Being as mutable as I tend to describe myself, when it comes to free jazz I do enjoy, at times, the most unintelligible freaking pile of skronk, but on most occasions I tend to lean over to the "cleaner" side of it, as I call it, as exemplified best by most of Art Ensemble of Chicago's output.

Hence, William Parker is forever engraved in my musical memory as three things: 1) an excellent craftsman of contemporary clean free jazz; 2) the most fascinating jazz double bassist, second only to the late Charles Mingus, of course; and, 3) the most exciting modern creative player, composer & improviser in the business at this very moment.
29

After a much needed break, I return with Orra, Phantom Orchard's second album. The duo comprises Zeena Parkins and Ikue Mori, fully-fledged Downtown musicians extraordinaire.
3

Not gonna give too much information about this. I read about this in a random Dusted review, and I eventually checked it out. This is definitely someone in an abandoned warehouse, dragging barrels of body parts around on the concrete, cutting sheets of metal, throwing things against the wall, etc. If you want to get d-whipped in the ears, give this a listen.
2

Kaoru Abe has been slowly working his way to the forefront of my list of jazz favorites. Here is one of my favorites of his, with him on several instruments, and playing solo improvisations, which is his normal method (although I quite like his trio album I heard for the first time recently). Much more flighty and forceful than, say, Evan Parker or Anthony Braxton solo improvisations.
2

Niko, the founder guru of psychedelic Seven That Spells (which i've shared the post earlier on his work with Makoto) plays keyboard in Tigrova Mast which raised my curiosity to explore more about this band. ‘Toshiro Mifune meets Omar Sharif in Abu Dabi’, as it is described on the band’s official site, is perhaps the best description anyone could have come up with when referring to the conglomerated work of Croatian trio Tigrova Mast.
2

Noah Westhand is the moniker of my cousin Noah Nishite. "Westhand" is apparently a loose translation of Nishite from Japanese. Something about the musicians in my family, we enjoy partaking in the sacrificial slaughter of our surnames for the purpose of the musical alter-ego (The Toad Disco = Tedesco).

All potentially offended ancestors aside, the music here is really great.

Mika Vainio (aka Ø) Behind the radiators Vinyl 7” 2008. 7' vinyl only. Limited edition. Best known as part of the Finnish duo, Pan Sonic, and he also releases work as for Finnish label, Sahkö Recordings. Expect corrupted glitches and cracked layers of optical beats - the end result sounds like Alva Noto record that's been pressed up on some mucky, ramshackle run of vinyl; or perhaps even the first Opto album by Noto and Opiate's Thomas Knak.
4

Bardo Pond. Flying Saucer Attack. Jessamine. Roy Montgomery. Loren Mazzacane Connors. Charalambides.

Just by looking at the lineup, it's obvious that this has got to be a great compilation, and it doesn't hurt that it was released on one of the foremost labels in the space-noise-drone-whatever you want to call it scene, at the height of most or all of these bands powers. This record is one half sprawling, spaced-out jams and one half noise-laden guitar improvisation.
7
Blog Archive
Blog Archive
Labels
Labels
Popular Posts
Popular Posts
Loading
Dynamic Views theme. Powered by Blogger. Report Abuse.