Jazz Articles

Nels Cline / G.E.Stinson: Elevating Device

by Ian Patterson
February 21, 2010

It is entirely appropriate that Sounds Are Active's fiftieth release since its inception in 1999 should be Elevating Device by Nels Cline and G.E. Stinson , two of the freer spirits of contemporary music. This recording, like much of the music from this label, provides challenging listening with music of a spirit unrestrained by convention and devoid of cliché, leading to a totally individualistic listening experience. Here, beauty and austerity slug it out without either one forcing the other into ...

Ellul: Ellul

by Ian Patterson
April 12, 2008

Ellul, the self-titled debut from Joel St. Julien and Joel Brown-Tarman, is a fine feather in the cap for Sounds Are Active helmsman and champion of creative music Chris Schlarb. These ten songs are searching and tender, dark and illuminating, and nothing short of masterpieces of the songwriting craft.

Joel St. Julien's vocals have the soul-baring fragility of English singer Nick Drake at the outset of “Ballet Faces;" an edgy melancholy is buoyed by quietly strummed ...

I Heart Lung: Between Them a Forest Grew, Trackless and Quiet

by Ian Patterson
October 4, 2007

Between Them a Forest Grew, Trackless and Quiet is a title which might not seem out of place in a collection of metaphysical poetry, although whilst such poetry appeals largely to the intellect, the music of I Heart Lung appeals to the emotions.

Nevertheless, the metaphysical poets and guitarist Chris Schlarb and drummer Tom Steck do share some common ground; the former challenged the conventional imagery of the 17th century lyric and experimented with rhythm whilst the latter ...

Create(!): A Prospect of Freedom

by Ian Patterson
April 8, 2007

It was King Crimson's Robert Fripp who said: “Discipline is never an end in itself, only a means to an end. The guitarist from Dorset, England would no doubt be intrigued by Create(!), a Californian free-form collective. Here, on A Prospect of Freedom, two guitarists, a clarinetist and a trumpeter plus rhythm section improvise forty minutes of music without indulging in a single solo. Discipline indeed.

That there is something out of the ordinary about A Prospect of ...