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Pithy clusters of piano notes pool and quickly evaporate. A spare clatter of brushed cymbals and cracked snares hang like bone jewelry from the baby grand's lid. It all makes for a warm and woozy affair until a single insistent note pushes forth with doppler-like precision. The drums tighten form while clipped guitar tones surface and put flesh to the bone. It is an exhilarating and fleeting moment of fusion and confusion. It is also the kind of moment that Pontius Pilots conjure with ease. The Seattle-based duo of pianist Victor Noriega and producer Robert Nelson (aka eR.DoN) explore improv jazz forms imbued with inscrutable MPC-triggered samples. Lushly recorded and deftly performed, the resultant mix is a beautiful marriage of reason and caprice.

-Daniel Mitha
The Journal of Popular Noise, Vol.1/Issue6

Victor Noriega has developed a distinct personal style that is both inventive and adventurous... his piano playing is crisp and articulate, and his compositions fuse Classical and Filipino folk elements with a jazz aesthetic. One moment his playing is reminiscent of the intricate contrapuntal lines in a Bach fugue, and the next the percussive dissonance of Bartok's music for piano... Listening to Noriega perform is like hearing the pieces of a puzzle come together into a satisfying whole.

e.R.DoN composes electronic music using midi-sequences and original samples. Performing live using an Akai MPC 2000XL, he samples and processes some sounds but lets other conventional instrumental sounds pass unprocessed; the result is a kinetic, captivating music, shifting and teetering between traditional and more experimental jazz elements while producing a warmth and depth of sound not usually associated with the electronic genre.

VIEW PONTIUS PILOTS EPK