Saturday, December 31, 2011

Released! 10"


Fire! released "You Liked Me Five Minutes Ago" in 2009 and "Unreleased?" with Jim O´Rourke earlier this year, both on Rune Grammofon. Now you may go looking for a 10" vinyl with Fire! and Jim O´Rourke, with recordings from the same sessions as the ones that gave us "Unreleased?" (Tokyo, 12 and 13 Sept. 2010).
"Released!" is a great record too, and only 500 copies made.

Mats Gustafsson: Baryton saxophone, Fender Rhodes, live electronics
Johan Bertling: Electric bass
Andreas Werlin: Drums and percussion
Jim O´Rourke: Electric guitar, synthesizer, harmonica

Cover: Kim Hiorthøy.

Friday, December 30, 2011

Sun Boxes



It´s pretty dark in Norway these days, so a sound installation powered by solar panels, may seem far out, even if it seems to work on frozen lakes!
Sun Boxes is comprised of 20 speakers powered by the sun, with a different loop set to play a guitar note in each box continuously. Read more here.
The man behind the project is Craig Colorusso, and field recordings from Massachusetts are available on 7" vinyl too!

Relaxing in the sun sounds nice for sure, but (being realistic) may we have some running on rain and sleet?

Soft Machine live in Brussels (1971)



I have already posted from Soft Machine´s 1971 Brussels concert, but not this video of "Kings and Queens".
This was recorded in january 1971, with these fine gentlemen:
Mike Ratledge - Keyboards
Elton Dean - Alto Sax, Saxello
Hugh Hopper - Bass
Robert Wyatt - Drums

A month later Soft Machine (with the same crew) played in Oslo, and if you don´t have it, check out the recording of the show on "Live at Henie Onstad Art Centre 1971" (Reel Recordings 2009).

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Sonore live


What a trio Sonore is! Ken Vandermark, Peter Brötzmann and Mats Gustafsson, a line up that´s pretty hard to beat!
Here you have almost one hour from SKIF-14 Festival 2010 (St. Petersburg).

A live album from Cafe Oto (April 2011) is just out on Trost, and over at The Liminal you may read about the recorded concert.

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Terje Isungset and Arve Henriksen



Terje Isungset and Arve Henriksen have visited Tallinn to play on glass instruments.
See and hear the artists play some, and being interviewed in English. Glass artists/organizers (?) are speaking Estonian.

3 - 5 February 2012 both artists will play on ice instruments, during the Ice Festival at Geilo.

Monday, December 26, 2011

Wels 2008/11/08


I got one of the 157 (!) copies made of Fire Room´s LP "Wels 2008/11/08" for Christmas. The release is a cooperation between Pica Disk and PNL, and is numbered PICA030/PNL011 (2011).
Fire Room is Ken Vandermark (sax, clar), Lasse Marhaug (electronics) and Paal Nilssen-Love (drums).

It seems like Tiger in Oslo still has copies for sale! You might have a chance to check out this super sax-drums-electronics trio on vinyl, or see the video below (recorded in Wels, Austria). Make sure you also listen to their previous album "Broken Music" (Atavistic 2008).

Cover probably made by Lasse Marhaug.




Sunday, December 25, 2011

Bat Chain Puller



A "new" album by Captain Beefheart (1941 - 2010) will be officially released 15 January 2012!
"Bat Chain Puller" was recorded in 1976, and has been bootlegged of course, but some of the tracks also ended up on the albums "Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller)", "Doc at the Radar Station" and "Ice Cream for Crow" (Wikipedia).

A bit more over at The Guardian.

Friday, December 23, 2011

A Christmas Video Festival

I´m not sure you will all agree about this being Christmas music, but then it´s my blog anyway, so here we go!

On the first video you will not recognize Nils Økland (fiddle), Ørjan Haaland (drums), Per Steinar Lie (guitar) and Rikke Westerlund Lie (dance), being part of the art project "Please Disturb".

Next ones out are C. Spencer Yeh, Stine Motland and Ben Hall (Dense Mesh 12/16/11 Brooklyn), followed by Terje Isungset and the dancers of Carte Blanche.





ISUNGSET og CARTE BLANCHE. Bimf2010 from leonardo cuevas on Vimeo.


And finally, you may walk on over to Gilad Atzmon´s site for a full concert with Gilad and The Orient House Ensemble at Black Mountain Jazz.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

2Gether

Somebody over at Showbiz*411 have heard "2Gether", Steve Nieve´s next album. From the description it sounds like a real pop album, with guests like Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze, Vanessa Paradis, Joe Sumner of Fiction Plane, Robert Wyatt, Ron Sexsmith, Laurie Anderson and Harper Simon.

On the new instrumental album "Lazy Point", Nieve covers Elvis Costello´s (and Robert Wyatt´s!) "Shipbuilding".

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

My Top 15


I have read "Best of 2011"- lists until my ears have grown big and wet these last weeks.
And yes, I´m making a list too! The best? I really don´t know, having listened to just a small fraction of the total number of releases.
But check out my chosen 15, for a better life.

1982: "Pintura" (Hubro)
Alog: "Unemployed" (Rune)
Sigbjørn Apeland: "Glassolalia" (Hubro)
Kaboom Karavan: "Barra Barra" (Miasmah)
Nils Petter Molvær: "Baboon Moon" (Sula)

Poing: "Wach Auf!" (Øra)
Matana Roberts: "Coin Coin. Chapter One" (Constellation)
Conrad Schnitzler: "Hirschgebrüll" (Fysisk Format)
Splashgirl: "Pressure" (Hubro)
June Tabor: "Ashore" (Topic)

Richard Thompson: "Live at the BBC" (UMC)
The Unthanks: "The Songs of Robert Wyatt and Antony & The Johnsons" (Rabble Rouser)
Chris Watson: "El Tren Fantasma" (Touch)
Æthenor: "En Form for Blå" (VHF)
Nils Økland and Sigbjørn Apeland: "Lysøen: Hommage à Ole Bull" (ECM)

Sunday, December 18, 2011

The Thing with Barry Guy live in Vilnius



I guess you are all ready for another video with The Thing (Paal Nilssen-Love, Mats Gustafsson and Ingebrigt Håker Flaten) now? This time from Vilnius (28 May 2011), and with extra bass player Barry Guy on the team!

The video is uploaded by the Lithuanian record company NoBusiness Records, and I have already mentioned some Mats Gustafsson records on this company in the blog.

Barry Guy will play at the All Ears festival in Oslo in January 2012. He might have been invited by Nilssen-Love at this very concert?

Saturday, December 17, 2011

The Great Gig In Disguise


As already mentioned in this blog, Rune Grammofon are ready for Christmas with four new limited edition vinyl releases (500 numbered copies).

And here we are with Bergen´s own The Last Hurrah!!, and their 10" "The great gig in disguise".
Side A is the folk-pop side, starting with a great HP Gundersen song called "Sleeping without you", and following with a cover of Sandy Denny´s "Who knows where the time goes".
Side B is the prog side, with another fine one from Gundersen ("Chromatic Hysteria") and The Last Hurrah!!´s Pink Floyd cover "The great gig in the sky", originally on Mojo´s tribute CD "Return to the dark side of the moon" (October issue 2011).

The musicians: Heidi Goodbye (voc), HP Gundersen (g, pedal steel), Nils Einar Vinjor (g), Sonja Otto (keyb, b voc), Alex Grieg (b), Nils Are Drønen (dr), Sam Fossbakk (ringmodulator, theremin), Tomine Mikkeline Eide (b voc) og Mari Persen (strings, string arrangements).

Cover (as usual) by Kim Hiorthøy.

Friday, December 16, 2011

The Thing live in Poland



More than one hour with The Thing, live at Klub Dragon in Poznan, December 2011!
Filmed from an unusual angle, but still! We see and hear Mats Gustafsson (sax), Paal Nilssen-Love (dr) and Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (bass). What a trio this is!

Thursday, December 15, 2011

El Tren Fantasma


Come on, let´s go by train, crossing Mexico, from Los Mochis to Veracruz, in 65 minutes!
Chris Watson has been field recording, weather, animals and glaciers for some time, and here he has made a fantastic piece of music/soundscape using recordings from a train ride (originally for a BBC radio production).

On "El Tren Fantasma" (Touch 2011) we listen to the sounds of the ghost train on the tracks, people on the train and on the stations, insects and birds, all beautifully mixed to make a fantastic trip!

Chris Watson was a member of Cabarete Voltaire (1973 - 1981).

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

In Conversation: Robert Wyatt

In Conversation: Robert Wyatt from Sound and Music on Vimeo.

Robert Wyatt in conversation with Tony Herrington, on his favourite music, during the Off The Page festival in 2011.

Off The Page 2012 is happening 24 - 26 February 2012 at The Playhouse, Whitstable.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Here Comes Everybody


Just a short message to tell the few of you that do not already know, that Atomic is here once more with a great album. "Here Comes Everybody" (Jazzland 2011) contains 7 tunes of hard bop, free jazz and something close to contemporary classical, and hey, I´m just stealing the descriptions from others, it´s jazz OK? I bet this one will manage to end up on some of the best of 2011 albums lists, even if it´s a bit late, so just start shopping.

Musicians (as usual): Fredrik Ljungkvist (sax, clar), Paal Nilssen-Love (dr), Håvard Wiik (p), Magnus Broo (tp) and Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (b), all of them in great shape. Ljungkvist composed three of the tracks, Wiik four of them.

Coverdesign: Lasse Marhaug. Well, some of the music might just fit as a spooky movie soundtrack?

Monday, December 12, 2011

Get The Blessing



According to Jazzwise Robert Wyatt participates on some tracks on Get The Blessing´s forthcoming album "OC DC". It´s scheduled for release 5 Mars (2012) on Naim.
Great news!

All Ears 2012

How a bout a festival for improvised music in Oslo (Norway) in the middle of January? Yes? Anyway, the program for All Ears 2012 (12 - 15 January) is here! The festival is organized by
Guro Moe, Paal Nilssen-Love, Jon Rune Strøm and Lasse Marhaug. Looking good!

ALL EARS 2012:THURSDAY JANAURY 12 @ Fabrikken:

SAKA (Jon Rune Strøm / Dag Erik Knedal Andersen / Kristoffer Alberts)

David Stakenes / Raymond Strid / Christine Sehnaoui Abdelnour / Patric Thorman

Activity Center (Burkhard Beins / Michael Renkel)

Void Ov Voices (Attila Csihar)


FRIDAY JANUARY 13 @ Fabrikken:

Barry Guy

Vilde Sandve Alnæs / Lisa Dillan / Nina De Heney

Kenneth Kapstad / Sveinar Hoff

Antoine Chessex / Okkyung Lee

Rolf Erik Nystrøm / Ketil Gutvik / Steve Noble


SATURDAY JANUARY 14 @ Fabrikken:

Bill Orcutt

Andy Moor / Anne James Chaton

Thomas Lehn / Marcus Schmickler

Arto Lindsay

Parker/Guy/Lytton


SUNDAY JANUARY 15 @ Henie Onstad Kunstsenter:

Kjell Bjørgengen / Keith Rowe

Sunday, December 11, 2011

The Stool Pigeon


Brian Eno, Robert Wyatt and 38 other artists, have been writing stories for the free music paper "The Stool Pigeon" (no 35, 2011).

It seems like The Stool Pigeon publish some articles online after a while, and they also sell old issues. The desperate ones should check their site regularly.

16 December: And here is the history.

Friday, December 9, 2011

The Unthanks live





Oh no, I´m still not ready to stop writing about The Unthanks, and their versions of the songs of Antony & The Johnsons and Robert Wyatt!
Here are two videos from Saint James´s Church in London. First Antony´s "Paddy´s Gone" and next Robert Wyatt´s "Sea Song", from the tour happening right now.

Robert and Alfie attended one of the concerts of the tour, leading to the following message on The Unthanks´ Twitter account: "Don't think I'll ever do anything so heightening or stressful as playing Alifib/Alifie in front of Robert Wyatt & Alfie Benge last night."
My guess: No reason to be nervous!

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Use It Or Lose It

Hurry up now, only two days left to listen!
BBC Radio 3's "Between the Ears" still offer "Use It Or Lose It", a radiophonic play by (and with) Peter Blegvad. Producer: Iain Chambers.
The topic is loss of memory.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

The Unthanks, Antony Hegarty, Robert Wyatt


The Unthanks’ new album, ”The Songs of Robert Wyatt and Antony & The Johnsons” (Rabble Rouser 2011), is out now. The music was recorded live at The Union Chapel in London, and is probably the first one in a series a bit on the side of their ordinary releases, since it’s subtitle is ”Diversions Vol. 1”.

Previous to this one, The Unthanks, with sisters Rachel and Becky in the lead, have released four albums (the two first ones as Rachel Unthank and The Winterset), ”Cruel Sister” (2005), ”The Bairns” (2007), ”Here’s the Tender Coming” (2009) and ”Last” (2011).
On the albums they play traditional folk, self penned folk and a nice selection of cover songs by artists like Robert Wyatt, Nick Drake, Bonnie Prince Billy, King Crimson and Tom Waits. They have also done ”Sexy Sadie” by The Beatles on a CD included with Mojo magazine.

I guess it will not come as a shock, but on the new album they only sing Antony & The Johnsons and Robert Wyatt’s songs, all done perfectly (well “Dondestan” perhaps too lively!) with a touch of folk and presented in a charming way. Antony’s songs are mostly taken from the album "I am a Bird Now", while Wyatt’s are harvested from "Comicopera", "Dondestan (revisited)", "Cuckooland", "Shleep" and "Rock Bottom" ("Sea Song" of course!).
One of ”Wyatt’s songs” is Norwegian Anja Garbarek’s fantastic ”Stay Tuned”. Nice!

Oh yes, this is indeed a live recording. We hear several coughs, slips of the tounge and wrong starts, but that doesn’t matter really, it’s like being there in person. I play it loud (as suggested in the liner notes too), and like it a lot!

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Vossajazz 2012



I´m not much of a Christmas man, but must admit I like the way the Norwegian Jazz Festival Vossajazz release their 2012 program as a Christmas calendar. The festival is happening 30 Mars - 1 April.

Marc Ribot is coming with Brad Jones and JT Lewis, but in this blog post video he is playing with Henry Grimes and Chad Taylor.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Robert Wyatt vocal improvisations

Robert Wyatt - vocal improvisation and more (1991-95) by melodyn

Prepare yourselves for some of Robert Wyatt´s vocal improvisations, recorded by a French radio station in 1991.
You also get some music from the Millenium album "A Civilised Word" (1995).

2 x Brötzmann trios





Check out Peter Brötzmann in two different trios, both of them recorded live in Japan, not long ago.
The first one is with Paal Nilssen-Love (dr) and Fred Lonberg-Holm (sello) (18 October), the second with Tamaya Honda (dr) and Michiyo Yagi (koto) (20 October).

Friday, December 2, 2011

Kjetil Møster: "Blow Job"


This may be of interest for some of you sax fanatics out there. Kjetil Møster is a regular visitor in this blog (and visiting even more often over at my Norwegian blog Wyatting), and he´s first solo album "Blow Job" (+3dB 2011) is being released today (can´t find it on Amazon or iTunes yet). I missed his release party in Bergen Wednesday (poster), but have heard the album, and recommend this mix of just breathing, tender melodies and powerful blowouts.

Still no info to be found on +3dB´s own site, but I seem to remember hearing that other solo releases were planned too. Time will show.