Transmutation LTD I must admit, after experiencing Autunna Et Sa Rose and Julie’s Haircut, I have been looking with fresh eyes towards our Italian brethren, and the latest surprise to wash over from those shores for me is Sigillum S. Having started back in the eighties and embracing a multimedia existence, the three main protagonists have released the best part of thirty albums.
Mr Olivetti
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Gizeh I imagine that Richard Knox, head honcho of the wonderful Gizeh Records, uses A-Sun Amissa as a kind emotional bloodletting, giving himself the opportunity to move in the kind of rarefied places and breathe in those mystical atmospheres that his other musical charges do.
Modularfield There is something enigmatic about the idea of a goddess, a sense of mystery and power that is at the same time subtle. Goddess, the duo, give little away in the sterile cover photo of their latest Modularfield release. Faces obscured by flowers, minimal movement. It is as if they are posing for a surrealist still life, but once the cassette starts to roll, then all bets […]
Upset The Rhythm When the lovely clear vinyl copy of this latest Terry album arrived, I have no idea who they were and from where they hailed; but on putting it on the stereo, it could only be Australian. There is something about the sound, about the slightly deadpan voices and tumbling wordplay
Gizeh After a collaboration between guitarist / sound manipulator Jean DL and film-maker Sandrine Verstraete in 2015, Jean called in Canadian cellist Julia Kent to help provide a soundtrack to Sandrine’s latest video installation The Great Lake Swallows. Over a perfectly succinct twenty-six minutes, split into four subtly different tracks
Thrill Jockey I was fortunate enough to catch Glenn Jones playing with Cul de Sac in support of Damo Suzuki many years ago and their freeform repetition was a perfect match for Damo’s mantra-like vocalising. The freedom and experimentation that Cul de Sac embodied is quite a contrast to Glenn’s solo guitar work, and really goes to show how varied and thoughtful he is as a performer.
Hubro Yet another ideas-filled release from Hubro finds Anja Lauvdal and Hans Hulbaekmo from improv monster Skadedyr joining up with double bassist Fredrik Luhr Dietrichson to strip things down a little and see how far they can push the capabilities of a piano / bass / drums trio in the light of how far Norway is pushing jazz. This is not necessarily jazz as we may recognise it, but more three […]
Glacial Movements Glacial Movements have one of the most perfect record label names and so far those releases that have arrived here have lived up to the name. Tropic Of Coldness is a duo based in Brussels that work primarily in a soft focus haze of washes and drones, using mainly guitars and synths to produce gentle, drifting soundscapes.
Hubro Once again Hubro are reporting from the coal face of the Norwegian experimental and improv scene with the latest release from the many-legged and multi-talented Skadedyr. With their third album for Hubro and band membership this time around weighing in at a good dozen, you could be forgiven for thinking that there are too many involved, but that would be most misguided.
Cyclic Law Sweden’s Peter Andersson has been running his Raison D’être ambient project since 1991, with a multitude of releases over the years including recent collaborations with Germany’s Troum. However, unlike a lot of ambient pieces that can have a tendency to sit outside of your eyeline and merge into the background, with Peter’s latest there is a lurking presence at work
Domino I remember the first things that I reviewed for Freq were the Medical Records re-issues of the first two Pram albums, long out of print and absolutely essential. Whilst undertaking that I figured that it was unlikely we would ever see another new Pram album, considering Rosie Cuckston‘s move to academia and loss of musical impetus. So eleven years after The Moving Frontier was released
Hubro There seems to be no end to the fascinating post-jazz and experimental music going on in Norway, and Hubro are right in the thick of it, cataloguing all this for our benefit. The latest release to drop through my letterbox is the second release from trumpeter and soundscape artist Hilde Marie Holsen.
Cyclic Law Taphephobia‘s latest release is an absolute peach. It is Ketil Søraker‘s tenth since 2007, the third for Cyclic Law and the album finds him revisiting the theme to Twin Peaks as a starting point for this gently unfolding journey, a cycle of songs that finds the listener drifting in some sort of extraordinary limbo.
Bristol 10 July 2018 Opening act Pip Blom shambled on to a very warm response from an already two-thirds full O2 Academy Bristol. One singing guitarist and one drummer share the stage with a fluffy bassist and a manic guitarist looking like a young Jerry Harrison. The rhythm section were taut and focussed, allowing the singing guitarist to throw the sweet but rather ramshackle songs out into the […]
Modularfield After 2017’s Atmospheres Volume 1” on Modularfield, Denver-based Ann Annie has found an opportunity to follow it up with Volume 2, containing more pastel sketches and gauzey sunset glances, perfect for easing the mind and gently sinking into contemplation. Over the course of about half an hour and seven tracks, Ann takes us gently by the hand and leads us through long grass and around rippling pools
Modularfield Noah Pred is a techno and house producer and DJ from Canada, who over the last fifteen years or so has released a plethora of dance-orientated tracks spread across numerous esoteric labels. However, his latest album Homeward finds him at a bit of a crossroads.
Geo Gagarin is one of the noms de plume of Graham Dowdall, who has been recording for the last thirty years with such luminaries as Ludus, Rothko, Pere Ubu and Nico among others. Gagarin itself started back in 1995, and in that time he has released seven albums all through his own Geo label. Last year’s Corvid was very well received and on the strength of that, he has […]
Mute This is Aaron Hemphill‘s first solo release since his amicable departure from Liars a few years ago, and I can’t help thinking how fun it would have been if all ex-members were able to trade under the Liars name as if they were an updated version of Faust. This record, although solo, can’t help but be compared to his work with Liars and for me it holds […]