the (al)chemist who discovered LSD and who celebrated his 100th birthday early in 2006. In an era where any anniversary of practically anything is celebrated, this one seems to have slipped by unnoticed; no Psychedelia or Acid House compilations clogging up the shelves in Woolworths or 'Celebrities Top 10 Trips' on Channel 4. Not even a Gordon Ramsay mushroom recipe in the Radio Times. Just as well, perhaps.

Instead, it's left to the quartet of Mark Nauseef (percussion, cheap casio), Ikue Mori (computer), Walter Quintus (recording/mix) and Sylvie Courvoisier (piano/prepared piano) to mark this auspicious event. Seasoned improvisers all, they set about constructing abstract electro-acoustic soundscapes into which are inserted brief snippets of Hofmann's voice, describing his discovery and its implications.

This is miles away from the kind of stuff that usually characterises the work of musicans under the influence of Hofmann's creation (whether directly or just conceptually); this music is spacious rather than spaced, even at its most frenetic. Courvoisier's piano provides most of the action, punctuating Hofmann's pronouncements with Morton Feldman-esque chords, rippling dissonances or the alien scrabble and clunk of prepared piano. Nauseef shadows her with volleys of orchestral percussives; Mori fires off bursts of synapse-tickling electronics that sound like they've escaped from a Milton Babbitt piece.

The overall effect is strangely meditative, as is the case with some of John Cage's music; this ties in with Hofmann's own view of LSD as 'a material aid to meditation'. Whatever you think of that, this is a CD that's well worth your time.