A limited-edition vinyl release made available by drummer/bandleader Teun Verbruggen's Rat Records to coincide with the Bureau of Atomic Tourism's spring 2014 European tour, Scintigraphy features four tracks from BOAT's debut CD, Second Law of Thermodynamics, which was recorded live at a club show in Tilberg, the Netherlands, in November 2011 and released by Rat in 2013. The remastered tracks find Verbruggen (who handles live electronics as well as drums) and his international sextet -- bassist Trevor Dunn, reedman Andrew D'Angelo, trumpeter Nate Wooley, guitarist Marc Ducret, and keyboardist Jozef Dumoulin -- fully energized and firing on all cylinders. Verbruggen is ostensibly the bandleader but D'Angelo brought all the scores. His "BooBeeBooBeeBee" takes nearly four minutes to assemble itself into a messed-up pound-and-retreat theme -- the midsection is a fine feature for the Ducret-Dunn-Verbruggen trio in halting escalation to an abrupt conclusion. Verbruggen and Dunn lock into a tight but quick-shifting groove on "Meg Nem Sa" (from Icelandic guitarist Hilmar Jensson's Tyft album of the same name) as Ducret, D'Angelo, and Wooley shoot fireworks across the top. The two-part "Marthana" initially pairs the composer's woozy alto and Wooley's trumpet over a subdued dark ambient backing; Ducret's snaky guitar is soon surrounded by repetitive clicks, ticks, and pops that sound like a relatively gentle but deliberate pummeling is being delivered directly to the surface of your eardrums with the world's tiniest jackhammers. "Marthana, Pt. 2" builds into a fearsomely energetic and then fragmented jam after a Dumoulin keyboard feature, ultimately sputtering out before the reins are handed to Wooley, who pushes beyond notes into sound and noise. The members of BOAT are from Belgium, France, and the U.S., but on this souvenir from Tilburg they draw from a common improvisational language, seeming like they've played together for years. Scintigraphy may include only a portion of the music from Second Law of Thermodynamics, but its high-quality vinyl (there's also a download code), remastered sound, and cover art by noted Belgian contemporary artist Pierre Alechinsky (whose works are included in a number of major modern art collections internationally) make it an attractive collectible that fans of these uncompromising musicians will want to have. ~ Dave Lynch, Rovi

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