Welcome to the alien world of Ferran Besalduch. From the highly evocative mutant cephalopod* on the cover to the sonic and thematic threads used to weave a coherent musical experience, this is pure concept. Using just bass saxophone and saxellino with a boatload of effects, Besalduch has created a gloriously artificial natural world… a self-contained…
I briefly contemplated a short review of this album, along the simple lines of, “Fuck me, this is good!” And I stand by that sentiment but I realise a tad more detail concerning my reaction might help. So,… That initial drone… pinning the attention down, cue the fluttering of helpless wings as that pin twists…
Caveat: Whatever you read here, however long I ramble on, it’s unlikely I will be doing this album justice. Rich in detail, Transmissions is an exhilarating sonic ride; ambitious in scope; a multi-faceted, four-dimensional sound journey from who knows where to there. Okay, enough blah, blah… what is it? This is the first solo work…
Having deleted various bits of uninspired introductory text (“legendary live performances…, blah, blah…”), I’m going to go with Sly & the Family Drøne being one of those ‘needs no introduction’ outfits. So, just play the track and read on to find out what Matt Cargill has to say… 1. Name an experience that contributed to…
Welcome to the second in what seems to be a minimum of three RareNoise albums from Sonar and David Torn… The previous release – 2018’s Vortex – saw Torn on production and mixing duties. But he just couldn’t resist contributing some dirt to the purity (I oversimplify, naturally). The difference this time round is that…
I’m struck by the incredibly intimate and clear sound; as if you’re listening inside the instruments, catching even the softest vibrations in the air. The clarity means the ear jumps from one instrument to the next, isolating each to savour the individual textures… but taken together, there’s a feeling of being swept along, washed down…
Sloth Racket’s collective sound is dense and detailed, with heavyweight textures from the hugely satisfying twin saxophone plus guitar front line. Together they are the perfect purveyors of clatter-jazz – creating that ‘playing while falling down the stairs’ sound via a constant improvised five-way balancing act of glorious and successful freedom. …the smeared, impressionistic dialogue…
As a card-carrying pedant, of course this isn’t the “best” jazz and noise of the last year. It’s just what I like the most out of what I’ve heard… These are the albums that sum up 2019 for me – dense, disorientating, immersive, cathartic… and then there’s also a strong vein of what might be…
