Microplastique: Blare Blow Bloom!

Chicago's experimental music scene welcomes a new voice as Microplastique, four multi-instrumentalists, release their debut album, Blare Blow Bloom! (Irritable Mystic Records), on December 6, 2024. Formed in April 2023, the group includes Ben Zucker, Molly Jones, Josh Harlow and Adam Shead, with Shead composing and leading.

Blare Blow Bloom! documents Microplastique's July 2024 US tour. Ten tracks from shows in Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee, Lafayette, and Indianapolis display the group's talent for reshaping composed material through improvisation. Each night, the ensemble approached ten compositions differently, creating music that challenges and engages listeners.

Shead's writing for Microplastique uses basic elements. He builds melodies from the first five notes of a major scale, adding slight chromatic and rhythmic changes. Improvisation fills out the rest, with musicians choosing instruments for each piece. This method allows unexpected outcomes, such as Zucker playing pocket trumpet on "Walk on Kedzie," a piece originally imagined for toy piano.

"Blare" opens the album with intense energy, prompting an exclamation from the audience. "Blow" follows, featuring a percussion solo reminiscent of Roscoe Mitchell's small percussion work and Tony Oxley's dense textures. The fourth track shifts to a sparse, melodic landscape with flute, melodica and harmonica harmonies.

Microplastique draws from diverse influences including the Tony Oxley, Kurt Weill and Misha Mengelberg. Shead's hardcore punk background (Bad Brains tops his list) and recent work with no-wave band Cellular Chaos add forceful elements to the music.

Unusual instruments define the group's sound. Zucker plays pocket trumpet, j horn, melodica and toy piano. Jones alternates between soprano sax and various flutes. Harlow switches among toy piano, melodica and other instruments. Shead's percussion array includes wood blocks, log drum, banana bells, goat toes and bird calls.

Blare Blow Bloom! explores relationships between sounds, silence and performers. Shead uses Schenkerian analysis in his approach to music. This method, based on the work of Austrian music theorist Heinrich Schenker, examines how surface-level musical elements connect to deeper structural patterns. Shead applies this thinking to evaluate how each sound contributes to the overall musical concept, examining how each element contributes to the whole.

With Microplastique, Shead merges his background in contemporary classical and percussion ensemble music with free jazz. The resulting sound emphasizes percussion and chance operations while maintaining jazz roots.

Blare Blow Bloom! showcases collective improvisation and musical exploration. Four musicians guide listeners through compositions played on miniature instruments, embracing absurdity and creativity.

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