TIM BERNE - FRACTURED FAIRY TALES
Now Then
[3:15]4.6 Mb
Sep
[8:09]11.7 Mb
More Coffee
[11:40]16.8 Mb
Evolution of A Pearl
[19:36]28.2 Mb
Lightnin Bug Boute
[0:41]0.9 Mb
The Telex Blues
[11:36]16.7 Mb
Tim Berne "Fractured Fairy Tales" Album Review
Ye Olde Knittinge Factorie days
If this is elevator music (as one Amazon reviewer called it), then the elevator in question must be in a Tex Avery cartoon.
The 1st two tunes (the strongest material, for my money) have a sort of neo-Charles Mingus vibe, with strong, memorable riffs that mix up blues and bop. Joey Baron plays his behind off as usual.
The pieces after those are a little freer, and sound like classic Knitting Factory jazz (wow, that late 80s/early 90s Knit Factory era is about to become a Historical Jazz Period). The cello of Hank Roberts (who was playing in Bill Frisell's band around this time) and the violin of Mark Feldman (who has had long associations with John Zorn and Dave Douglas) will make this record sound somewhat familiar to those who have heard records by Douglas and Zorn featuring string players improvising, though both Douglas and Zorn's records tend to have more extensive, controlled arrangements.
In the mid to late-1980s, Berne, Zorn, and Frisell all landed major-label record deals around the same time, Berne being signed to Columbia (not a good fit). While Frisell managed to grow in a direction that was marketable for Electra records, Zorn and Berne were both dropped by the majors fairly quickly and have put out the kind of records that only indy labels are willing to deal with. (Zorn of course running his own indy for the purpose of dealing with himeself ;).) This Berne record is his first after his two Columbia releases. It was recorded for JMT, the label that would eventually morph into Winter & Winter. Released in 1989, it does seem to forshadow a lot of 1990s "downtown" jazz records. This record's predecessor is "Sanctified Dreams," which has the same band minus Feldman. This one's better.
Berne himself has since moved in a different direction (using smaller ensembles for the most part), and he has recorded prolifically despite having a low profile in the jazz press.
AGATA - SPIKE
Stealth
[0:31]0.8 Mb
Ice Diver
[1:02]1.3 Mb
Splinter
[0:16]0.4 Mb
Animal Instinct
[0:24]0.5 Mb
Frontside Boardslide Shovit out
[0:17]0.4 Mb
Pinger
[0:45]1 Mb
Armillary Sphere
[1:22]1.8 Mb
E C C O Feedback
[1:47]2.2 Mb
Bungy
[1:14]1.9 Mb
Rescued to Be Shot and Killed
[0:30]0.6 Mb
Tailgrab
[0:45]0.9 Mb
38915 Bubbles
[1:01]1.5 Mb
Team Pocket Pickering
[1:18]1.8 Mb
Starfish
[2:39]3.4 Mb
The Cable Has No Name
[1:59]2.9 Mb
Vertigo (Recti-Head)
[1:17]1.9 Mb
Switch Life
[1:01]1.5 Mb
Twilight Sinking
[4:24]6.5 Mb
Invaded
[0:22]0.4 Mb
Nollie Crooked Grind
[0:29]0.6 Mb
Piezo Sparker
[0:50]1 Mb
Bone Puzzle
[0:52]1.2 Mb
Nyazilla
[1:39]2.4 Mb
Inokashira Zoo
[3:03]4.1 Mb
Air Nozzles and Echoes Reset
[10:04]12.8 Mb
Agata "Spike" Album Review
Sublime spazz
Japanese spazz experimenter, Ichiro Agata, conveys a guitar sound like no other, suggesting game consoles operated by devilish, snotnosed kids, monitored by clockwork constructs.
Video AGATA (Melt Banana) - Pinger
from guitar solo album "Spike" on Tzadik (2004), [experimental short "dots 1&2" by Paul Sharits, 1965]
MARK DRESSER AND FRANCES-MARIE UITTI - SONOMONDO
Hit
[7:38]14.8 Mb
Hit
[8:53]15.2 Mb
Hit
[5:18]10.6 Mb
Hit
[4:47]8.1 Mb
Hit
[7:36]13.1 Mb
Hit
[3:30]6 Mb
Hit
[5:14]9.9 Mb
Mark Dresser and Frances-Marie Uitti "Sonomondo" Album Review
Surely a revelation is at hand.
One of the great joys of listening to creative improvised music is the joy of discovery, e.g., the discovery that some of my favorite classical instruments are undergoing a renaissance in the jazz realms.
In the last two decades, we have seen the emergence of a great number of artists who are masters of the string instruments. The early pioneers in creative improvised music were people like Dr. Michael White and Leroy Jenkins but they were soon followed by the likes of Billy Bang, Mark Feldman, Ig Henneman (for some reason, her stuff is not available on Amazon- as always, write me for suggestions as to where to purchase), Hank Roberts, David Eyges, Ernst Reisjeger, Eyvind Kang, Regina Carter, Charles Burnham, India Cooke and Renato Geremia among many many others.
It could be complained that many of these players do not sound like their classical counterparts but, in many ways, that is the point. They are musical explorers and that includes the basic technique and sound of the instrument. Does Sonny Rollings sound like Eugene Rousseau? Are they not both glorious? So why should Kang or Jenkins sound like Grumiaux or Milstein? Let a thousand tones bloom!
This CD, Sonomondo, is a revelation in sound and technique. Mark Dresser I have know for years from his stint with Anthony Braxton's late 80s quartet. Frances-Marie Uitti was unknown to me and, once again, it just goes to show I don't know diddly. The woman is a revelation: a witch of technique, a musical riddle and a complete delight in these duets.
First, as for her technique, she is known for pioneering a 2 bow style. Yeah, you read that right. Apparently, she plays with two bows at once and is capable of doing double stops with both bows at the same times. Four simultaneous tones or more depending on whether or not she throws in harmonics.
For the most part, what you hear on this CD sounds like two cellos being played at the same time with Dresser either bowing or plucking. Since Dresser himself is a marvel of extended techniques on the bass, you can spend a lot of time who is doing what to what instrument.
But, of course, extended technique is nothing without an aesthetic that makes it seem like a logical need or outgrowth of the music.
And that is where this CD really shines for me. This is gritty, agitated, looming, contemplative, odd and very beautiful music. Melodies quickly come and go in a conversation between equals who bring to the table an enormously wide range of expression. This is the third stream people. This is what modern classical sounds like when it incorporates skilled improvisation and what great improvisers sound like when they understand modern classical innovations.
Finally, read my review in the context of what the other two reviewers say below. Obviously we are all trying to describe music that is ineffable. But we are all inspired to make the effort.
Learn from my mistake- do not live another moment without listening to, learning from and enjoying this CD.
RAH BRAS - EPS
FYC
[1:36]2.5 Mb
Water Damage
[1:14]2 Mb
Bus Stop
[1:25]2.2 Mb
Great Garden
[1:06]1.8 Mb
Blimp (de Fook-Oh)
[1:01]1.6 Mb
The Fifth Allen
[2:00]3.2 Mb
Nasty Freak
[0:51]1.4 Mb
Rcm
[0:59]1.4 Mb
Poisson
[2:20]3.9 Mb
Dead Bass Thing
[1:18]1.8 Mb
Jim the Spelunker
[1:26]2.2 Mb
Oui Oui Oui
[0:33]0.8 Mb
Business Inspirational
[1:57]2.6 Mb
The Troubles Should Died
[2:24]3.1 Mb
Subtlights
[4:08]6.2 Mb
Pancheerah
[1:44]2.3 Mb
Skinchronized
[2:49]4.7 Mb
Tokyo Bus Stop
[4:23]4.4 Mb
Rah Bras "EPs" Album Review
Album Description
Rah Bras return with their first release on Lovitt Records in three years with EPS, a remastered collection of their three out-of-print EPs originally released on Lovitt, Vermiform, and Lungcast Records. They establish and fortify their unnerving pageant of synthy hooks, primal beats, and bravado in this sumptuous release, a release that serves as both bookends for their 2001 full-length on Lovitt (EPS compiles their earliest and most recent material). Ever impossible to categorize, Rah Bras bundle elements ranging from opera to Bollywood to new wave into one irresistible montage. <P>EPS is a sampler of sorts, offering a smattering of the different genres that Rah Bras recklessly traverse. Bold and invigorating, they refract their points of reference through infectious rhythms and their unconventional vocals. Rah Bras are bombastic and scattered, always allowing for different listens upon different encounters. EPS offers reinterpretations of musical conventions that have become stale or mundane. <P>This collection is as the Rah Bras should be heard. In a dizzying, helter-skelter whirl of activity, Rah Bras pump through these 18 songs with verve and tension. First-time engagements may come across as confusing to new listeners, while longsuffering fans will rejoice at this collected output. Skittered drums, throbbing bass, and brash keyboards are Rah Bras' hallmarks, and they never sounded so good….
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