Dawid Szczęsny "Lukated Symmetry" 2008 Porter Records

Dawid Szczęsny is a young fella whose records were known to me via Monotype which released two albums with his appearance. I remember his solo stuff as a laptopscapic stuff with strong influences of Christian Fennesz which was nice actually bearing in mind fact that Dawid was quite a freshman. Talking to him in Warsaw Centre of Contemporary Art made me think of different person and artist - dwelving deeper to the roots of music especially jazz...well I reckoned that it is a kind of clichee but still at the same time didn't want to make any preassumptions to underestiamte his stuff. And today I got this beautifuly packaged cd and fell for it completely.
The resonance of his influnces and the development as an artist is undoubtely apparent. Vibrant of percussive samples and turntablistic feel to it give a sort of blend you automatically join with downtempo or Ninja Tune stylistics - yet Dawid gives it only a skeleton which is a background to not really clichee groovy material. It resonates with more pensive soundscape and gives a great outlet for fresh ideas which Dawid chose to create it.

Nmperign + Dörner, Beins (2000, originally released on Twisted Village as a vinyl LP)

Nmperign in a full throttle with two improvised music legends.
This album is a great example of how interdisciplianary and multi-faceted these musicans are.
This is no mere craftsmanship and virtuoso boasting which can become pretty boring and to some extent is really a sore point with the "legendary" artists' albums.
So much good energy was being put into this material so much that we can hear it coming every single second of their entaglement in the process of playing...
Great stuff!!!

Bhob Rainey Two Bites of a Bitter Sweet (2006, originally released on Evolving Ear as a 7" vinyl single)

Different face of Bhob...
He utilizes some other tools to create...well...I'd tend to call this a radio programme with a clear set of tonal pursuits that lead to a piece of great variability and sound experience.
Field recorded and modulated samples remind me of well-structured musique concrete tracks which this album is indeed. I don't recognize much of a sax which Bhob uses as his main instrument- all here is dip into the ever evolving harmony of sound narration - dense and unified, letting itself to be and happen but under certain conditions - point by point leading to the place where everything dissolves.
The introvertive trip to how we can feel walking down the streets and see things, hear them, touch them almost...
Bhob makes it in a very down-to-the point manner. There are no disfunctional excerpts- all of them play their role beautifully focusing on the output they generate as a whole - which again is an asset of Rainey as a musician and composer.

Bhob Rainey - "A flickering bid" (2008, originally released on Compost and Height as a split 3" with Ferran Fages)

Another outburst from Bhob Rainey.Released together with portuguese improviser Ferran Fages in 2008 on a nice 3" cdr.
Flickering bid makes its way as a great soundtrack for those moments when we feel like having a bit of intimate space for ourselves.
Toned down and tranquil compositions of soprano sax soundscapes, full of gentility and almost noir feel to it...and I don't mean the clichee stuff. This is a real deal - rare and unique in its kind.
I always felt that free-improvisation scene sometimes tends to go into the direction that the musicians don't feel like doing - yet they do so. Bhob operates with the improvisation idiom well over the edgy borders of mannerism and being schematical which is a great asset to his intuitive and emotional piece of work.

Bhob Rainey - "6 Standing desert" Fringes Recordings 2000

I still remind myself the beautiful evening in a small yet very active club in Dublin called Lazybird where Bhob and Greg Kelly joined forces together as nmperign and played marvellous acoustic concert. What struck me was the intimacy and the adequateness of their play.
"6 standing desert" is a solo piece by Bhob originally released as a split with Kevin Drumm by Fringes recordings - now available as downloadable re-issue.
Tracks that Bhob presents here on his favourite soprano sax contain a certain amount of space that can be merely acquainted by acoustic instruments' use which is great. Buzzes, sonorous hisses and yet some tonal introduction build a tense scenario of a deeper kind. Improvised? well I gues yes, but...all trakcs seem rather a guided improvisation which leads to a composition. The structure and its elements play the key role in maintaining the separate tones into one piece.
Listening it in the morning as I have done just now gave me a really nice start for the day - transposing mind into bloom of your imagination- into the garden of sound delights...

HERBSTROST ( CD ) deserted factory / the tourette tapes

http://www.flutwacht.de/

Fluchtwacht is a very active german project revolving in noise/power electronics/dark ambient circle.
This material was co-released by Deserted Factory which itself is a good recommendation. As for the music itself - a blend of different styles tastes nice. Ambience is a secondary issue here - treated more as an intro to very rhythmic noisy power electronics. As for rhythm I can claim that this might make the whole album a little bit monotonous, but at the same time it doesn't make it too hard over the line. Lo-fi sound makes the whole thing more convincing

ECHRAN - Echran Ebria / Smallvoices

6 songs
43:20 minutes
***** **
Ebria / Smallvoices

http://www.echran.net/
http://www.myspace.com/echran

The situation when two people make a project is always a scene of a clash of two different personalities making a blend that is unique and involving. Echran - Fabio Volpi - vocals+visuals+programming and Davide del Col - synth+programming accursio graffeo - visuals+synth live make a truly interesting experimental duo with nice musical offer. A drone installation piece is not devoted of some musicality which is a rule with all italian artist I guess which at the same time isn't a flaw. Mingled with spoken-word makes a nice intimate atmosphere.

Pauline Oliveros "Lion's Eye/Lion's Tale" Deep Listening 2006

release info:
Pauline Oliveros
Lion's Eye/Lion's Tale

Lion's Eye for Gamelan was commissioned in 1985 by Barbara Benary for Gamelan Son of Lion. Lion's Eye for Synthesizer was commissioned concurrently by Neil Rolnick for iEAR Presents at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Both versions were performed in 1985. The intention to combine both pieces in order to expand the tempo range of the Gamelan was first realized in May of 1989 in performances by the Berkeley Gamelan in Oakland and San Francisco, California under the direction of Daniel Schmidt. This version of Lion's Eye is recorded on this disc. The duration of "Lion's Eye" is forty-five minutes. "Lion's Tale" (1989) is composed of layered polymetrical, polyrhythmical patterns. The patterns are played at speeds ranging up to 1800 per minute. The composer designed patterns are generated by the computer program. "Lion's Tale" may be created in a new version every time the program is run. "Lion's Tale" also exists in a MIDI version for a keyboard performer. Both versions are available from Deep Listening Publications. Known internationally as a composer, accordionist and teacher, Pauline Oliveros's work in improvisation, electronic techniques, teaching methods, myth and ritual, and meditative and physical consciousness raising has changed the course of American music. She left the University of California at San Diego in 1981, at the rank of full professor, in order to support her ideas, creative projects and collaborations. All of her work emphasizes attentional strategies, musicianship and improvisational skills. Oliveros' compositions have been performed worldwide.

Pauline Oliveros has been in my mind since the late 1980's when I started to listen to music in general and I came across some american avant composers. What I really liked about her approach to music was not only a kind of virtuoso background but a really coscious choice to become a really virtuoso listener which was surprising as a general hint to music which I had at that time.
Music is a co-operation between a listener and a maker. I had this motto in my mind today when I received a parcel from Pauline.
The music here is so rich, so extensively meditational in a sense that all the new age gurus wouldn't dare to swallow and at the same time so intimate so feminine. What I mean is the deeper you go the more you get and the flow of the energy has a really great sustain.
The composer's idea to blend gamelan music together with textures of digitalised textures gives a really refreshing tone to the meaning of music itself. Dig it!