***High speed modernism prevails on the debut CD by a monstrous quartet featuring heavyweight performances, hurling the art of free jazz improvisation/jazz forward straight into the cosmos. Part of the great appeal of improvised music and free jazz is having the potential opportunity and context to hear musicians push themselves as far as possible musically and/or technically. The volcanic New York City-based quartet of CHARITY CHAN (piano), PETER EVANS (trumpet), TOM BLANCARTE (bass) and WEASEL WALTER (drums) takes full advantage of this situation by pushing themselves to extremes. Extremities of speed, articulation, interplay, dynamics, structure, timbre and counterpoint can be found in this release entitled Cryptocrystalline, recorded live to multitrack digital, in concert at Casa Del Popolo in Montreal, Quebec one night in January 2013. The audio was mixed for maximum clarity and impact by Weasel Walter. The three lengthy tracks here represent the entire unedited peformance from that evening. The music is action packed while remaining transparent. Furious energy is palpable at all times, but the density of the music often veers radically from pinprick to explosion from moment to moment. The members of the group are very interested in expressing polyphony and counterpoint, eschewing imitation and the need to overtly signify to themselves or the audience that there is “listening” happening. This music is ALL listening, with every second bearing on the next. The interplay is sophisticated and abstract, often reminiscent of modern classical composition at its most rigorous. Possible starting points of comparison for this quartet’s...
CD $13.50
10/01/2013
***BARR SHEA DAHL is the NYC based trio consisting of MICK BARR (guitar), KEVIN SHEA (drums) and TIM DAHL (bass). Their music is an improvised outburst of total density and speed. It is an aural steam roller, one part Coltrane/Ali a la “Interstellar Space”, another part Grindcore filth and another part DMT-induced bio-insectoid nightmare. The group surges forward relentlessly over the course of the two extended pieces on their debut recording. This release is an orgy of energy and movement.
CD $13.50
11/13/2012
***The assaultive new studio release by this dissonant, futuristic noise-rock institution from Pittsburgh. A gnarly glimpse into the future of robot dirt! Psionic Impedance is MICROWAVES newest salvo of dystopian guitar riffing, offkilter drumming, warped electronics and manic vocals. It is heavy, but it is not metal. The music rocks, but it is not rock in the sense that it embraces morons. The compositions are short and to the point. This thing is furious and ugly. The duo, consisting of string-mutilator DAVID KUZY and object-batterer JOHN ROMAN, elicits fifteen succinct odes to technological paranoia and decay on this painstakingly dense production. Since the two don’t currently employ a bass player, they tend to trigger samples of bass and electronic sounds on electronic drum pads. It is an ingenious solution, and they effortlessly sound the same way live as they do on this record. They are loud, they wear uniforms and their equipment looks good. The material on this release consists of intelligently constructed series of angular phrases coupled with obliquely visceral lyrical references, delivered in a highstrung, agitated manner. One might sense a whiff of chrome, a smattering of Devo, a grain of grindcore, perhaps a glint of Amrep—whatever signifiers you want to tag on them, this kind of grimy, futuristic noise is in short supply these days. Microwaves are prepared to give this dying mudball full of insipid drones what they need: rigor and discipline.
LP $13.50
06/05/2012
CD $13.50
06/05/2012
***WHITE SUNS is comprised of KEVIN BARRY, DANA MATTHIESSEN and RICK VISSER, who reside in Brooklyn, New York. They have been playing together for four years. They recently supported a small-run cassette release last year (Cavity, Pregnant Records, 2010) with an East Coast tour. The band is now releasing their first LP, Waking In The Reservoir on ugEXPLODE. The music is a pummeling synthesis of electronics-based noise and guitar-driven modernist punk. It will appeal to those already conscious and also those who wish to be ripped from their slumber. This album was recorded in high fidelity by BEN GREENBERG (Zs, Little Women) and mastered by WEASEL WALTER. This album is intelligent, angry, asymmetrical, furious, cacophonous, articulate and unique. "The Brooklyn trio White Suns launch a pummelling sonic blitzkrieg, replete with the clatter of buzz-saw guitars and tumultuous percussion; survivors of their raucous live sets (not to mention this scummy venue [Silent Barn]) should get a medal."—The New Yorker. (STREET DATE - 2/15/2011)
LP $10.50
02/15/2011
CD $9.25
02/15/2011
***This bizarre display of punk/jazz surrealism is masterminded by mythic madman NONDOR NEVAI on drums and vocals, featuring WEASEL WALTER on bass and legendary journeyman KENNY MILLIONS (aka KESHAVAN MASIAK) on guitar and reeds. The music is some sort of unholy fusion between extreme metal, bludgeoning noise rock, free jazz, black humor and true stream-of-consciousness improvisation. Barely describable and puzzling, over 50 minutes of studio recordings this band sets out to terrorize the brains and body of the listener, driving us all into as state of musical schizophrenia. Full color digipak, limited to 300 copies.
CD $13.25
06/01/2010