Funny Rat

[Д.Д.]

If it matters, these are CDRs.

Welcome to the Sprout website. Sorry for the inconvenience but the site is still under construction. In the meantime, please contact Mike Parker at michaelantonparker@gmail.com. Sprout is an artisanal music publisher that recently launched operations with two releases:

Jack Wright, Michel Doneda, Tatsuya Nakatani: No Stranger to Air (Sprout 1)

Jack Wright and Michael Johnsen: Truant Runts (Sprout 2)

Both discs are available for US$10 each. Payment can be made through Paypal to sproutandflora@gmail.com. Shipping is free anywhere in the world.

Talking about Jack Wright, I see there is one release of him (in duo with Reuben Radding) in the Sachimay Intervention series ($5 per disc): http://www.sachimayrecords.com/21-24.htm

Edited June 14, 2006 by Д.Д.

[Guest Chaney]

I'll have to revisit the few Sachimay titles I own, including the wonderful (I wonder if I'll find it to still be wonderful?) The Dirigibles Between Similarities.

[Д.Д.]

Anyone have any comments on the Charhizma label?

their "orange" release is probably the first classic in this area, still maybe the best release they've done:

http://www.charhizma.com/quart/index.html

Just listened to this one, and yes, I agree - this is an excellent disc!

What the music is like? Well... it has all these sounds... you know... brrrrr and pshshshshsh and fsssss and tsk-tsk-tsk and click-click and bzbzbz... some times loud some times soft... you know how it gois... good stuff, in short. 5-minute mp3

[Д.Д.]

I'll have to revisit the few Sachimay titles I own, including the wonderful (I wonder if I'll find it to still be wonderful?) The Dirigibles Between Similarities.

Would be a good choice for a listening session - does anybody but Tony and me have it?

Tony, did you ever get a replacement of a defective disc from Sachimay?

[Guest Chaney]

Would be a good choice for a listening session - does anybody but Tony and me have it?

Tony, did you ever get a replacement of a defective disc from Sachimay?

Sachimay never replied to my e-mail.

~~~~~~~~~~

Found this link over at the i hate music site:

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/wkcr/archives/newmusic/index.html

Enter the archive and check out the numbered links or go to the alphabetical index.

Edited June 15, 2006 by Chaney

[Д.Д.]

Julien Ottavi / Dion Workman: misenlian (Erstwhile)

Know airplanes? Enjoy the sounds they make? Then this is the one for you. Sound pallett covers the exciting range of A340 to B747 to Fokker 50 at various stages of the flight.

Edited June 16, 2006 by Д.Д.

[Guest Chaney]

Julien Ottavi / Dion Workman: misenlian (Erstwhile)

Know airplains? Enjoy the sounds they make? Then this is the one for you. Sound pallett covers the exciting range of A340 to B747 to Fokker 50 at various stages of the flight.

Workman was introduced to Ottavi's work in 2001 by Parlane, who suggested that Ottavi record for Sigma Editions after seeing him play in London. Later, Workman invited Ottavi to play a series of US shows, where they performed solo sets on the same bill and grew to be good friends. After being invited to record as a duo for Erstwhile, Ottavi came to the US for a month in 2003 and the two performed and recorded constantly. Based in Workman's Brooklyn apartment, the duo literally improvised for days at a time - when they slept, the computers continued to generate sound, with changes in the PureData patches triggered by microphones placed outside the apartment - and intermittently recorded the results. Ottavi and Workman directly followed up this intense recording period with several long-duration live performances, each set lasting between 3 and 6 1/2 hours. By the end of Ottavi's stay in the US, the duo had amassed approximately fifty hours of recorded material, which they later selected and shaped into misenlian.

misenlian unites Workman's glacial, continuous pacing with Ottavi's love for challenging the limits of dynamic range, resulting in a single remarkable piece as jarring and unsettling in its own way as the fluorescent colors of the CD packaging.

Might be a good pairing with Herbert Distel's Railnotes on Hat. Basically, TWO CDs of the sound of a train's wheels on track. Magnificent.

Edited June 16, 2006 by Chaney

[jon abbey]

Might be a good pairing with Herbert Distel's Railnotes on Hat. Basically, TWO CDs of the sound of a train's wheels on track. Magnificent.

maybe if David's description had much of a basis in reality, anyway.

[Д.Д.]

Might be a good pairing with Herbert Distel's Railnotes on Hat. Basically, TWO CDs of the sound of a train's wheels on track. Magnificent.

maybe if David's description had much of a basis in reality, anyway.

Would "one of the most boring discs I've heard lately" work better ?

[Guest Chaney]

Damn. Now I'm curious. Not so curious to buy, though.

Wanna trade railnotes for plane sounds?

[Д.Д.]

Damn. Now I'm curious. Not so curious to buy, though.

Wanna trade railnotes for plane sounds?

Sure. I make about 120 flights per year - and just about 12 train rides. Excitement of railway sounds exploration hasn't worn off yet.

I just have to check that I don't have this Distel's disc on my collection.

[jon abbey]

Would "one of the most boring discs I've heard lately" work better ?

hehe, sure. it's not really an improv disc, it's more along the lines of a Radigue or Feldman record. are you fans of those composers?

[Guest Chaney]

Would "one of the most boring discs I've heard lately" work better ?

hehe, sure. it's not really an improv disc, it's more along the lines of a Radigue or Feldman record. are you fans of those composers?

Feldman I adore.

Don't know Radigue.

David?

[Д.Д.]

I adore Feldman.

Radigue I don't know.

Airplaines sounds I hate.

[Guest Chaney]

[7/4]

Radigue is a big analog synth drone, twisting the filter knobs. Love her.

[jon abbey]

the material is more similar to Radigue, the pacing reminds me of Feldman (Radigue too).

[Guest Chaney]

Welcome! On this page you will find items from the ex-Anomalous Records mail order catalog.

~~~~~~~~~~

I just pulled from my shelf From Between (SOSeditions) Michel Doneda / Jack Wright / Tatsuya Nakatani (Bags review and comments). I remember giving it a spin or two way back when and not being too impressed. (Back then, I was much less the lowercase guru that I am now.) ( ) Knowing that David was (rightly!) loving of this disk, I gave it the magical third spin.

Darned impressive. Three tracks, with the first being my favorite. (More variety of sounds, with Nakatani being especially impressive. The kind of track that has you sitting in a darkened room, knowing the track timing, peeping at the CD clock, knowing that the track will end, knowing when it will end, praying that it will never end.)

After that listen, I immediately ordered a copy of No Stranger to Air. (I sound like an ad for Sprout!)

~~~~~~~~~~

Let me mention this one again:

Xavier Garcia - Gianni Gebbia - Nils Wogram

pronto!

Gianni Gebbia: Alto and Soprano Saxophones

Nils Wogram: Trombone

Xavier Garcia: Sampler

Cover Art: Gianni Gebia

Cover Graphic: Dominik Süess

Liner Notes: Bert Noglik

Recorded February 2001 at Miamo Studio, Palermo, Italy, by Natale Lopes.

Published 2002 by Intakt Records

Intakt CD 076

Gianni Gebbia, Xavier Garcia und Nils Wogram:

Three who met on the outermost, southernmost tip of Europe have shaped

their music into an exciting event, a challenge and a feast for the senses.

Gianni Gebbia is at home at the place everything happened,

in Sicily's capitol Palermo, and has revitalized a scene of improvised music there.

He has made a name for himself by playing with many of the internationally-known outstanding musicians of this genre, has played solo concerts, and is active

as a promoter. Nils Wogram, who has long arrived in the scene and still can be

considered young, has distinguished him-self with his own ensembles and

compositions, and feels connected in many ways to the musical culture of Cologne, Germany. And Xavier Garcia comes from a stronghold of avant-garde music,

inspired by jazz, in France: from the circle of musical association, ARFI,

settled in Lyon: Association à la Recherche d'un Folklore Imaginaire.

He plays with ARFI groups, composes and produces works of electronic music

and has thereby created his own individual style in his dealing with live electronics.

In this trio, musical explosiveness results from the continually changing

different mixtures of known and completely new sounds.

The associations reach from songs, hymns and chorales to Bebop and Cool Jazz,

from Babylonian confusion of voices to soundtracks for imaginary films,

from Mediterranean melodies to Albert Ayler, from string ensembles

to Indian sitar sounds, from the history of the trombone in Jazz to electronic music.

In the course of the pieces, in varying shapes, it becomes clearer and clearer

what can be heard and what needs no further reference to anything else:

the identity of a trio.

Bert Noglik, Liner Notes

Source: http://www.intaktrec.ch/ge-a.htm

I think it's pretty fascinating music. Quiet, almost a bit meditative at points. The mix of electronics with Gebbia and Wogram works quite organically.

Also, Gebbia and Wogram are two fascinating instrumentalists.

It's not one to shine from the start, but one that has to grow, I think. I shall definitively listen to it again.

(I got it from the libary, by the way).

ubu

And let me add:

It's a great CD, in my opinion! I like the blend of Wogram and Gebbia a lot, and Garcia adds a lot. It's not the horns that fly and Garcia who provides background - things flow in and out of focus constantly, the horns do have solos, also long ones, but everything is organically growing out of each other. Wogram at times sounds like a didgeridoo, Gebbia does some multiphonics, too.

And they're not afraid of the melody.

ubu

Garcia / Gebbia / Wogram: pronto! (Intakt CD 076)

Well, I've listened to this one twice and, sad to say, I'm just not liking it.

I don't like the sampling very much (an understatement), Gebbia plays ugly and the trombone of Wogram mostly sputters and farts.

And the liner notes by Bert Noglik go to great pains to say mostly nothing.

I'll have to put this one aside and have a third listen after I forget -- or pretend to forget -- listening experience number two.

Had a third listen and, while I now like Pronto! much better (and am chagrined at my prior idiotic comments!), its charms still somewhat elude me.

Better put it aside for another two years. (Shuddup! I have a lot of music to listen to!)

~~~~~~~~~~

As it's been a while since I mentioned Sprout, I questioned Michael Anton Parker as to future releases and received this reply, reprinted here with his kind permission:

The third release is actually done now too. It was officially

released about a week ago so the musician could sell them during a

tour and I'll be putting the full details and sample clips on the

website, hopefully this weekend, barring ever-lurking schedule snafus!

Promotional copies will be mailed next week.

It's the debut of young improvisor from Philadelphia, Dave Smolen,

with solo pieces from the past year representing different phases of

his development, which began with a snare drum processed with various

digital effects units and now has now become essentially purely

electronic with only a minor electroacoustic component. Loose points

of reference would include Gunter Muller, Francis Dhomont, etc. The

disc also includes a sparse "new acoustica" styled trio piece with

Andy Hayleck and Paul Neidhardt (members of Trockeneis:

www.ehserecords.com), and a dense arch-form duo piece with John Heron,

in which both play snare drums heavily processed through effects

pedals. It's intended as a highly varied sampler and introduction to

an extremely promising improvisor at the very moment in time when he

has hit his stride technically and conceptually. The title is

"Feedlines" and will be priced at US$7. The packaging is 100% handmade

with chipboard and hand-carved ink stamp artwork.

Mike

~~~~~~~~~~

Hello World ! brings back to the world Sonny Simmons' musical treasures. We have unearthed piles of historical tapes and will make every efforts to regularly provide you with exclusive CD-R editions, properly mastered and packaged. Make sure to get them as long as they last! And thanks for supporting Sonny Simmons' works. 2/3rds of the benefits go directly to the artist.

Estimated calendar of releases:

June 2006: Live at the Cheschire Cat, 1980 quartet and trio.

November 2006: More Global Jungle, boxset covering Sonny Simmons' "lost period" (1980-1983).

HELLO WORLD!

~~~~~~~~~~

Edited June 18, 2006 by Chaney

[Д.Д.]

I am quite confused by Gebbia's post-Arcana Major output as well (quite sizeable by now) - not even approaching its level.

------------------

For Nakatani, look out for his solo "Green Report" on his own H&H Production label. Good stuff.

------------------

Back to the welcoming EAI land:

Xavier Charles / Diane Labrosse / Kristoff K. Roll /Martin Tétrault: Tout le Monde en Place Pour un Set Americain (Victo) is one of the most captivating and engaging things in the genre I've heard. AMG review

Edited June 19, 2006 by Д.Д.

[P.L.M]

I am quite confused by Gebbia's post-Arcana Major output as well (quite sizeable by now) - not even approaching its level.

DA SHIT seems to have fall in every aspect (musicianship level, ideas, musical ambition), lately.

But the problem for me has always been that the only thing who was of any interest to me in GEBBIA'works, before ARCANA MAJOR, was, already, his solo work.

The rest, even when associate to my avatar or DAMON SMITH wasn't on the same level and no match for the best alto/bass/drums trio recorded at that time (notably, those of Marco ENEIDI).

Edited June 23, 2006 by P.L.M

[Д.Д.]

I am quite confused by Gebbia's post-Arcana Major output as well (quite sizeable by now) - not even approaching its level.

DA SHIT seems to have fall in every aspect (musicianship level, ideas, musical ambition), lately.

But the problem for me has always been that the only thing who was of any interest to me in GEBBIA'works, before ARCANA MAJOR, was, already, his solo work.

The rest, even when associate to my avatar or DAMON SMITH wasn't on the same level and no match for the best alto/bass/drums trio recorded at that time (notably, those of Marco ENEIDI).

I will try to see Gebbia next week in Palermo, and will voice your concerns. Gebbia's best sax-bass-drums trio disc is Outland (Splasc(H), 1990) - one of his earliest records.

My nomination for one of the most insteresting alto-bass-drums combo is Mikolaj Trzaska - Peter Friis Nielsen - Peeter Uuskyla. But I would agree on Eneidi as well. When I saw Trzaska live, I recommended he checks out Eneidi, because I hear some similarities in their approach (Lyons heritage). He didn't know about Eneidi, but was interested.

Edited June 23, 2006 by Д.Д.

[king ubu]

Do check out "Outland" if you have a chance, P.L.M. - it's very fine, in my opinion!

[Guest Chaney]

Anyone interested in obtaining the entire Balance Point Acoustics catalogue for as little as $80, with free shipping?

HERE

The seller, newmusicbass, is Damon Smith.

Edited June 23, 2006 by Chaney

[Guest akanalog]

from a long time ago, i was asking peoples opinions on here of "one too many salty swift and not goodbye" or whatrever the hell it is called because i see it is often highly lauded among cecil taylor's work and i felt i wasn't feeling what was so super about it in the greater contrinuum of music.

after further listening i have grown to very much appreciate ronald shannon jackson's playing on this album and especially how it complements taylor's playing. i find some of the drumming very exciting. especially how jackson brings in elements of what would be, i guess, kind of prosaic rhythms to many listeners of this sort of music (and why most complaints about this album i have seen focus on jackson's performance, i assume). but i really like it and it brings the music together for me.

[Chuck Nessa]

from a long time ago, i was asking peoples opinions on here of "one too many salty swift and not goodbye" or whatrever the hell it is called because i see it is often highly lauded among cecil taylor's work and i felt i wasn't feeling what was so super about it in the greater contrinuum of music.

after further listening i have grown to very much appreciate ronald shannon jackson's playing on this album and especially how it complements taylor's playing. i find some of the drumming very exciting. especially how jackson brings in elements of what would be, i guess, kind of prosaic rhythms to many listeners of this sort of music (and why most complaints about this album i have seen focus on jackson's performance, i assume). but i really like it and it brings the music together for me.

This is a terrific performance by one of CT's best bands. Welcome to "that" club.