The Sealed Knot—Burkhard Beins (percussion, objects), Rhodri Davies (pedal harp, e-bow), Mark Wastell (double bass, bow, beaters)—are what Clive Bell in The Wire calls "one of the great free improvisation groups, comparable to the classic 1980s SME line-up of John Stevens, Nigel Coombes and Roger Smith for edge-of-your-seat attentiveness and sheer inter-group telepathy." This single 40-minute piece, recorded live at the Ear We Are Festival in Biel, Switzerland in February 2007, captures the trio at a pivotal moment.

Formed in 2000 as a melding of London and Berlin improvisation scenes, The Sealed Knot were early proponents of what was dubbed "New London Silence" and "Berlin Reductionism." Yet as one writer notes, "they were already unhappy with tags such as Reductionism, lowercase improv or 'the New London Silence'. There was a sense that the music was moving too swiftly to be caught by such labels. It was also, even then, often too abrasive for the various quietist tags to stick."

This harder dimension is "strongly apparent in parts of 'And We Disappear.'" While earlier work betrayed interest in contemporary composition—Feldman's spaciousness, Lachenmann's textural vocabulary—"the more recent work is drawn to slow development and long tones." One observer notes "one almost has the sense that the performance was composed, so cohesively does it play out."

Beins is "a master of injecting almost-rhythms into the mix" and the whole sound possesses "a delightful sense of both space and propulsion, one instrument segueing into another, sending matters tumbling along." Wastell contributes "wonderful arco work, twined with Davies' ebow, getting into this luscious quasi-drone state, Beins' dry cymbals adding just the right amount of sandiness." The music "builds to a brutal roar about 10 minutes from the end then subsides into a gentle ambiance of bells and soft plucks."

Michael Rosenstein describes the release as "a consummate example of the refined, spontaneously composed forms the three have mastered, working with bowed and scraped cymbals and drum heads, bowed and beaten bass, and harp harmonics and overtones."

One reviewer concludes: "A stunning recording and, incidentally, approachable enough to qualify as one of those you might foist on a friend who's expressed interest in the genre." Essential listening for anyone interested in how reductionist improvisation evolved beyond its initial lowercase aesthetic into something more dynamic and visceral.