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Paolo Angeli: 22.22 Free Radiohead
by Ian Patterson
There are almost as many strings to guitarist Paolo Angeli's bow as there are on his customized instrument. Ethnomusicologist, researcher and international arts festival director, Angeli plays in duos with Hamid Drake, Iva Bittova and Fred Frith. It's as a solo performer, however, that the Sardinian guitarist is probably best known. On this hour-long solo suite, Angeli reinterprets the music of English alt-rockers Radiohead, deftly weaving traditional Sardinian folk songs and his own compositions into the mix. It's hard to ...
read moreLight Coorporation: 64:38 Radio Full Liv(f)e
by Mark Corroto
Few musicians or bands exhibit imperturbability to the degree that the ensemble Light Coorporation (yes, that's how it's spelled) does. The Polish band, founded by guitarist Mariusz Sobański in 2007, has released its fifth recording 64:38 Radio Full Liv(f)e. This is a recording of a live date dedicated to jazz pianist and composer of film scores, Krzysztof Komeda, who is best known for the soundtracks to Roman Polanski's Knife In Water (1962) and Rosemary's Baby (1968). Listening to ...
read moreBob Downes Open Music: It's A Mystery
by Roger Farbey
Pursuing his self-styled Open Music route, multi-instrumentalist Bob Downes treads a very thin and courageous line between written jazz and total improvisation. Of his many recordings, some funky jazz rock, others wholly extemporized, there are several which involve organised pieces evolving into often lengthy improvisations. It's A Mystery (not to be confused with the pop song by punk star Toyah Willcox) contains archival previously unreleased recordings spanning the length of his career from the early 1970s onwards. The ...
read moreThe Remote Viewers: Pitfall
by Alex Franquelli
I love a bit of Remote Viewers in the evening. If it's not in the scarcely busy second to last northbound Victoria Line carriage, I follow their urban drifts while strolling, hands in my pockets, on a straight line: the shortest trajectory from A to home. The things you see while listening to this London-based septet are the stuff you wouldn't notice otherwise. Pitfall closes a circle, one that started back in 2012 when the marvellous City of Nets came ...
read morePaolo Angeli: S'û
by Bruce Lindsay
S'û is the sound of a master musician. The master in question is Paolo Angeli, a virtuoso player of the prepared Sardinian guitar (an instrument he has developed over the past 20 years). Angeli has worked with musicians from many genres--including jazz players such as Pat Metheny, Hamid Drake, Evan Parker and Fred Frith--developing an ever-increasing catalog of music for this unique instrument. Angeli's 2014 live album with American percussionist Drake (Deghe, ReR Megacorp) was a powerful, rhythmical, ...
read moreAngeli Drake: Deghe
by Bruce Lindsay
Sardinian guitarist Paolo Angeli and American percussionist Hamid Drake first performed together in the early 21st century, releasing debut album Uotha (Nubop) in 2005. The duo's second release, Deghe, was recorded live at the 2013 Festival Isole che Parlano in Sardinia. The players each have a long-established reputation in improvisation and free jazz--previous collaborations include Drake's work with Ken Vandermark and Angeli's with Fred Frith. Together on this beautifully-recorded album the two men interact with energy and imagination.
read moreThe Necks: Open
by Phil Barnes
Not many artists would respond favourably to a question on how they felt about audience members falling asleep in one of their performances. The Necks, however, are not like other bands--bass player Lloyd Swanton quipping in a recent interview that “I have no objection to audience members sleeping, as long as they don't snore and wake up the person next to them!." The question was put to the band during a discussion of the best state to listen ...
read moreThe Necks: Silverwater
by Andrey Henkin
A recent conversation brought up the question why anyone would buy a CD by the Australian trio The Necks. The interlocutor wasn't questioning the quality of the band, merely wondering about listening to them any way other than live. The reason is the same why people read Tennessee Williams plays--appreciating genius outside of the visceral experience. Since their inception, The Necks--pianist Chris Abrahams, bassist Lloyd Swanton and drummer Tony Buck--have hewn remarkably close to their original concept, ...
read moreFred Frith: Nowhere / Sideshow / Thin Air
by John Kelman
His sixth album of music for dance, Nowhere / Sideshow / Thin Air continues multi-instrumentalist/composer Fred Frith's longstanding collaboration with Carla Kihlstedt. The violinist was heard most recently on Frith's previous dance disc, The Happy End Problem (ReR Megacorp, 2006), and in performance as part of his well-received Art Bears Songbook, with Art Bears percussionist/lyricist/co-founder Chris Cutler, and Cosa Brava, a new rock-oriented group with a debut disc due out in 2010. It's clearly a fruitful relationship that has seen ...
read moreThe 40th Anniversary Henry Cow Box Set
by John Kelman
While modern recording technology and fast improving online distribution capability are making it easier to appreciate the full extent of today's artists' work, the same cannot be said about relatively short-lived groups from the 1970s. This is especially true of groups that, despite being in some cases remarkably influential, remain cult favorites with a relatively small but intensely dedicated fan base. A case in point is Henry Cow, a British group that began life in 1968 but didn't ...
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