Sakada

Undistilled is a live trio record by Sakada, which set the acoustic percussion of Eddie Prévost against two musicians working with computers. Mattin handles computer feedback and Rosy Parlane computer and radio. Taken from three concerts in London and Rotterdam in early 2002, it puts the AMM drummer inside a dense electronic field where his small set of instruments often disappears into the mass. It is one of the harder-edged records in the Matchless catalogue, closer to noise and electroacoustic improvisation than to Prévost's jazz groups.

The tracks come from the Audit Club in London on 20 January 2002, Worm in Rotterdam on 27 February and the Baggage Reclaim in London on 24 March. The booklet note by Matthew Hyland sets out the roles. Prévost uses a restricted range of percussion, Parlane releases electronic sounds prepared earlier, and Mattin transforms noises in the room digitally as they happen. The outcome, in Hyland's words, is "a formidably dense mesh of textures". The longest piece, Worm, runs almost thirty-two minutes, moving from organ-like drones into feedback, static and metallic squeals, with Prévost's gong surfacing now and then like an anvil strike. The shorter Baggage Reclaim leaves more room for him: a stick dragged across the ride cymbal, a triangle, and a final cymbal ping. Reviewing it in Jazzword in 2003, Ken Waxman wrote that "Electronica and feedback fans will presumably revel in what is produced here", while warning AMM listeners it might be harder going.

Released by Matchless Recordings in 2002 as MRCD 49, a CD mixed by Steve Lowe, with a cover by Mattin.