Description
The Mexican duo demonstrate an impressive range of moods and relationships: confrontational, conversational, quizzical, exploratory. Indeed, part of the success of 9 Dead Alive arises out of the variety of styles of dialogue. As in great chamber music, communication through tone, nuance and suggestion somehow goes beyond the notes and chords. On “Sunday Neurosis”, for instance, the subtle phrasing of the instruments conveys the interrogatory rather better than the brief, fragmented oral articulating of theological and philosophical points that follows. The pair ought to have put greater trust in their exquisite playing alone to express their inquiries. Beethoven’s Late Quartets are the supreme exemplars of how complex points can be discussed wordlessly yet with extraordinary eloquence.
