Samba fans beware: this is not an album featuring classical interpretations of Brazilian music. Yes, the cover photo is a closeup of a violin plastered with canceled Brazilian postage stamps and what appears to be artwork from a vintage Rio de Janeiro cruise ship promotion. And yes, the album is titled Sonata Islands Goes RIO. But rather than the birthplace of Jobim, this "RIO" is the European avant-prog collective birthed by Chris Cutler and Henry Cow way back in 1978 -- RIO as in "Rock in Opposition." Perhaps the folks at AltrOck are smirking at the prospect of somebody, somewhere, mistakenly cueing up this CD at a Carnival-themed gathering and bombarding bemused samba fans with knotty avant classical music. What tricksters! Emilio Galante (flute, piccolo), Valerio Cipollone (bass clarinet, clarinet), Andrea Pecolo (violin), and Bianca Fervidi (cello) -- who usually perform under the Sonata Islands moniker but are rebranded as the Altrock Chamber Quartet here -- pay homage to original RIO collective members Univers Zero, granddaddies of dark instrumental chamber rock, as the quartet tackles the Daniel Denis-penned opus "Présage" from UZ's underrated 1984 LP Uzed. Also featured are three Euro-folk-flavored Fred Frith numbers, "Snake Eating Its Tail" from from Cosa Brava's 2010 debut Ragged Atlas as well as "Norrgärden Nyvla" and "Hands of the Juggler," the latter two originally appearing on Frith's 1980 solo album Gravity.

1		Snake Eating Its Tail
2		Norrgarden Nyvla
3		Hands of the Juggler
4		Rethinking Plague
5		Présage
6		Land Arf
7		Brachilogia7
8		Distillando
9		Crossroads
10		Luoghi Che Aspettano

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