Lawrence Casserley

MYL Trio: Parallel Universes

by John Eyles
July 23, 2024

Parallel Universes is the first album from the MYL trio, the group title incorporating the initials of the members' first names, Austrian violinist and vocalist Mia Zabelka, Japanese pianist and melodica player Yoko Miura, and British signal processing instrument player Lawrence Casserley. All three members have past experience of trio playing; Zabelka's own trio with bass and drums issued Weird Tales and Elegant Motion (Monotype, 2012) but she is probably better known for her membership of Trio Blurb with vocalist ...

Casserley / Illvibe / Morgan / Sjostrom: Live At The Club Polnischer Versager

by Robin B James
May 13, 2021

Four musicians, two songs, one clocking in at 32:06 minutes and the other at 23:39 minutes. The action takes place deep in outer space, the club is located in Berlin and the physical event was recorded in 2016. The four musicians had never before played together, but they are all professional players so the chemistry is profound. They were each born in very different places and times. Harri Sjöström was born in Finland in 1952, played piano and guitar in ...

Morgan & Casserley: Exoplanets

by Robin B James
March 15, 2021

Exoplanets is an album which explores the darkness that is all around us. Is it all catastrophe and despair? Clearly not, because science transcends emotions, and happiness survives negative emotions. Each of the track titles refers to a planet, the sound is experimental and cosmic, from the “free jazz" school of expression. In our local galaxy, there are between 100 and 400 billion stars, and probably at least 100 billion planets. Around 3,500 exoplanets, planets that orbit stars other than ...

Lawrence Casserley & Jean-Michel Van Schouwburg: Mouth Wind

by John Eyles
September 24, 2012

Recorded in May, 2010 at Lawrence Casserley's studio in the Chiltern Hills, Buckinghamshire, Mouth Wind is a happy pairing of Casserley's signal processing with the idiosyncratic vocals of Belgium's Jean-Michel van Schouwburg, a pairing which benefits both of them greatly. The duo format suits each of the two in a different way; in larger groupings such as Evan Parker's Electroacoustic Ensemble or a tutti at Fête Quaqua at The Vortex, Casserley's contributions can occasionally be too subtle or muted to ...

Lawrence Casserley / Adam Linson: Integument

by John Eyles
May 29, 2009

Lawrence Casserley and Adam Linson have well-established links with Evan Parker and with each other. Both have previous releases on Psi and since 2004 both have been members of Parker's Electro-Acoustic Ensemble. That is highly relevant to the music on Integument as that ensemble features real-time processing of sound, as does this album.

On his solo bass album, Cut and Continuum (Psi, 2006), Linson deployed sampling and processing of his bass, building up layers that created a rich varied soundscape ...

Lawrence Casserley & Simon Desorgher: Music from ColourDome

by John Eyles
July 10, 2007

ColourDome is a large inflatable structure, consisting of a series of brightly colored tunnels leading to a central transparent dome, which makes occasional appearances at festivals around Britain. It is almost invariably accompanied by musicians who wander around the tunnels playing their music, being heard throughout the ColourDome. Lawrence Casserley and Simon Desorgher have been performing in the ColourDome since the early 1980s, and co-opt other musicians to join them. Those who have taken up the offer include Evan Parker, ...