Album Review: Hubris by Oren Ambarchi

Australian multi-instrumentalist Oren Ambarchi started out as a drummer, but he's mostly known now as a singular guitarist. He's a wizard of electric desert blues full of imagery and emotion, and a first-rate improviser at that. Not only has he been releasing records for nearly two decades, his list of collaborators over the years is a staggering who's-who of experimental music.

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It’s a diverse group and they’re doing some excellent work. Really great stuff. And let me tell you something, people: it is going to pay off. You can count on that. We’re dedicated, relentless, keeping the pulse steady. It’s going to take a lot of time and a lot of hard work, but we’re ….

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Although the title of Oren Ambarchi's latest full-length is playfully tongue-in-cheek, it nonetheless takes a certain level of self-confidence and pomposity to properly pull off such an unlikely combination of sound. Although the Australian musician is a serial collaborator himself, frequently appearing on other artists' works (including Sunn O))), Jim O'Rourke and Merzbow), Ambarchi brings in a seemingly unmanageable number of guests for Hubris. While he's been exploring techno and motorik rhythms over his past few releases, on "Hubris 1," the opening track on this three-song/40-minute LP, Ambarchi delves into the recently en vogue world of '80s new wave.

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Since the late ’90s, Australian multi-instrumentalist Oren Ambarchi has composed drone metal and free jazz, sculpted ambient soundscapes and collaborated with many (if not most) of experimental music's biggest names. Over his prolific career, Ambarchi has toured with Sunn O))), played with Boris and Merzbow, drummed with Keiji Haino—and that's just a drop in the bucket. In many ways, Ambarchi is a quintessential musician’s musician: an adept drummer and guitarist, hugely respected within his own scene, whose fans study his work like stoned math majors pouring over a Mandelbrot set.

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