The Non-Mainstream Music Report, 7/2004

-──────────────── ▄██▄ ──────── ▀█████▄ -── ███ ███ ─ ▄██▄ ▀█████▄ ──── ▐███ ███▌ ▀██▀ ▄██████▄ -─ ████ ████ ▄▄▄ ▄██████████▄ ▐█████████▌ ███▌▐████▀ ▀████▀ ███████████ ████ ██▀ ─── ▀▀ ▐█████ █████▌▐███ ▀ ██████ ██████ ▀██ ────────── ███████ ███████▄ █ -.2ooo.- ─────── ▄▄▄ ──────────────── "HiGH ▀ iNTELLiGeNCE tRoLLS" ________________________________________________________________________________ Welcome to HiT2k's new biweekly non-mainstream music report! Heavy love to the scene, no hate, and extra props for those taking the time to read here. To start off: this is not a 'hater' magazine, and we aren't trying to insult or bring anyone down with it. our aim is pure and easy: to bring the scene's attention back to the music! All here at HiT2k are lovers of music, with no politics or dramatic baggage. We just want to share the love! That is why, every 2 weeks, we'll compile a list of the best non-mainstream records released in the scene, and give you all the info you need to decide whether or not you want to hear them. We do this because, each day, records slip under the radar because people may not know the name on the album -- but that doesn't mean they wouldn't love the music inside. We feel it's time for 'our' music -- non-mainstream, underground, whatever you want to call it -- to push forward and be heard by more ears around the world. We hope this report can turn you on to things you may not have found otherwise, and perhaps cause some people to expand their opinions of what they call 'music.' It is important we stress, however, that we won't always be able to list all of the scene's great releases each week. Because of this, we call on other dedicated groups to start their own reports, magazines, etc. There are hundreds of albums released each day, but so little information provided! More information distributed means more knowledge, and more knowledge means smarter, better-educated listeners. And even though we don't get to say it enough in the nfo's: support the artists!! It goes without saying that these are not millionaire pop stars, and they need to sell records in order to be able to create more of them. With all that said, please, enjoy the report. :) A list of our suggested releases July 1-20, 2004: ________________________________________________________________________________ Release Name: Jack_Rose--Raag_Manifestos-2004-HiT2000 Release Date: 2004-07-01 Label Info and Catalog #: VHF Records #85 Artist/Album Info: "Compiled from a variety of sources, Raag Manifestos cuts across various acoustic styles much like Rose's Opium Musick LP, but with a more aggressive attack. 'Black Pearls from the River' and 'Hart Crane's Old Boyfriends' are dense, serious assaults on the 12-string, with the intensity of the latter enhanced by Ian Nagoski's roaring electronic backdrop. With subtle tabla accompaniment by Eric Carbonara, 'Crossing The Great Waters,' is another epic modal journey in the style of Pelt's 'Road To Catawba' and Rose's own 'Red Horse.' The traditional 'Blessed Be the Name of the Lord' finishes off the CD on a calming note. In mini-gatefold." Limited edition. Vinyl pressing of this on Eclipse due out this summer. www.vhfrecords.com ________________________________________________________________________________ Release Name: Clogs--Thoms_Night_Out-2001-HiT2000 Release Date: 2004-07-11 Label Info and Catalog #: Brassland (HWY-002) Artist/Album Info: Clogs are four classical musicians from Australia and the US. Their chief composer, Padma Newsome (viola/violin), was born in the red center of Australia, the son of a writer and an ecologist. In the early '80s he trained and performed as a concert violist in Sydney. He retired early, however, spending the next six years on an ashram in the remote region of New South Wales. Newsome began composing in the '90s at the University of Adelaide, and was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study at the world renowned Yale School of Music. There he met Bryce Dessner (guitar/composer/The National), Rachael Elliott (bassoon), and Thomas Kozumplik (percussion), who round out the quartet. Thom's Night Out met with unanimous critical accolades when it was released in the United States in 2001, garnering comparisons to artists as diverse as Arvo Part, Sigur Ros, and Godspeed You Black Emperor! The Wire celebrated its' "eerie, looping folk melodies...delicately bowed and struck strings [and] beautiful 'lost at sea' effect." Careless Talk Costs Lives said, "What d'ya call yr contemporary classical outfit with pretensions to be Satie, Stravinsky, Sigur Ros, and a more approachable Godspeed? Clogs. Sweet." The New Yorker: "fans of the Rachel's, and other post-rock ensembles who know how to listen in respectful silence to a live performance will have no trouble appreciating the softly evocative compositions." Philadelphia City Paper wrote that "few new CDs in any genre will do as much to challenge the way you listen to music." http://www.clogsmusic.com/ http://www.brassland.org ________________________________________________________________________________ Release Name: Wildflowers--The_Complete_New_York_Loft_Jazz_Sessions-3CD-1976-HiT2000 Release Date: 2004-07-18 Label Info and Catalog #: Knitting Factory #3037 Artist/Album Info: Originally released as five separate albums under the title Wildflowers: The New York Loft Sessions on Casablanca records in 1976, this single disc compilation contains ten tracks from those monumental sessions reissued by Knit Classics. Recorded May 14 through 23, 1976, at Sam Rivers' studio/loft/home Rivbea, featuring a collective of free jazz players who were having a hard time getting paying gigs. The entire disc is highlighted by a roster of legends including Hamiet Bluiett, Dave Burrell, Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre, Sunny Murray, Randy Weston, Byard Lancaster, David Murray, Anthony Braxton, Julius Hemphill, and Ken Mcintyre. Listening to these recordings years after their initial release proves that while these musicians were certainly experimental, they were also obviously steeped in musical traditions like blues and gospel, which was lost on a jazz public turned off by their flashes of unhinged energy. ________________________________________________________________________________ Release Name: Locus_Solus--50th_Birthday_Celebration_Volume_3-2004-HiT2000 Release Date: 2004-07-12 Label Info and Catalog #: Tzadik, #5003 Artist/Album Info: Continuing Tzadik's series of live recordings from Zorn's 50th birthday month is this classic reunion of three downtown legends, Arto Lindsay (Ambitious Lovers), Anton Fier (Golden Palominos) and John Zorn (Naked City). There has never been a band quite like Locus Solus. Dating back to 1982, the music of these improvised rock units is still as fresh as the day they first hit, and seems to get better with age. This high intensity set features all three players at their very best. Strangled vocals, loping grooves and structural complexity make these improvised rock songs a continual delight. A fascinating and charming set of tension, love, ideas, communication and miscommunication. Arto Lindsay: voice, guitar John Zorn: alto saxophone Anton Fier: drums ________________________________________________________________________________ Release Name: Luc_Ferrari--Cellule_75-1998-HiT2000 Release Date: 2004-07-13 Label Info and Catalog #: Tzadik, #7033 Artist/Album Info: Luc Ferrari is one of the most important and original personalities in the history of French "musique concrete." Irreverent, psychosexual and always fascinating, Ferrari's work manifests itself in texts, instrumental textures, electroacoustic compositions, reportings, films, theater, etc. It is an honor for Tzadik to release two of his most important works from the 1970's, recorded under the supervision of the composer himself. Place des Abbesses, the first electro acoustic work realized at his home studio in Paris, 1977, is an evocative portrait of a small square between The Sacred Heart of God and Saints and the Pigalle of licentiousness and sex, two familiar Ferrari obsessions. Cellule 75 is an explosive, dynamic work for piano, percussion and tape, balancing improvisational spontaneity with the more exact writing of classical forms. The first U.S. release of this important composer. Luc Ferrari: composer Chris Brown: piano William Winant: percussion ________________________________________________________________________________ Release Name: Mount_Eerie--Seven_New_Songs_of_Mount_Eerie-2004-HiT2000 Release Date: 2004-07-14 Label Info and Catalog #: Artist/Album Info: This is a new, extremely limited CD intended to be sold at shows in Australia. The thing was entirely recorded at the Department of Safety and was put out by Phil himself. Limited to 200 copies, sold out. ________________________________________________________________________________ Release Name: Marissa_Nadler--Ballads_Of_Living_and_Dying-2004-HiT2000 Release Date: 2004-07-19 Label Info and Catalog #: self-released Artist/Album Info: Velvet voiced ambient murder ballads and goergeous sensitive finger-style, drone psychedelia, ethereal reverberations, gorgeous music; Leonard Cohen as a sexy voiced female, reincarnated with the spirit of a medieval lute player. "Marissa's voice soars like the choir invisible," writes one reviewer. Songwriting that is dark and haunting, sensitive and gripping, telling stories of tragic murders and sordid love affairs gone awry. A truly unique blend of psychedelic folk, ambient drone, traditional, and european old time haunts. Wearing long black dresses, the mournful, almost theatrical performances are sexy and hypnotizing. Playing the ukelele, banjo, harp, twelve string and six string guitars, and organ, the result is fascinating and moving. Dark, mysterious, and captivating. Psych Van Hett Acid Folk Review (5/5 Stars): So where are the labels now to release this ? Marissa's voice reminded me at first a bit of Elizabeth Rapp, who didn't appear on many songs of Tom Rapp's group Pearls Before Swine (back at the end of the 60's, early 70's), but what Marissa has created in mood is vivid here as well, be it in a more melancholic way. The arrangements are sparse and to the essence completely interwoven with the songs (guitar, accordion, amplified guitar, organ, banjo, ...) Each of these songs have a variety of very dark thoughts combined with gentle pure loveliness and absolute care. It is hard for me to go deeper into the songtexts, because who knows I can hardly experience the total depth of it. And it shows deeper waters of experiences. Her interpretation of "Annabelle Lee" on words of Edgar Allan Poe is simply brilliant. Other favourites are "Fifty Five falls," (I'll be your..) "Undertaker", and "Days of Rum" with banjo. The bonus track, simply humming and guitar I like a lot as well: pure melancholic romance!! I lack the words. A release I simply can not help but listen to again and again. --Gerald Van Waes http://www.singersong.homestead.com/folk2.html http://www.marissanadler.com ________________________________________________________________________________ Release Name: Dreamend--As_If_By_Ghosts-2004-HiT2000 Release Date: 2004-07-13 Label Info and Catalog #: Graveface Records #010 Artist/Album Info: This is latest album on Graveface Records Dreamend hails from Chicago and has been compared to established post-rock acts such as Godspeed You Black Emperor! and Explosions in the Sky. This is their first full-length album which beautifully contrasts wall-of-noise rock with blissful shoegazery melodies. http://www.dreamend.com http://www.graveface.com ________________________________________________________________________________ Release Name: Six_Organs_Of_Admittance--For_Octavio_Paz-Reissue-2004-HiT2000 Release Date: 2004-07-10 Label Info and Catalog #: Holy Mountain 21852 Artist/Album Info: Since the release of Six Organs of Admittance's self-titled debut in 1998, Ben Chasny has played pure guitar within individual songs, but For Octavio Paz is his first full record to explore the guitar inside and out, solo and over-dubbed, steel and nylon string (in fact, For Octavio Paz is the first Six Organs album to feature the reverberations of a nylon string guitar). What really sets Chasny apart from the other modern Fahey worshipers is that Chasny's pantheon is willing to accept a wider array of other guitarists into the lexicon - Peter Walker or Richard Youngs, for example - not to mention the fact that he can stand the sound of a Stratocaster. This is the definitive guitar record from Six Organs of Admittance. Originally released in a vinyl-only limited edition by Time-Lag at the end of 2003, For Octavio Paz sold out instantaneously. It was decided that the material is just too strong to belong to so few." www.sixorgansofadmittance.com www.eclipse-records.com ________________________________________________________________________________ Release Name: From_Quagmire--The_Tropic_Of_Barren-2001-HiT2000 Release Date: 2004-07-08 Label Info and Catalog #: VHF Records #59 Artist/Album Info: The Tropic Of Barren is the debut release from Virginia's From Quagmire. A trio of Dorothy Geller, James Wolf, and Rake guitarist Vincent Van Go-Gogh, FQ's beautiful, mysterious and just plain weird art-song drift is a look into a rather under-explored corner of the underground universe. The slowly unfolding songs are based on Dorothy?s nylon string guitar and hushed-but-pointed vocals, punctuated by Wolf's expertly sawing violin and Van Go-Gogh's unpredictable percussion, electronics and guitar interjections. The music is highly detailed and performed with significant individual personality, rather than the predictable loud-soft-repeat bombast of other contemporary "chamber" ensembles. Geller and Wolf have done time in Camera Obscura recording artists Laconic Chamber and the Library of Congress (not a band). Van Go-Gogh is straight out of DC's long-running freakazoid ensemble Rake. http://www.vhfrecords.com ________________________________________________________________________________ Release Name: Kammerflimmer_Kollektief--Hysteria-Reissue-2004-HiT2000 Release Date: 2004-07-04 Label Info and Catalog #: quecksilber music QUECK007CD Artist/Album Info: Re-release of the 2001 on payola/EfA E5 released album "Hysteria". this long-deleted Kammerflimmer Kollektief classic feat. 15min+ of new studio recordings. An assemblage of intriguing electro/acoustic elements, Hysteria is the newest offering from Karlsruhe's Kammerflimmer Kollektief. Incorporating samples, analog synths, and a plethora of stringed instruments (including an acoustic jazz ensemble), Hysteria taunts the fine line of control between abstraction and realism, with a beauty that's stunning at times. Kammerflimmer Kollektief began as the one-man experimental excursions of Thomas Weber. Trapping ambient noise, live and synthetic drums, guitars, strings, upright bass and keyboards into interlocking rhythmic explosions, Weber expanded the group to a live six piece in 1999 and has been brilliant and busy ever since. From their Karlsruhe, Germany home base, this ensemble effortlessly blends experimental electronic elements and moody free-form jazz to stunning effect. Dietrich Foth - saxophone Johannes Frisch - double bass Michael Str║der - drums & percussion Anne Vortisch - synthesizer Thomas Weber - guitar, harmonium, treatments Heike Wendelin - violin ________________________________________________________________________________ Release Name: Islaja--Meritie-2004-HiT2000 Release Date: 2004-07-01 Label Info and Catalog #: Fonal (FR-32) Artist/Album Info: Islaja might well be a forgotten islet somewehere or a name of courageous sword swinging heroine in a forgotten fable. For one, Islaja is a certain young woman that has sang and played an album full of heart-rending intimate music. Half a year of quietly working in her homestudio brought about a cluster of transcendental tunes that are now being released as an album called Meritie. One song Islaja whispered in a fever and another with an oriental monkey. At times it is impossible to tell where the sounds are coming from. The variety of instruments is vast, but all have their space and strong belief in the power of individual sounds can be heard. Islaja has exceptional sense of harmony that alone can make the album a magical listening experience. The voice of Islaja sounds bravely over the screaming crazed sea-gulls. It is stunningly honest. This is a great victory in these times of sadness. URL: http://www.fonal.com ________________________________________________________________________________ Release Name: Spaltklang--Surprise-2004-HiT2000 Release Date: 2004-07-01 Label Info and Catalog #: FAZZUL MUSIC FM 0821 Artist/Album Info: www.fazzulmusic.ch a jazz oriented sax a progressive rock drumming a chamber viola a fusion bass this is the spaltklang project !! ________________________________________________________________________________ Release Name: Mono_-_New-York_Soundtracks-2004-BCC Release Date: 2004-07-14 Label Info and Catalog #: Human Highway Records, HECY-1004 Artist/Album Info: http://www.canal.ne.jp/~sound/mono/e_f_bio.html this is a remix album for One Step More And You Die. ________________________________________________________________________________ Release Name: Jon_Lloyd--Syzygy-1990-HiT2000 Release Name: Jon_Lloyd--Praxis-1998-HiT2000 Release Name: Jon_Lloyd--Head-1993-HiT2000 Release Name: Jon_Lloyd--Four_and_Five-1999-HiT2000 Release Name: Jon_Lloyd--By_Confusion-1997-HiT2000 Release Date: 2004-07-05 Label Info and Catalog #: Artist/Album Info: British alto/soprano saxophonist Jon Lloyd rose to become a notable free improviser during the '90s, able to balance high-energy blowing with more subtly nuanced playing; he was also a capable composer, largely in the free-bop mode, able to give his pieces a definite structure while leaving plenty of room for improvisation. ________________________________________________________________________________ Release Name: The_Bill_Wells_Octet_Meets_Lol_Coxhill-(TXTVNL01)-LP-2001-sfE Release Date: 2004-07-17 Label Info and Catalog #: Textile Records TXTVNL01 Artist/Album Info: Bill wells meets lol coxhill textile vinyle serie 01 Bill Wells's Falkirk-based Octet are undoubtedly the greatest big band currently in the Uk, although due to the logistics involved, records evidence is thin on the ground. So this is a real thrill, the first new Octet material in years, fronted by the legendary UK saxophonist Lol Coxhill. Coxhill has played with everyone from Evan Parker to The damned and his sopreno sound is instantly recognizable, xhether he's squeezing in the sublest nuances from a weepy ballad or raising the roof with tongues of hire. He's rarely sounded quite as possessed as he does here, pouring big metallic sheets of breath all over Well's raucous arrangements. The bizarre loops and jagged use of samples gives the whole set a lop-sided feel, like a weird cartoon that's fallen slightly out of synch and the opening Sticky Parade sounds invigoratingly like Tom and Jerry as scored by Thelonious Monk. ________________________________________________________________________________ Release Name: A_Hawk_and_A_Hacksaw-A_Hawk_and_A_Hacksaw-2003-BCC Release Date: 2004-07-07 Label Info and Catalog #: Leaf Artist/Album Info: The Leaf label comes up trumps with this hugely charming debut from the oddly titled A Hawk and a Hacksaw. Imagine, if you will, a cascade of Steve Reichian looped piano segments intermingling with a veritable menagerie of farmyard instruments, accordion, home made percussion, horns, bells and all manner of weird, wonderful and hitherto unkown musical toys. The album has a free-flowing, glowing world-cinema soundtrackish vibe and was recorded over the course of 15 months in the Loire Valley with a variety of guest performers. If you're into Yan Tiersen, Tom Waits, Kurt Weill, Asa-Chang & Junray, Captain Beefheart, Raymond Scott and Carl Stalling, you'll love this heartwarming album dearly. ________________________________________________________________________________ Release Name: Fourcolor-Water_Mirror-(Staartje016)-CD-2004-BEX Release Date: 2004-07-13 Label Info and Catalog #: Staartje016 Artist/Album Info: After releasing several stunning albums as a part of the electro-acoustic quartet Minamo (apestaartje/cubic music) and as 1/2 of the electronica duo Fonica (plop/tomlab) this is Keiichi Sugimotos first widely distributed solo release as Fourcolor. Focusing predominately on the guitar 'water mirror' blends acoustic resonance with subtle precision to create an extremely detailed and restrained listening experience. Sugimoto focuses on the smallest of elements using electronics to accentuate every facit of an already tactile sound pallete. Sugimoto seamlessly blends various threads of kinetic listening in this ever-shifting composition of gradual movement. A difficult one to memorize, 'water mirror' is a deceptively complex album full of warmth and rigor. The album closes with an epic 25 min soundtrack to the film 'Frontire' by Japanese experimental filmmaker Jun Miyazaki which will be screening at this years Cannes Film Festival. Extremely gradual music. ________________________________________________________________________________ Release Name: Sufjan_Stevens-A_Sun_Came-2nd_Edition-2004-pyt Release Date: 2004-07-13 Label Info and Catalog #: Asthmatic Kitty Artist/Album Info: We call it the 2nd edition because it's been digitally remastered, with two bonus tracks and new art. "A Sun Came," Sufjan Steven's debut album for Asthmatic Kitty Records, incorporates, in his words, "traditional pop music, medieval instrumentation with Middle Eastern inflections, tape loops, digital samples, literary vocals, manic percussion, woodwinds, sitar, amp distortion and Arabic chants." Anyway enjoy Sufjan Steven's debut and be sure to check out his other cds ... dont forget to support the artists. ________________________________________________________________________________ Release Name: VA--Java-Sunda.Country.Art.Music.2-The.Art.Of.The.Gamelan.Degung-(1972)-om Release Date: 2004-07-16 Label Info and Catalog #: OCORA Radio France C560097 Artist/Album Info: The music of the Sunda region of West Java collected in this recording represents the music for the gamelan degung, a smaller "chamber" form of ensemble typical of the region. The 12 selections are performed by two different groups; one older professional musicians trained in the 1920s (tracks 1-5) and the other younger musicians working to keep the tradition of degung alive (tracks 6-12). Recorded in 1972-73. Extensive notes in English, French, and German. 72 minutes. ________________________________________________________________________________ Release Name: Lovely_Midget-North_Head-Retail-2004-OBC Release Date: 2004-07-12 Label Info and Catalog #: Family Vineyard Artist/Album Info: http://www.digitalisindustries.com/foxyd/lovelym_north.html <- review ________________________________________________________________________________ Release Name: Dave_Douglas-Five-1995-JUST Release Date: 2004-07-18 Label Info and Catalog #: Soul Note Artist/Album Info: Trumpeter Dave Douglas' unusual string group (which also includes violinist Mark Feldman, cellist Erik Friedlander, bassist Drew Gross and drummer Michael Sarin) is reminiscent in some ways of Ornette Coleman's free-jazz quartet despite not playing any of Ornette's originals and having a very different instrumentation. All of the musicians function as equals, the interaction is often intuitive, and the improvising on eight Douglas originals (including tunes dedicated to Steve Lacy, Wayne Shorter, Mark Dresser, Woody Shaw, John Cage and John Zorn), Thelonious Monk's "Who Knows," and Rahsaan Roland Kirk's "The Inflated Tear" is on a high level. Well worth exploring. ________________________________________________________________________________ Release Name: Zeena_Parkins_and_Ikue_Mori--Phantom_Orchard-2004-HiT2000 Release Date: 2004-07-04 Label Info and Catalog #: mego 071 Artist/Album Info: A gentle stylistic morphing from two major figures in the global realm of experimental sound and improv. Zeena Parkins sits firm as a multi-instrumentalist, composer, improviser, well-known as a pioneer of the electric harp, she has also extended the language of the acoustic harp with the inventive use of unusual playing techniques, preparations, and layers of digital and analog processing Ikue Mori has long been a stalwart of the New York improvisation via the post punk set. Her work has seen her evolve from drums to drum machine to laptop - how about that? Super. As a result the language she presents is as diverse as the wide range of people she has played with. Now, these two swinging cats have hooked up too create a delicate blend of organic acoustic and digital sources. Walk deep in the woods, think far beyond the reaches of our immediate environment. A soft mental and physical scenario in which to bathe, absorb and (gasp horror!) relax. Do it - do it now! ________________________________________________________________________________ Release Name: Paik-Satin_Black-2004-JCE Release Date: 2004-07-15 Label Info and Catalog #: Strange Attractors Artist/Album Info: http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/p/paik/satin-black.shtml <- Review ________________________________________________________________________________ Release Name: Moon_Fog_Prophet-MERN3336-A_Mirror_To_The_Marble-Coated_Solar_System-2000-SER Release Date: 2004-07-12 Label Info and Catalog #: Metamorphos Artist/Album Info: http://www.moonfogprophet.com/biography.html ________________________________________________________________________________ Release Name: Thurston_Moore-My_Cat_Is_an_Alien--From_The_Earth_To_The_Spheres_Vol._1-Vinyl-2004-HiT2000 Release Date: 2004-07-19 Label Info and Catalog #: Opax Records OPX LP1 Artist/Album Info: This is the first volume of MCIAA's "From the Earth to the Spheres" split LP series, with each volume being limited to 100 hand-painted copies -- and yr pals at HiT2k have access to them. :) Future volumes will incluse Jackie-O Motherfucker, Christina Carter (Charalambides), Jim O'Rourke, Thuja and more! (Note: the hiss on Thurston's side appears on the record, and is not the fault of yours truly, nor HiT2k. ;)) "When, in late 1997, Maurizio and Roberto Opalio from Torino, Italy, started their musical project My Cat Is An Alien, their need for an easy and direct way of releasing stuff which could fit their creative urgency led the two brothers to set up a label on their own. So, Opax Records started up releasing the first MCIAA's recording, a cd-r special edition of 30 copies wrapped in electric wires, which was sent to Sonic Youth in NYC and immediately thrilled the most influential avant-rock band since The Velvet Underground. During the past years SY helpfully invited MCIAA several times to perform live at their European shows; then in 2002, Thurston Moore released on his own Ecstatic Peace label the 3-sided LP 'Landscapes of an Electric City/Hypnotic Spaces', MCIAA's international debut, followed by a couple of only-vinyl releases on the US labels Starlight Furniture Co. and Eclipse Records. Now, after 6 years of handmade cd-r editions, Opax Records has entered a new era with its first proper official format: a new series of split vinyl-lps entitled 'From the Earth to the Spheres.' So, who could have opened the series better than Thurston Moore himself? Surely, Moore is one of the few musicians in the world who needs no introduction at all. But even the most fixed fan & collector of his many solo records will be surprised by this 21 minute piece called 'American Coffin'; from the beginning, with Moore engaged in a free-piano action that recalls both Dave Burrell's genius of the legendary 'Echo' LP on Jazz Actuel and Stockhausen's textures of his wildest masterpieces, the track is interpoled and fragmented by splinters of sonic feedbacks, howling guitar and every sort of musical collage inserts, all permeated by a cloud of dust and debris. Because of its raw analogical recording, there's a good load of tape hiss -- so close to Moore's aesthetics. On the other side of the vinyl, MCIAA will project you in the realm of the Cosmos. Their music is made of space sounds flowing freely in both inner and outer dimensions; sound sculptors and audiovisual artists MCIAA base most of their work and research on purely improvised compositions, erecting minimal textures created essentially by guitar space-drones influenced by early American minimalism and the conceptual and philosophical modus operandi of avant-pioneers such as John Cage and Sun Ra. Here, in the track entitled 'Brilliance in the outer space', MCIAA will make you lose your sense of gravitational perception completely, with a fully emotional vertical take-off that will dash you beyond the limits of hyperspace. As the cover abstract shapes of concrete acrylic painting mixed with crystals on wood suggest a free gestural approach, the music represents a real impressive intro to the spirit that moves the whole series: art as uncompromising expression of liberty." ________________________________________________________________________________ Release Name: Double_Leopards--Urban_Concussion-Vinyl-2004-HiT2000 Release Date: 2004-07-10 Label Info and Catalog #: Qbico Records 016 Artist/Album Info: Another heavy slab from NYC's drone darlings, Double Leopards! "Soundtrack for deep space journeys.... if you get lost, hold yr breath... Highly recommended!" ________________________________________________________________________________ Enjoy.!