What exactly is a hooch? The definition which strikes Disaster Amnesiac as applying to the The Moon in the Shape of a Hooch reads: "[a] small shack, thatched hut or temporary living quarters". Was this recording made during a full phase of the moon's monthly arc? Its sounds are characterized by murky and mysterious tones, coaxed from violin, viola, bagpipes, electronics, tape sounds, invented instruments, and FM radio. The listener is first exposed to droning forms that sound as if they are the product of the violin/viola, peppered with sparse timbral actions from the other instruments listed. Drones certainly do provide feelings of occupancy with the ways in which they sit, structure-like, within any sonic matrix in which they are utilized. These forms set up and loom over the first half of this collaboration between Broken Crow and Eloine. The suddenness with which they are disturbed by more active hitting from very percussive qualities is shocking, as if one's cozy domicile has been hit by a large earthquake or some other such natural movement. Said forms are then blended into a swirling mass of Noise that churns for most of the remainder of the CD's duration. The contrast between the initial section of The Moon in the Shape of a Hooch and its subsequent finish is duly dramatic, not in an overblown manner but more in ways that increase the tension that overrides the entirety of this collaboration between long practicing denizens of creative music in America. It's thirty five minutes of tightly focused improvised sound art and fans of the type will be glad to reside therein on more than a few occasions I think.
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