★Discus Music
Gated
There are enough ideas in the first couple of numbers to fill a whole album, with wailing sax and clarinet and lightning propelled guitar in the brief opener ‘Heat Patch’- think Zappa- then Fripp in ‘The Celebration Restriction’. It’s a whirlwind, visceral listen with the free spirit of experimental jazz and the nous of heavy rock." Phil Jackson.
Conceived and realised over an 8-month period of intense solitary work, "Gated" is Alex Ward's most ambitious musical statement to date. The ten pieces…
The Long View
Orfeo 5 formed in 2002 out of a series of text/music projects curated by The Word Hoard artists’ co-op. They’ve composed and toured a number of commissions in different line-ups, and released two CDs, a year on the ice from The Word Hoard in 2009, and in the green castle from Discus in 2017. The core of the group’s sound comes from longstanding members Shaun Blezard on electronics and Keith Jafrate on saxophones, with other players from an extended family of musicians and poets joining them from…
Zeitgeist2
This duo, and the resulting album developed out of conversations between Robert and Shirley whilst working on Robert’s Invocation project in 2014. Their discussions explored the varied paths of their respective backgrounds, and different relationships of all aspects of those musical paths to improvisation. Both have a shared classical training, in which the absence of an improvisation became both a frustration and source of inspiration. Part of the story of this album lies in their different for…
Anthropods
Anthropods is the new band from American drummer and composer, Mark Holub. Holub, known mainly as bandleader of the acclaimed and Mercury Prize nominated Led Bib has with ‘Anthropods’ created his first project as a leader since starting Led Bib in 2003. While some of Holub’s trademark Led Bib style is evident here, the album is full of contrasts, from pastoral beauty to dense free improvisation to heavy grooves, showcasing sides of Holub’s work well beyond his work with Led Bib.
Holub has been b…
Kiedy Wilki Zawyja?
"This giddy avant pop affair is rather more avant than pop, with a large backing band of musicians steeped in the stylings of early 1970s psychedelia, mutant prog, free jazz saxophone solos, slinky blues (particularly on “Red White And Blue”) and moody spy soundtracks in the vein of John Barry’s score for 1965’s The Ipcress File. “Last Exit To Lublin” has a spoken word interlude in which the Cold War language of such films is remapped for the era of Brexit: “Papers, please/How long have you been…
Laik Tors
Play this thing over and over because one solitary spin won’t come close to doing it justice—you can go down this disc’s labyrinth of ingenuity for years and hardly ever come up for breath." - Darren Bergstein
Aeolian
"These inspired duets sound so unforced and unconstrained that they blow fresh life into that well-worn image. From the outset, two quite distinct pianists establish common ground, where they interweave and spring surprises. It's wonderfully fertile ground too. Strings of scintillating moments bound seamlessly into musical mesh, now mysteriously chromatic, now alluringly melodic, fractiously dissonant, propulsive or ethereal. Tippett's speaking voice, heard fleetingly, suggests a degree of physi…
Provenance
Martin Archer and John Jasnoch have a musical relationship which goes all the way back to the early 1980s when they were both a part of jazz-punk pell mellers Bass Tone Trap. Over the subsequent years they have played and recorded together occasionally, previously as ASK, and now as this no frills improvised music duo which allows both musicians to utilise the full range of their respective instrumentation. This new work was recorded in the same place at the same time, one day in July 2021. The …
The Tao Of Cwmdonkin Drive
"Having witnessed with awe his sagacious feline-managerial skills with music and musical psyches of many a stripe (including *cough* my own), I was certain that Andy McAuley was the right person to orchestrally illuminate my semi-inchoate ego-laced narrative. Zooming in and out of rainbow-hued classical fractal frequencies like an electronic-inculcated dervish and weaving keyboard themes (one composed by Saichairí McAuley), Udu-fronted percussion and vibraphone from the Terpsichorean Martin Pyne…
The Scale
The extraordinary, powerful and characterful French singer Carla Diratz (described by none other than Robert Wyatt as "the soulful Ms Diratz") collaborates here with composers Martin Archer and Nick Robinson to deliver an extremely diverse set which runs from out and out prog through avant-rock to improv, electronic collage and modernist chanson - "Improg" is the name we've given to this mixed up school of music. Lyrics sung in English, French and Italian ultimately present a very personal view …
The Gift Of Silence
Tip! "Recorded during the first lockdown in July 2020. All pieces are derived from improvisations experimenting with extended techniques / prepared bass, microtonality and Harry Partch's 11-Limit tonality diamond tuning system, overdubbing and long formless melodies. Inspired and dedicated to my daughter Yumi who was born on 25th April 2020." - Michael Bardon
Lost Garden
"Nick is a guitarist with a long history, most of it not troubling the charts. From the youthful pop of Polydor’s “Typhoon Saturday” through the anarchy of Dig Vis Drill, as well as working with the Comsat Angels, Neil Ardley and many, many more. He has developed an individual musical voice based around the looping and processing of a guitar. The music evokes many different moods and is both beautiful and challenging in equal measures, like theme music for films that have never been made. Every …
See You Soon Or See You Sometime
I have wanted to make a trio recording – that simplest and yet most demanding configuration for any saxophone player – for many years, but had been unable to decide who the other players should be. It was only when I heard Michael’s solo work that I realised that his approach to the bass, combined with Walt’s textural playing, would make the foundation which I was looking for. I wanted a trio sound where the saxophone could inhabit the music from within - as opposed to riding upfront in the role…
Port of Saints
Port Of Saints is the third collaboration between Archer and Caines - all compositions by Caines with arrangements and production by Archer. This time around the 14 pieces have been edited into three long suites, and a careful listener will hear thematic links running all the way through the album. Caines takes centre stage throughout with the other musicians arranged to provide a shifting and sometimes almost orchestral setting. Breaking with the group's tradition, whereas previous albums have …
Again Alors?
Eclectic Maybe Band is the creation of Guy Segers, a player / composer / producer first prominent as bassist with legendary band Univers Zero, and subsequently active in many live and studio projects. “Again Alors?” is the third release by EMB which brings together detailed studio work with the creativity of real time improvisation. Using different groupings from within a large ensemble cast, which includes many well-known names, Guy has created an album where half the tracks are drawn from live…