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7

Article: Album Review

Stephan Thelen: Fractal Guitar Remixes and Extra Tracks

Read "Fractal Guitar Remixes and Extra Tracks" reviewed by Mark Sullivan


Swiss guitarist-composer Stephan Thelen (leader of the band Sonar) released his first solo album Fractal Guitar (Moonjune Records, 2019) to great acclaim. This remix album offers a dramatic new look at four of the original five tracks--only “Radiant Day" is skipped--as well as adding three new tracks from Thelen and two collaborators. The remix ...

7

Article: Album Review

Sonar: Live At Moods

Read "Live At Moods" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki


Recorded Live at Moods jazz club in Zürich (Switzerland) in May 2018, this set reconnects guitar electronics visionary David Torn with the band Sonar. Torn played with Sonar on their previous album Vortex, and this live set picks up three tunes ("Waves and Particles," “Red Shift" and “Lookface!") from that earlier collaboration. How does ...

13

Article: From the Inside Out

Put It Where You Want It (But Find It Where You Put It)

Read "Put It Where You Want It (But Find It Where You Put It)" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki


Hip Spanic All-Stars Old-School Revolution Self-Produced 2018 If you think that Old School Revolution sounds both familiar and new, you're right. In the late 2000s, bassist and singer Happy Sanchez, saxophonist Norbert Stachel (Tower of Power), percussionist Karl Perazzo (a longstanding member of Santana), ...

20

Article: Album Review

Stephan Thelen: Fractal Guitar

Read "Fractal Guitar" reviewed by John Kelman


For his Moonjune Records debut, Stephan Thelen, USA-born/Swiss guitarist and primary composer for the post-minimalist/post-progressive band Sonar, challenges some of the foundational premises of a group that has, over almost the last decade, garnered increasing critical and popular acclaim. As informed by Robert Fripp and the guitarist's work with (and beyond) King Crimson as it is ...

8

Article: Album Review

Stephan Thelen: Fractal Guitar

Read "Fractal Guitar" reviewed by John Ephland


A guitar lover's delight, the Swiss Stephan Thelen's Fractal Guitar reeks of the many splendid effects the instrument can bellow, belch, intimate, cry out and sing. And all within the narrow yet liberating, pattern-based corridors Thelen's ofttimes arhythmic funkfest conjures. With nods to David Torn, Robert Fripp, Glenn Branca and even Nik Bartsch, the aesthetic creates ...

2

Article: Multiple Reviews

Stephan Thelen and Sonar: Minimal Grooves at Maximum Volume

Read "Stephan Thelen and Sonar: Minimal Grooves at Maximum Volume" reviewed by Geno Thackara


Sonar Live at Moods 7d Media 2018 Imagine the gamelan-infused minimalism of 1980s King Crimson crossed with the droning heavy-rock menace of Sunn O))). Imagine Steve Reich if he discovered metal and turned to devil worship. You may be approaching the distinct neighborhood of Sonar, though their strange brew is far ...

7

Article: Album Review

Stephan Thelen: Fractal Guitar

Read "Fractal Guitar" reviewed by Mark Sullivan


For this debut solo album Swiss guitarist/composer Stephan Thelen reached back to his interests before the band Sonar for which he is best known. That band builds its interlocking patterns without electronic effects (other than reverb), so Thelen felt the urge to to compose and perform pieces in which effects were an integral part of the ...

Article: Album Review

Sonar: Black Light

Read "Black Light" reviewed by Claudio Bonomi


Si chiamano Sonar, vengono dalla Svizzera e questo è il loro terzo lavoro. Sveliamo subito di che si tratta, prendendo spunto dalle note di copertina redatte nientemeno che dal mirabile John Kelman. L'ispirazione di Black Light è l'album dei King Crimson del 1973 Lark's Tongues in Aspic e in particolare il lavoro di ricerca ...

27

Article: Extended Analysis

Gefion

Read "Gefion" reviewed by John Kelman


It's been a long time coming. Jakob Bro made his first ECM appearance as a member of drummer Paul Motian's twin-sax/triple-guitar band on the late drummer's Garden of Eden (2006). Three more years passed before he returned, this time as a member of Tomasz Stanko's trans-European quintet on 2009's Dark Eyes--a group that evolved considerably from ...


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