This spectacular sequel to their earlier eponymous outing on Random Acoustics, Lines in Australia, was recorded in Sydney, and flutist and alto saxophonist Jim Denley writes that the group's impressions of Australia "imbued the music with a different and unique sensibility." Denley, best known for his work with Rik Rue, Stevie Wishart, and others in Machine for Making Sense, took the musicians on a tour of the Kuringai National Park, where the imposing scenery and spectacular rock engravings seem to have left their mark on the group's music (and also provided Denley with the cover art, an exquisite photograph of tiny insect-formed lines in tree bark). Compared to its ebullient predecessor, this is more spacious; tiny details now occupy the musical foreground where they had previously remained threads in a rich sonic tapestry. Judicious use of reverb on the string instruments imparts an almost three-dimensional quality to the music, while Axel Dörner's playing, be it subterranean rumbling or slow pitch-shifts on his slide trumpet, functions as a timbral bridge between the worlds of wind, strings, and percussion (quite apart from being a spectacular virtuoso, Dörner is undoubtedly one of the finest ensemble players around). There's an almost composed poise to Bush Onion Story that brings to mind Dörner, Denley, and Mattos' fine contributions to Chris Burn's Navigations (Acta 12), while the gritty splattering of the ensuing Smokey Country are indicative of the refinement of the improvised music idiom. ~ Dan Warburton, Rovi

1		Lines in Australia
2		Marks on Sand
3		Bush Onion Story
4		Smokey Country
5		Wurrkadi
6		Seen from Above
7		Bell Flower
8		Ghost Gum

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