The trouble with the so-called avant-garde music is mainly that most of the experiences were already being made in the 60s and 70s. Blowing mindlessly and senselessly your saxophone it doesn’t surprise anybody anymore and plenty of others did it before not once. Well, McPhee is one of those old guys who were there in the 60s as well just like he’s exploring the borders of the free jazz relentless now days. So, McPhee is a true survival literally. Survival Unit III made of Joe McPhee – alto saxophone and pocket trumpet, Fred Lonberg-Holm – cello and electronics and Michael Zerang – drums are trying once again to rendering some order into the chaos, to make sense in a contorted world that sometimes seems senseless. It’s a hard job, difficult task and mysterious are the ways, isn’t it? Read more Joe McPhee Survival Unit III – Syncronicity (2011)
avant-garde
Masami Akita, Mats Gustafsson and Jim O’Rourke – One Bird Two Bird (2011)
Limited edition of 500 copies vinyl release containing two tracks, “One Bird” 21.37 minutes, respectively “Two Bird” 13.38 minutes, this is the result of the clash of three twisted minded titans of experimental music in a studio session in Tokyo in 2009.
Masami Akita knowned of course as Merbow since 1979 has released over 350 recordings. Mats Olof Gustafsson is probably best knowned lately mainly by the trio called The Thing, but he first came to the attention of lovers of improvised music as part of a duo with Christian Munthe, started in 1986 and the band Gush, started in 1988. He has later played widely with musicians such as Peter Brötzmann, Joe McPhee, Paul Lovens, Barry Guy, Yoshimi P-We, Derek Bailey, Magnus Broo, Otomo Yoshihide, Jim O’Rourke, Thomas Lehn, Evan Parker, Misha Mengelberg, Zu, The Ex, Sonic Youth, Hamid Drake, Michael Zerang, Ken Vandermark and many others. O’Rourke Read more Masami Akita, Mats Gustafsson and Jim O’Rourke – One Bird Two Bird (2011)
Red Snapper – Key (2011)
This is absolutely bloody ass kicking! And I mean it. Don’t judge a book by its cover and a CD by its label. In this particular case the label was “hip hop” and well, maybe there’s some hip hop left-overs in it, but this have nothing to do with what usually we thought of hip hop. This is jazz, modern, alive, pulsing, experimental jazz without being kind of exclusivist, it’s avantgardist without being abstract, in not so many words: this is fucking music! Well, if we trying hard enough we may find some parallels with US3, eventually with the Fun Lovin’ Criminals, but still. If there some other band which reminds me of , perhaps that would be Morphine. Honestly I don’t know where I kept or what I did with my ears in the last few years, but I stumbled into Red Snappers only yesterday while it seems they being around since 1994. But I can take off “Key” from the player since. Read more Red Snapper – Key (2011)
Iro Haarla Quintet – Vespers (2011)
Iro Haarla composer-pianist-harpist and her Finnish-Norwegian ensemble consist of Mathias Eick – trumpet, Trygve Seim – tenor and soprano saxophones, Ulf Krokfors – double-bass and Jon Christensen – drums, six years after releasing of “Northbound†are back with this brand new album released under the same trademark of ECM. Classy and gloomy, this is a slowburn, kind of candle light in the dark, winter night. Quiet and improvising, this “free ballads” have a kind of family reunion feeling where everybody tell his own story of the past few years, sometimes simultaneously, “speaking” over each other. Sometimes vague, often soaked with the particular Northern melancholy or directly with the taste of sadness, “Vespers” sounds as the score of our desperate alienation. Read more Iro Haarla Quintet – Vespers (2011)
Lake Of Tears – Illwill (2011)
Four years after their 2007 effort “Moons and Mushrooms”, Lake Of Tears will release on April 29 their eight studio album. “Illwill” it’s dark, it’s heavy, it’s beautiful, it’s always recognizably Lake Of Tears, but they always evolved, searched, experimented and vary their sound and this ongoing development has continued through to this new album as well. There’s still gloomy reminiscences of Doom Metal, persist some polished Gothic shines, but Lake Of Tears have a strong and simple line of pure Rock groove in their vein and what make them different from most of the now days bands it’s their determination and focus to quality and music without fitting into some strictly delimited genre. Read more Lake Of Tears – Illwill (2011)
Rolo Tomassi – Eternal Youth (2011)
A friend of mine from London bring to my attention this band from Sheffield, England, in 2009 and their debut album entitled “Hysterics” released one year earlier blow off my mind. Define as “progressive hardcore”, labeled as jazzcore, mathcore or simply progressive rock, Rolo Tomassi delivering a fresh and powerful mixture of hardcore, punk, post metal and avant-garde jazz which is quite innovative and brilliant.
The band was formed in 2005 and immediately began to perform at local venues and pubs to small crowds and released some of their first material, a “3 Track Demo” CD, respectively “4 Track Cassette” which they could sell at the shows they were performing at.
After a split EP with Mirror! Mirror! (limited to 333 copies and released through Speedowax) the band signed to Holy Roar Records and released a self-titled EP featuring re-recorded songs from previous demos and EPs along with new songs. Read more Rolo Tomassi – Eternal Youth (2011)
Garage A Trois – Always Be Happy, But Stay Evil (2011)
Garage A Trois was originally a trio founded in 1998 during the recording of Stanton Moore’s debut album “All Kooked Out!” by Moore, eight-string guitarist Charlie Hunter, and Skerik. The project grown to a quartet, the actual line-up including Stanton Moore (drums), Skerik (saxophone), Mike Dillon (vibraphone and percussionist) and keyboardist Marco Benevento. They play a variety of music including rock, funk and jazz. I stumble into this band a few years ago searching on YouTube for versions of the song by Hendrix “If 6 was 9”. Charlie Hunter it’s a killer guitar player and Moore is a color and powerful drummer, Skerik knows to blow his saxophone, so, Garage A Trois was an exciting discovery. Most widely known as a founding member of Galactic, Moore has also Read more Garage A Trois – Always Be Happy, But Stay Evil (2011)
Tim Berne – Insomnia (2011)
Tim Berne was born in Syracuse, New York in 1954. Twenty years later Berne encountered a saxophonist who was selling his alto, and bought it on impulse. “There was just something about the sound of the saxophone that got to me,” he says. Berne moved to New York in 1974 and began issuing his own albums on his own Empire label in 1979. Over the next five years he would record and distribute five albums under his own name which included such musicians as Ed Schuller, Olu Dara, Paul Motian, John Carter, Glenn Ferris and Bill Frisell. Following two recordings for the Italian Soul Note label, Berne recorded Fulton Street Maul and Sanctified Dreams for Columbia Records. In the late 1990s Berne founded Screwgun Records, which has released his own recordings.
Berne played in band such as: Bloodcount with Michael Formanek, Chris Speed, Jim Black, Marc Ducret; Caos Totale with Mark Dresser, Steve Swell, Bobby Previte, Herb Robertson, Marc Ducret, Django Bates; Big Satan with Tom Rainey, Marc Ducret; Hard Cell with Tom Rainey, Craig Taborn; Science Friction with Tom Rainey, Craig Taborn, Marc Ducret; Paraphrase with Tom Rainey, Drew Gress; Miniature with Joey Baron, Hank Roberts;Buffalo Collision with Hank Roberts, Ethan Iverson, Dave King and BBC Trio with Nels Cline, Jim Black. Beyond his recordings as a bandleader, Berne has recorded and/or performed with guitarist Bill Frisell, avant-garde composer/sax player John Zorn, violinist Mat Maneri, guitarist David Torn, cellist Hank Roberts, trumpet player Herb Robertson, the ARTE Quartett and as a member of the cooperative trio Miniature. Read more Tim Berne – Insomnia (2011)
Acid Mothers Temple and The Melting Paraiso UFO – Pink Lady Lemonade – You’re From Inner Space (2011)
It’s almost kinky to write and record a 32 minutes long song these days. And actually it’s a nice track, the mix is what bothering me. The slide guitar is much too loud and covers almost completely the solo guitars and the bass. And it’s pity, they done beautiful things if you listen careful enough. But if you have to focus hard, all the pleasure of the listening goes out on the window. Still, “Part 1” from “Pink Lady Lemonade – Youre From Inner Space” it’s kind of chill, joyful, warm and embracing. A nice trip with beautiful images made of sounds running before our eyes. “Part 2” break in like a noisy explosion, it’s a crazy mixture of improvisations on psychedelic, noise rock and jazz like samples. It last only five minutes, but it’s heavy. “Part 3” comes back with the spacy theme of “Part 1”, the mix is much convincing, the pulse is a little bit faster and the song got a pleasant groove. 10 minutes of shades and bubbling sounds which brings me the image of a blooming flower. Well, kind of hippy. 🙂 Read more Acid Mothers Temple and The Melting Paraiso UFO – Pink Lady Lemonade – You’re From Inner Space (2011)
Somnolent – Renaissance Unraveling (2011)
Somnolent formed in 2006, positioning itself as a funeral doom metal band. Having time for four years to perform at many festivals in the cities of Ukraine and Russia, and issuing a few releases in this vein, including full-length album “Monochromes Philosophy” in 2008 on the label Solitude Production. The band changed their style in the direction of post metal, progressive, sludge, while continuing to experiment. In 2011 they released their second full-length album, this “Renaissance Unraveling” through Slow Burn Records.
This is a dark and gloomy material, preserving the mood and trademarks of the debut album, but including some interesting colors from sludge and heavy explosions of modern metal riffings, some technical death metal elements and interesting breaks and shiftings from different tempos and moods. Read more Somnolent – Renaissance Unraveling (2011)
