Mathias Forge, Olivier Toulemonde

A duo improvisation between French trombonist Mathias Forge and Brussels-based improviser Olivier Toulemonde, recorded live in Sheffield in January 2010, with and without audience. Pie'n'mash – its title playfully referencing the traditional London working-class dish – documents the meeting of two remarkable musicians who were relative unknowns at the time but who have since been recognized as significant voices within post-reductionist improvisation.

Forge, a virtuosic young trombonist, demonstrates an extraordinary command of extended techniques, exploring the full sonic range of his instrument beyond conventional brass tones. Toulemonde, originally an electroacoustic composer, had by this time developed an unusual instrumental setup using "acoustic objects" – amplified materials that he bows, scrapes, and manipulates to produce sounds that range from metallic resonances to spinning bowls and textured drones. Remarkably, his setup had moved entirely away from electronics, instead focusing on the inherent acoustic properties of found and prepared objects.

The duo's approach creates a unique and distinctive soundworld that immediately sets them apart. Recorded during a UK tour in early 2010, the performances capture the immediate chemistry between the two musicians as they navigate shared territories of extended technique and reductive improvisation. The combination of Forge's breathy brass explorations and Toulemonde's textured acoustic objects produces music that hovers at the edge of silence while maintaining a strong sense of structural purpose and sonic invention.

As noted in the Another Timbre catalog description, these are "two more relative unknowns deserving of greater attention" who "immediately create a unique and distinctive soundworld, marking them as significant new voices within post-reductionist improv."

An essential document of a celebrated duo collaboration that helped define a particular strand of European improvised music in the early 2010s.