вторник, 27 апреля 2010 г.

Ted Reichman - My Ears Are Bent (2006)

Ted Reichman - My Ears Are Bent (2006)

Personnel:
Ted Reichman: piano, electronics, guitar, bass, percussion, pump organ;
Mary Halvorson: electric guitar;
John Hollenbeck: drums.

Tracklisting:
01 - Every Man To His Taste
02 - Peace Father
03 - I Know Nothing About It
04 - Nun
05 - It Is Almost Sacred
06 - Come to Jesus
07 - My Ears Are Bent

Composer/accordionist Ted Reichman is an integral part of the New York musical community, whether he's leading the Ted Reichman Emigré Band or playing as sideman in John Hollenbeck's Claudia Quintet. For My Ears Are Bent, Reichman takes the accordion right out of the picture. Instead, he employs pump organ, percussion, bass, guitar and piano (plenty of piano) to create a set of austere, anxious pieces that are more instrumental mood-rock than outright improv.

Reichman is accompanied by electric guitarist Mary Halvorson (on some of the tracks) and drummer John Hollenbeck (whose playing is more prominent and whose contributions to the recording are substantial). The opener, "Every Man to His Taste, feels like a sweetly prayerful invocation as Reichman's piano repeats a mantra-like melodic phrase, his pipe organ humming alongside as Hollenbeck's unerring snare gently drives the band forward. This is rock music, pure and simple. Its layering of a repeated musical phrase and Halverson's gloriously untechnical guitar lines very much bring to mind the intelligent pop optimism of the long-disbanded Feelies or the still-vital Yo La Tengo—although Hollenbeck's crisp, perfect time will never be mistaken for that of Yo La Tengo drummer Georgia Hubley.

"Every Man to His Own Taste, however, is something of a red herring, because in its wake, the album gets very dark. What follows are essentially piano/percussion duets whose anxious, minor-key piano melodies, layered, clanking percussion and close, wet ambience make for some unsettling listening. An examination of the song titles ("Nun, "It Is Almost Sacred, "Come to Jesus, "Peace Father ) and an even-casual hearing of their creepy, spookhouse piano ostinati make it difficult to avoid the conclusion that Reichman is taking a decidedly stark and ungauzy look back at an unpleasantly old-school Catholic upbringing.

"Come to Jesus shares the same descending melody as "Peace Father, and to some extent, they're different sides of the same haunted-attic environment. "I Know Nothing About It follows dissonant, panic-attack pianos with a tempo-less middle section of chiming percussion, subdued electric guitar skronk (brittle and grinding, but quiet) and droning organ, before a final in-tempo section where Hollenbeck's explosive kick and snare become downright dub-inflected. It's very good, and more cohesive than the above description would suggest.

The title track that ends the disc breaks the tension, at least partially—like "Every Man to His Own Taste, it's a slow-layered alt-rock tune that repeats and builds a simple melodic phrase over Hollenbeck's flawless kit work. It's just a shade short of anthemic, yet even the sighing vocal "ooooohs that join in during the last two minutes can't quite dispel the thorniness of the preceding pieces. You won't hear another recording like My Ears Are Bent. It's not quite the Brooklyn improv scene's version of The Wall, but in its unflinchingly anti-nostalgic and claustrophobic mood, it's close.

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Twin Tail - Everything Is Permitted (2008)

Twin Tail - Everything Is Permitted (2008)

Personnel:
Katsui Yuji (from Rovo, etc.) - Violin
Nakamura Tatsuya - Drums
Terui Toshiyuki - Bass
with
Takara Kumiko - Vibraphone (2, 3)

Tracklisting:
01 - Born To Fight (07:17)
02 - Is The Winner Always Right? (11:29)
03 - The Rain Stab God's Palm (07:11)
04 - Wander Alone Like A Rhinoceros (08:14)
05 - Blood Wash Waterfall (11:05)
06 - Let's Get Lost (12:57)
07 - Everything Is Permitted (Live) (07:04)

Highly recomended!

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The Dead Kenny G's - Live 2005-04-15

The Dead Kenny G's - Live 2005-04-15

The Dead Kenny G's
April 15th, 2005
The Winchester
Lakewood, OH

Personnel:
Mike Dillon - drums & percussion
Skerik - saxaphonics
Brian Haas - keys

Source: Neumann AK40(DIN, 15'back) > LC3 > KM100 > Sonosax > Apogee AD-500e > JB3
Transfer: JB3 > Firewire > Sound Forge 7.0(fades, 48>44.1) > CDWave > Flac Frontend>mp3 converted
Taped & transferred by K. C. Cadwallader

== SET I ==

disc 1:
01. Improv
02. Improv
03. Improv
04. Improv
05. Improv
06. Improv

== SET ==

disc 2:
01. As It Will Be
02. Improv
03. Improv
04. Drum solo
05. Improv
06. Improv
07. Improv
08. Improv
09. Improv

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среда, 21 апреля 2010 г.

The Dead Kenny G's - Live 2005-01-13

The Dead Kenny G's - Live 2005-01-13

Personnel:
Skerik: tenor saxophone, boxxx, rhodes electric piano, micromoog synthesizer, efx.
Mike Dillon: drums, vibraphone, percussion, tabla
Brad Houser: bass, baritone saxophone

Set contains 9 songs and runs for 77 minutes. Great gig.

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Piston Ltd. - Domestic Engine (2007)

Piston Ltd. - Domestic Engine (2007)

Tracklisting:

1 - Strainer
2 - Resilent Washer
3 - Hollow Bolt
4 - Gudgeon Pin
5 - Exhaust Pipe Flange
6 - Crankshaft
7 - Elbow Nipple
8 - Lift Eye

Piston Ltd. is a Xploding Plastix's side project.

The band is presented like this:
Jens Petter Nilsen - jump starts, cabling, grease and maintenance.
Hallvard W. Hagen - mechanics and hydropneumatic tank systems.
Erland Dahlen - pumps, power sprayers and centrifugal pump units.
Bjørn Charles Dreyer - plunger, power hosts and drainage point systems.

Piston Ltd. press release:

Steady and reliable – that's the Marna-motor, which has put-putted its way into the soul of seafaring Norwegian folk since 1918 and is now Norway's last gas-powered boat motor still in production.

This workhorse of Norway's coast has been the inspiration for one of the year's riskiest and most exciting musical experiments, sometimes in its original gas-reeking and hypnotic form, but most often in a substantially enhanced version, adding spice to compositions that are playful and uncompromising.

With the publication of "Domestic Engine," Piston Ltd. has shown that the history of coastal industries belongs not only in dusty museums and old books, but can be successfully fused together with music and improvisation in the 21st century.

"Domestic Engine" takes you along on a fascinating, variety-filled journey into musical harbors where few if any have gone before, sometimes on an open sea with nature's powers in full force, other times on a sea of glass where the powers of deep undercurrents can still be felt.

Getting human and machine to function together in a smooth symbiosis is definitely not a task for unseasoned wayfarers, so the crew was carefully handpicked to meet this musical challenge.

Piston Ltd. is the only band in the world for which 5 liters of gas and SAE 10s-30 41 Texaco Multigrade HD Motor Oil is as natural a lubricant as dry white wine and a good Bordeaux.

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