by François CoutureIn his liner notes, label owner Martin Davidson qualifies Buzz Soundtrack as a "long forgotten surprise" and warns the listener "this is not a typical Iskra 1903 session." Paul Rutherford, Derek Bailey, and Barry Guy formed their trio in 1970. They recorded this music for a film by Michael Grigsby that came out in 1971. The tapes, completely forgotten, were found at the turn of the century, cleaned up, and released by Emanem in early 2002. The group indeed sounds different than on Chapter One (1970-1972), a lot more moody and introspective, with strains of jazz weaving in and out (Rutherford is clearly working out a theme in "Buzz Trio 4"). The resulting music actually feels very similar in spirit and context to another Emanem archival release, the Spontaneous Music Ensemble's Withdrawal soundtrack CD. Listeners find the same ghostly contours, the same desire to provide an atmosphere while setting the music on its own non-decorative course. Gaps between pieces had to be set to a minimum interval to fit all the music on one CD, thus creating an artificial semi-seguing suite, but it works very well that way. Each of the 21 short tracks (only a couple go over six minutes) adds another hue to the soft palette. A recurring sequence of trios and bass, trombone, and guitar solos (always in that order) gives this album the scope of a full-fledged studio project. The sound quality is quite good considering the age of the tapes, making this a recommended CD, especially for those who don't want to pay for the Chapter One three-CD set.