There was a justifiable buzz on the live European circuit (remember that?) about the young Belgian-based cosmic piano trio De Beren Gieren especially in the first half of this decade. Now onto their fifth album Less is Endless proves they're still delivering the goods with a lot of verve and freshly imaginative ideas.

Something of The Bad Plus lies in their quirky humour and bold contemporary themes, but minimalistic classical-like, fragmented piano melodies underlined with ambient grooves borrowed from electronica and post-rock give them a special aura and lead them to entirely unique territory for a piano trio. Both experimental and accessible, the infectious opener ‘A Funny Discovery’ sounds like EST on a Krautrock kick; the title track shows off their hallmark spacey-ness to hypnotic effect while the bustling ‘Animalcules’ astutely links avant-electronica to a gorgeous Weather Report-ish melody; ‘Moments Never a Moment’ could be an improv ensemble's version of one of the Bowie-Eno electronica instrumentals on Low. The symphonic 18-minute finale ‘A Random Walk’ leads us into neo-noir-ish soundscapes, acoustic piano scherzos and jolting electronica but the band's integrative approach to improvisation and composition is such that you don't even notice the joins. On Less is Endless it's great to hear one of the most powerful live contemporary European piano trios still aiming for and achieving those creative highs.