This collaboration between the duo of Paul Flaherty and Chris Corsano, and Burning Star Core's mad fiddler C. Spencer Yeh did not blindside anyone. Besides the obvious musical affinities they share, these musicians had already worked together and would continue to do so, namely in Thurston Moore's Dream Aktion Unit. A Rock in the Snow was recorded in December 2004. This album displays all the usual energy and stamina found in Flaherty/Corsano records, and Yeh manages not only to fit in, but also to contribute. The sax player and the drummer open up their sonic barrage to welcome him, his acoustic violin (no electronics here) and his possessed vocals. As a result, a track like the 16-minute Do You Have Any Prurient Releases? breathes a lot more than what can be found on the pair's The Hated Music or The Beloved Music. On the other hand, the other two epic numbers, We Have to Check Your Equipment for Bombs and Sixteen Waltzes in Seventeen Seconds, are thunderous, with an unstoppable momentum -- so unstoppable that they both end on a fade out, an unusual (and frustrating) feature on an album of free improvisation. In the latter, Flaherty and Corsano join Yeh in a round of primal screaming, all the while playing as if their lives depended on it. In the concluding Swamp-Like Heartache, Flaherty and Yeh stick to raspy moans while Corsano softly strikes a cymbal bell, producing a primeval form of lament that leaves quite an impression after 50 minutes of screeching and tumbling. The listener can sense the fun the three of them had in recording A Rock in the Snow: the music is immediate, and both entertaining and urgent, which makes the album somewhat more listener-friendly than the slightly more cerebral The Beloved Music (the pair's then-latest release). ~ François Couture, Rovi

1		We Have to Check Your Equipment for Bombs
2		Do You Have Any Prurient Releases?
3		Dirty Firetrucker
4		Sixteen Waltzes in Seventeen Seconds
5		Swamp-Like Heartache

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