December 18, 2009 • 11:30 am
via Bug Incision Records + Bent Spoon Duo Live on WFMU – WFMU’s Beware of the Blog. Head over there to listen/download the set:
A year or so I go WFMU received a bunch of releases from the Bug Incision label, a small high quality improv label based in Calgary, Canada. Now honestly, I don’t know much about Calgary, but I was transfixed by this scene happening up there being documented by Bug Incision. I have a tendency to root for the underdog and so was intrigued by the label immediately, but the music lived up to all expectations. There seemed to be a wide berth of sounds, sometimes coming from the same people, from your basic free jazz descended improv, to grating noise, skittering improv, toys and “tiny instruments,” an anything-goes mentality that seemed to be free of dogma. On further inspection I noted Bug Incision also released some fine music from Ben Hall’s Broken Research/Detroit orbit, a midwestern noise powwow featuring C. Spencer Yeh and Ryan Jewell, as well as a few things with Jack Wright, somewhat of a teacher/patron saint to many of the leading younger North American free players. In other words, good company they keep.
I contacted Chris Dadge who runs Bug Incision and appears on many of the label’s releases, about possibly doing something for my radio show and while he doesn’t get to the NYC area often he agreed to record a set especially for the program to send to me. I left it up to him and he put together an exceptional improv set by the Bent Spoon Duo, his long running group with Scott Munro. Their set-up is highly portable; a few battery powered amps, maybe a snare drum, small percussion, some tiny Casio keyboards, perhaps a guitar, etc. which is remarkable in its simplicity, and yet belies the group’s sound, so much bigger than the sum of its parts. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Please stream or download via the Free Music Archive. Thanks to Chris Dadge and Scott Munro for taking the time to play and engineer this recording.
Filed under: Live, MP3 Bloglinks, Music, Radio , Bent Spoon Duo, Bug Incision, Chris Dadge, Scott Munro
November 20, 2009 • 10:41 am
September 8, 2009 • 12:39 pm
I posted some mp3s from DJA’s Secret Society over at BotB:
Long overdue post, busy summer! Back in the middle of July I had the opportunity to record Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society at Le Poisson Rouge in NYC for air on WFMU. DJA’s Secret Society is an 18-piece big band that pairs a healthy adoration of the history of big band jazz with a playful modern sensibility, infusing meticulous arrangements with noise and free passages, Afro-funk beats or minimalism. I was taken with their debut record, Infernal Machines, almost immediately because it represents a freeform approach to a music that has thrown genres into the toolbox only incrementally. Darcy has a large palette to work from and he uses it.
And, you know, let’s face it, it’s ballsy to have a big band in 2009. Despite the fact that this music has some support (the record was partially fan funded), and some favorable press (there was a piece in Newsweek, of all places, not to mention the fawning jazz press), it’s not exactly economical or convenient to tour with a big band, record with a big band, or even play one-off shows. Plus, the logistics of periodically reassembling this cast of excellent musicians, all in demand players with their own projects to boot, is somewhat mindboggling. There is an audacity, a punk rock ethos, and a purpose that pervades this project, and it’s worthy of some appreciation.
That said, the music is also wonderful. Have a listen. And, maybe peruse Darcy’s excellent blog while you’re at it. Special thanks to Le Poisson Rouge and Darcy James Argue for being so accommodating. Engineered by Matt Duane.
Photos, links, mp3s, more info at the original post:
via WFMU’s Beware of the Blog: Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society Live at Le Poisson Rouge on WFMU.
Filed under: Live, MP3 Bloglinks, Radio , Darcy James Argue, Secret Society, The Long Rally, WFMU
I got into these comps around the time Vol. 5 came out, clammored for the early ones, and then the track lists sent me in a wild search for all things guitar-focused, spaced out, and Japanese. A trip well worth taking, I might add.
via Abstract: TOKYO FLASHBACK.
Filed under: MP3 Bloglinks , Tokyo Flashback
via WFMU’s Beware of the Blog: Weasel Walter/Mary Halvorson/Peter Evans Live on WFMU. Songs posted plus tons o’ photos and links…
A year or so ago I briefly exchanged e-mails with Weasel Walter about possibly doing a live improv set for WFMU on one of his whirlwind trips through NYC. I have long been a fan of the Flying Luttenbachers and also many of the other more aggresive “punk” “rock” projects he’s been a part of including XRBRX, Burmese, To Live and Shave in LA 2, etc.
For the past few years Weasel’s musical involvement has been strictly in full-on improvisational settings with a who’s-who of collaborators in the Bay Area like Damon Smith, Nels Cline, Vinny Golia, Henry Kaiser, and in NYC with bassist Reuben Radding and trumpeter Nate Wooley. So when our esteemed music director Brian Turner wrote me to say that Weasel was interested in doing something at the station on his next trip through town, I jumped at the chance and left it up to Weasel as to who he wanted to invite along. I could not have been more ecstatic with his selections–Mary Halvorson (guitar) and Peter Evans (trumpet)–two artists who have played on my show in the past, and are both on my shortlist of the finest instrumentalists/improvisors/composers working in music in ‘09.
I expected a serious improv tussle from three total pros (at one point I asked Weasel if he needed a music stand and he just giggled!), but what I didn’t expect was the pure sense of camaraderie and common vision that is evident from the first note. After all, these three seldom play together as a group and this was their first meeting on this trip (there is a multi-camera DVD coming of one of their gigs, as well as an extremely limited CD-R of a handful of performances from last year, both on ugExplode). After the set they embarked on a week of shows in Europe and I can hardly imagine the type of transcendence and lucidity they must have achieved by the end of the week, considering where they started on this night. Thanks to Weasel for setting this up and to Mary and Peter for killing it! Special thanks to Jason Sigal for coming through in the clutch and engineering.
These tracks are also streaming/downloadable from the FMA, as is a track from Weasel Walter & Mary Halvorson’s duo release, Opulence. There are also two releases with Peter Evans & Weasel Walter available from Weasel’s ugExplode label (Oculus Ex Abyssus duo LP and Evans/Fei/Smith Walter CD-R), and I recommend them both without reservation, as well as the Mary Halvorson Trio release Dragon’s Head, and The Peter Evans Quartet. And speaking of the FMA, both Mary’s set and Peter’s set from past episodes of the Long Rally are available there as well. And, in case that wasn’t enough, check out the new solo trumpet double CD from Peter Evans, Nature/Culture, on Evan Parker’s Psi label. Whew! More photos after the jump.
Filed under: Live, MP3 Bloglinks, Radio , Mary Halvorson, Weasel Walter, Peter Evans
April 24, 2009 • 12:59 pm
March 31, 2009 • 10:43 am
Nothing Is v2.0: Human Arts Ensemble: P’nk J’zz.
Ridiculously great funky harsh jazz courtesy of Nothing Is. Features Lester Bowie’s brother on trombone. Prompted me to google guitarist Francois Nyoma Mantuila which turned up zilch. Fans of Miles Davis’s dark electric stuff a la “Rated X” or Ornette Coleman’s Body Meta will dig this heavy.
Filed under: MP3 Bloglinks , Charles "Bobo" Shaw, Human Arts Ensemble, Joseph Bowie, Nothing Is
March 17, 2009 • 11:48 am
Any Genre Goes: Peter Kowald + Members Of Shim ( Eric Stach ).
Check the 40 min. Kowald solo track. Ripping.
Filed under: Live, MP3 Bloglinks , Peter Kowald
February 23, 2009 • 12:10 pm
Filed under: MP3 Bloglinks
February 22, 2009 • 9:13 pm
