Kiruna - Irun (2003)

Kiruna - Irun (2003)

Personnel:

Kåre Chr. Vestrheim - Rhodes, organ
Thomas Tofte - bass
Erland Dahlen - drums, percussion

Tracklisting:
1 - Chasing Tumbalo Ghori (6:08)
2 - Waters In The Dark (8:10)
3 - Siebab Retaw (4:14)
4 - A Brief Return Of Starlyn F. (4:30)
5 - Shepherd To The Forbidden Forest (5:39)
6 - The Irun Birds (8:47)
7 - Temple Of Tarasarus (5:11)

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Cult Junk Cafe - Cult Junk Cafe (1996)

Cult Junk Cafe - Cult Junk Cafe (1996)

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1. Morning Train Ritual (Ode to the Japanese Salary Man and Student) (6:31)
2. Eigo ga jozu desu ne Part 1 (1:11)
3. Nyarome from Earth (0:48)
4. 114 (3:12)
5. Upper Middle Hometown (2:28)
6. Eigo ga jozu desu ne Part 2 (0:49)
7. Can Jimmy Come Out and Play? (5:36)
8. Genki Drink (1:08)
9. Renalism (6:02)
10. If You Drop Something... (3:44)
11. Return of Nyarome (0:47)
12. Re-entry Permit (2:06)
13. A Man from North (5:25)

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Cult Junk Cafe:
Kyota Yoshigami: guitar, buzz box
Yasuhiro Ohtani: guitar, sgx 2000
Kazutaka Sakamoto: piano, dx-7
Tsuguto Tsunoda: turntables, samples
Michael Hartman: drums

Guest:
Yoshihide Otomo (1, 3, 5, 8. 9, 11, 12): hand-made guitar, 6-string bass

Additional sounds by Todd Carter, Brent Gutzeit, and Michael Hartman (4)
Extra junk by Tsuguto Tsunoda, Yasuhiro Ohtani, Michael Hartman, Jin Sato, Miyuki Kodama, and Junco Okada (7)
Sampled voices by Tomomi Adachi (3, 11), Ami Yoshida (3, 9, 11), and Rena Kobayashi (9)

Recorded at Earth Studio by Naoaki Kose on February 25, 1996
Mixed at Western Sound Stuidos by Todd Carter and Michael Hartman on March 21-23, 1996
Design: Thomas Deater and Michael Hartman

Released 1996

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Francesco Diodati Neko - Purple Bra (2009)

Francesco Diodati Neko - Purple Bra (2009)

Personnel:

Francesco Bigoni - tenor sax
Francesco Diodati - guitar
Francesco Ponticelli - double bass
Ermanno Baron - drums

Tracklisting:

01. Kort (Diodati) 6:13
02. Neko (Diodati) 4:08
03. Purple Bra (Diodati) 6:38
04. Suvi (Diodati) 6:28
05. Finale Aspettato (Diodati) 4:21
06. Doctor BC (Diodati) 9:10
07. Krashing minds (Diodati) 2:33
08. Joy Plant (Diodati) 4:04
09. Hit (Diodati) 2:01
10. So Real (J. Buckley, M. Tighe) 5:59

The history of jazz has always favored the partnership of strong personalities, especially those of guitar and tenor saxophone collaborations. Memorable pairings have included: Jim Hall and Sonny Rollins, Bill Frisell and Joe Lovano, and Kurt Rosenwinkel and Mark Turner. Add to that list two Italian artists, guitarist Francesco Diodati and saxophonist Francesco Bigoni.

They make up half of Diodati's band NEKO, along with bassist Francesco Ponticelli and drummer Ermanno Baron. The quartet's debut, Purple Bra, highlights the saxophonist and guitarist's resonant playing, plus Diodati's writing, the leader having penned all but one of its nine tracks.

While steeped in jazz, NEKO doesn't shy away from the pervasive vernacular of rock, a global language understood beyond jazz. The title track exemplifies this direction, with Bigoni carrying the melody as Diodati drops thunderous guitar licks over aggressive beats. That is, until the persistence of the melody quiets the band, directing the players into a restrained and oh so hip swing. Diodati swaps thunder for tweaking guitar effects.

The band certainly can get loud, but noise is used sparingly. Mostly NEKO mines the interplay between groove and tension. The group can play lightning fast bebop ("Krashing Minds") or resigned ballads ("Joy Plant"), all the while with Diodati accenting the affair with interesting guitar effects that never distract from the music. Bigoni is best compared to Joe Lovano or Mark Turner, in that he seems never to play something that is ugly or vexed. On the beautiful and lightly melancholic "Neko" he soars, and on the duet "Hit," with acoustic guitar, his splintery solo is nearly heart-breaking.

The disc ends with a meditation on Jeff Buckley's pop song "So Real," starting off as loose threads of effects and tones and then coalescing into a beautifully stark folk song. The musicians successfully tip-toe the line between genres, making Purple Bra a most personal statement. [all about jazz]

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Kiruna - Tarasarus (2007)

Kiruna - Tarasarus (2007)

Personnel:

Kåre Chr. Vestrheim - Rhodes, organ
Thomas Tofte - bass, micromoog (track 3)
Erland Dahlen - drums, percussion

Special guests:
Rolf Yngve Uggen - lead guitar
Hallvard Wennersberg Hagen - electronics (right speaker)
Jens Petter Nilsen - electronics (left speaker)

Tracklisting:

01 - Preglow
02 - April 19
03 - Black Widow
04 - Winterkinder
05 - Raldo`s Autostrada
06 - Sirens Of A Lost City, Part I
07 - Sirens Of A Lost City, Part II
08 - San Francisco Car Chase
09 - Underworld
10 - Afterglow

Irritating and fascinating! This is the second album of this Norwegian band - really hard to catch ... It is said Thomas Tofte, Erland Dahlen and Kåre Vestrheim went into the studio without any set plan and developed the musical ideas through free improvisation. With the help of some guests 'Tarasarus' holds instrumental jamming sounds like coming from another planet. The studio line-up is presenting a gloomy avantgarde styled bouquet with spacey, industrial krautrock, fusion and heavy crushing elements. Lush and playful electronics are substituting electric guitars. The sound mix has turned out in a luxuriant manner.

The opener Preglow appears like a warmup - a mixture of electronic sounds with a spacey background. KIRUNA is gliding into April 19 then - a song which reminds me of Terje Rypdal first, escalating more and more with drums, organ and bass inspiring each other. Belonging to my favourites Black Widow follows with a fusion inspired groove and wonderful Rhodes add-ons. On Raldo's Autostrada the band is supported by guest guitarist Rolf Yngve Uggen (ex Gluecifer). Dynamic pure and my highlight. This song has reached for a comfortable place in my best of song collection in the meanwhile - what a powerful heavy psychedelic presence! The 'Bitches Brew' and Soft Machine inspired The Underworld shows the three basic instruments soloing and swirling around each other lead by a special dramaturgy - wow! The vinyl only bonus track San Francisco Car Chase finally attracts my attention because made up like a Weather Report inspired fusion piece.

KIRUNA defines an unique environment with the songs. As for a conclusion my feelings are so so - I like those already mentioned tracks very much - they are more catchy I would say. But with the others I'm not able to make friends (at least yet) because they are crossing an imaginary line - too weird and free-formed noisy. Anyhow - 'Tarasarus' will appeal to fans of an avantgarde experimental approach for sure. [Prog Archives]

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"Tapes" podcast

Hello, listeners!
Thank your for musical taste! Thank you for listening to me!
Today I proudly present my weekly podcast show called "Tapes". Me and my friend mix jazz, dub, lo-fi, psychedelic, hip-hop and other exotic music. Sometimes you can here rare russian exotic tunes!
It will be nice if you like it!

Here you are an 11th podcast. Lisn ta it, matafakaz!

Tracklist:

1. BGM — Recovery Room (Vanity Records, 1980)
2. Rammellzee — New Meaning (Tri-Eight Recordings, 2003)
3. Octavius — Monochrome (Mush, 2003)
4. Green Zone — Zulal (Disc Callithump, 2008)
5. DJ Eye — Live at The Metro, Kyoto, Japan 3/25/01 (Not On Label, 2001)
6. Internet2 — Loca academia de policía francesa (Cartilage recs, 2009)
7. Hanadensha — Seasky Rainbow (Circle Sunshine Records, 1997)
8. LSD March — Love (Beta-lactam Ring Records, 2007)
9. Christine 23 Onna — Mondo Nude Mode (Alchemy Records, 2009)
10. High Tone — Dirty Urban Beat (Jarring Effects, 2010)
11. The Naturists — Shaving Cream (Interactive Records, 1993)
12. Tapes — Helix Dub (Jahtari, 2009)

Gnu - Midnight Breakfast (2001)

Gnu - Midnight Breakfast (2001)

1. Oriel (1:16)
2. Sandcrawler (5:15)
3. Straw People (4:07)
4. Poster (2:21)
5. Them (2:29)
6. Slap Yuppie (2:01)
7. Rubberband Soup (2:46)
8. Round-1 (6:31)

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All music by Masahiko Okura, except track 6, by Taiji Takahashi

Gnu
Masahiko Okura: alto sax, bass clarinet, keyboards, electronics
Shinichi Tsukamoto: keyboards
Taiji Takahashi: bass
Itoken: drums

Recorded by A/SK and Itoken at Laser Boy in March 2000, except track 1, by Masahiko Okura at Pink Sky in August 2001
Mixed by Masahiko Okura at Pink Sky
Mastered by Itoken at Mechanics Studio
Design by cubic music
Photographs and drawings by Masahiko Okura
Produced by Gnu

Released in October 2001

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Piero Bittolo Bon Jump The Shark - Sugoi Sentai! Gattai!! (2009)

Piero Bittolo Bon Jump The Shark - Sugoi Sentai! Gattai!! (2009)

Personnel:

Piero Bittolo Bon: alto sax, alto clarinet (5,6,9), flute (7), melodica (5,10)
Domenico Caliri: electric guitar, acoustic 12 string guitar (8,9,11)
Pasquale Mirra: vibes, glockenspiel (1,6)
Danielo Gallo: double bass, vox bass (4,8,10), prepared piano (5), national bike pump (10)
Federico Scettri: drums

nice guests:

Alfonso Santimone: hammond organ (11)
Gillian Quinlan: voice (8)

Tracklisting:

01 - Interstellar Turkish Kung Fu

02 - Cargo Cult
03 - La Loggia Dello Storione Greco
04 - Never Let Your Hats Alone
05 - Furgonauti
06 - Requiem for Four Triassic Triops
07 - Caporetto In My Mouth
08 - Heavy Metal Miss Jones
09 - Steve Sheldon's Nightmare
10 - 20 Goto 10
11 - Mambo Ricci

If jazz is dead, if the great masters aren't as great as they used to be, if Charlie Parker and Miles Davis' music is a relic of the past, how can you explain this record? Jump the Shark!'s Sugoi Sentai! Gattai!! is the debut album of one of the scene's best talents, the venetian altoist and clarinetist Piero Bittolo Bon.

Joined by four of the most brilliant musicians from the Italian new wave of improvisers, he carries out a refreshing, thirst-quenching and vivacious work, talking about the here and now, about this strange music we still insist to call jazz. Ornette and Dolphy being his inspirations (because jazz is history, after all), Henry Threadgill his putative father, Tim Berne the inescapable touchstone. New York lays at the horizon, Chicago behind the shoulders and Venice all around.

The breaking news is that Italian jazz is alive. Jump the shark and enjoy the trip![El Galo Rojo]

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