LÄrmschutz hails from Utrecht, The Netherlands and consists of Stef Brans on "guitar, stuff on strings" and Rutger van Driel on trombone, electronics, and bass. Their name translates out to “noise protection” in German, and they describe themselves as "Free-improvised brass and string noise-punk." I first heard their work when they sent me a track for the Zaftig Research holiday compilation, which was an interesting trombone-based piece. They seem to be quite prolific, but this is my first full length from them. You don’t often see trombone in experimental music, so let's dive in and see what we have here.

We kick it off with "Condolone," which is a 20 minute track that is kind of hard to describe. There is a bass line of sorts with a lot of drone, at times punctuated by crashing static and noise. At other times, it sounds like listening to a jazz tape being eaten by the tape deck. Still others just has the bass drone likewise going off the rails. If there is one word I would use to describe this, it is "unsteady." Everything feels like it is on a foundation of sand, and just about ready to come apart.

The other track is "Groan," which is just over 17 minutes. This is a bit more put together, with quiet moments where you can hear breathing in between judicious use of feedback. I like the combination of processed sound and the natural sounds of the trombone, which are then manipulated. This vacillates between noise wall and quiet moments with a few trombone blows at the end.

Brass doesn't get a lot of love in experimental music (although there are some notable exceptions, like Dan Peck on tuba), so this is a breath of fresh air. If you think that trombone is only for big band or ska, then this is worth checking out to see what the instrument can really do, especially with a nice accompaniment of electronics. Well worth checking out. This album weighs in at around 37 minutes and is limited to 42 copies.