Fuka Lata "Saturn Melancholia"

I had quite a problem with putting Fuka Lata, polish duo into a "niche" or "category" which definitely is a good way to introduce music. Saturn Melancholia is a set of 7 songs set between axis of treated vocals, synthie and guitar lines. It is close either to trip hop but without pushy 3/4 beats entering the domain of rather elusive freakish climax. The set like this gives obvious associations with some of the finest Cocteau Twins or Kranky albums but the style is set somewhere completely else. I guess it is thanks to Lee Dvd's eerie vocals and fine guitar work of Mito Day who stray out of any complexes and obviousness. Really relaxing at the same time as it doesn't incline any unecessary harshness. It is not overwhelmed by too much of experimentalism and gives a nice output. Bliss...

Philip Gayle - Babanço Total

Mastering an instrument as it is your own body is an almost sacred quest that is either reserved for yogi, gnostic pursuers of the left hand path or any other esotheric outsiders. Philip Gayle built his entire album on the multilayering of the sounds produced by his body. What caught my attention first is the lack of senseless repetition or cheap minimalism of sonorism which is a cardinal sin of many productions connected with free improv or beyond. Instead Gayle produces a hecttic ritual of hisses, hums, rattles, squeaks and the whole onomatopeic encyclopedia of sound put into one concrete symphony of individualism and certain amount of intimacy. Sometimes implemented with sounds of guitar unexpectedly breaks the clichee of crunchy abstract experiment and goes into folksy randomness with excellent sense of humour. An excellent journey into the (literally) guts of the sound no one should miss really...

Ron Anderson / Robert L. Pepper / David Tamura / Philippe Petit - Closed Encounters of the 4 Minds

Public Eysore Records has been on my mindset for years as I am always amazed by the versatility of Bryan Day as an accomplished graphic designer, instrument builder and active musician. He never ceased to make a really interesting output, even now after years of struggling with lack of time and energy. The newest release by a quartet of four musicians Ron Anderson Robert L. Pepper David Tamura Philippe Petit brings back the long lost link between instrumental free improvisation and slight touch of very densely textured electronics put into digestible wholeness of sound and tone and colour. Reeds and strings mingled with quite harmonious holarchy. There are really interesting bits which come out of merely improvised bangle but lead towards very advanced composition thanks to the art of listening and experience of musicians which use a wide array of means to utilize here. Superflexible and giving excellet flow to the scenario of this event.

ERNESTO DIAZ-INFANTE: Civilian Life on Pax Recordings

I guess it has been around 10 years or so since Ernesto released his last album. And a worth waiting this one is too.
Ernesto is quite deeply set in singer-songwriter folkesque flow which doesn't mean that this is quite obvious in his music, Why I pinpoint this is because his style is hugely unique and reaches far points beyond typical free impro based on sonorous clichee which Ernesto nicely surpasses. There is plenty of smashing and elaborate guitar work here, intruguing and both deep to feel this piece more of spiritual journey to the ultraworld of inner emotions feelings and intuitive game rather than just a solid piece of art. It comes together with wide array of acoustic instruments - from guitars to tibetan singing bowls...he is not afraid to experiment into unknown outlet and the craft and the experience bind everything together like a nice buckle.
The other side of the music included into this album is the artist itself - there is a point in time of every artist I guess - when the musical endeavours and the pursuit is enriched by your life experience. The energy of music speaks for itself and the creative flow uses its own idioms and own phrases rather than artist trying to convey something for himself. This is the story of a man being played by a music. Listen to it!

Hubert Zemler ''Moped'' Horny Trees ''Horny Trees" Ritmodelia "It is not batucada"

Hubert Zemler's persona always haunted me as backdrop of Lado ABC projects which set him nicely into the landscape of the Warsaw scene connected with Powiększenie and Chłodna 25 clubs> Convinced that there's more to that I was looking forward to hear his first solo album. Approached it with no pre-requisitory doubts and prejudices I must admit that his skill to blend different approaches - fresh and not pretentious at all really got me dig this material. Leaving behind all his influences - all too many to counthe sets a clear thesis and structure to what he does - between microtonal and sonorous and whatever else it is- is only a background to his talent to get the details out of the wholeness of the foreground. Improvised cds commit too often the cardinal sin of being just ''actions'' or merely ''events''. Hubert rightly sets the course and pace where everything else falls in place and sustains the right drama and the mood. Solo albums are always a boggy challenge. Yet this one is a defo worth to listen.
Horny Trees is a trio made up of Hubert, Paweł Szamburski on clarinet and Maciej Trifonidis Bielawski on bass. A whole spectre of music - that's the word - tonalities vs atonalities and buzz and rumble beyond the clichees of late ''free improvised'' Their great craftsmanship blends together with free range modalities of the imaginary landscapes they create while it's still melodious and definitely not out of great mood ritual. I have seen 'em live and it was nice to get the energy they conduct.
Ritmodelia is the last project the cd of I got from Hubert. It was nice as a dessert after the last two ones. Not much of the exprimentalism but surely a great and worth piece of percussive magic to listen. Good spot on whe it comes to independent craftsmanship but nothing beyond this point.
Mighty thanks Hubert.

Fear Konstruktor ''Numbers'' by chaosynod ''Return to reason'' by Strabismus tapes, ''Nonexistence'' by Peripheral records

Nikita Evsuk has a special place in my mind because of many reasons. His linear retro-futurist infused drone noise bears so much healthy flavour of everything what's best in DIY approach without any pretentious and la-di-dah artsy fartsy shadows.
Three different releases, three different formats - quite a struggle but a worthy one too. Having said that it was worthy challenge to cover all those three and stimulating at the same time. A food for thought and imagination looped in my mind with Chlebnikoff futuristc zaum langauge and non-linear prospects in mathematics. Somehow the slavic gods find their way back walking into footsteps of future traits...Nikita is somehow entangled to me in the archetype of a russian fairy tale protagonist - a daring one which never fears but looks out for the prospects and resolves the issues on his own terms.
Rich like Pavlova's desert cream structure of the drone work, mechanical ambience and foremostly return to eternal power of analogue lab magic. Can anyone dream of anything better??? Spasiba Tiebie, Nikita!

Magic Carpathians "Acousmatic Psychogeography"

The signpost of memory
traces that resemble leaves on a grey morning amidst the last year's months and the preview of the ones that are not here to come
a song of a jay
woken up abruptly from a joy dream
by a snippy frost haze
well trodden turning which is a blank page
skid row then
forgotten now

The neural miasma of these signpost
The landmarks that bring back the closeness of what has to happen anyway
The notions of the exploring
the end of it is the moment of arriving at a place where we started
and know this place
recognize it as it was for the first time
afresh
anew
..t'was a story