Reviews
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BOB OSTERTAG ~ MOTORMOUTH
Originally posted on SSGmusic, September 22, 2011 Bob Ostertag has self-released Motormouth, an album made entirely with a Buchla 200e synthesizer. You can download it for free at his site, along with much of his 30+ years of back catalog. Ostertag, a sound artist, composer, journalist, and professor currently based in San Francisco, dropped out…
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Coleman Hawkins ~ The Hawk Flies High
By the time he recorded The Hawk Flies High in 1957, Coleman Hawkins had already been playing music professionally for over 35 years. Hawkins made his reputation as the first great tenor saxophonist, essentially validating the instrument as a jazz horn, and was an important figure in swing, big band, and bebop. Not content to…
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World’s End Girlfriend ~ Hurtbreak Wonderland
The music of World’s End Girlfriend is wonderfully post-modern, a hodgepodge of sounds and instruments, an ambient chamber orchestra being overrun by an exuberant carnival dance-party. Somehow, Katsuhiko Maeda manages to create a convincing unity where others could see only chaos. By combining disparate elements, which by all accounts don’t make sense together, he has…
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Efterklang ~ Under Giant Trees
Efterklang‘s Under Giant Trees is an EP of such astonishing range and emotion that nothing comparable immediately comes to mind. Expanding upon the sound developed on their last record, Tripper, this eclectic group from Copenhagen have outdone themselves. These five songs are heartbreakingly beautiful, melding organic melodies and subtle electronics into delicate waves of sound,…
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Rachel Grimes ~ Book of Leaves
Though we have seen some excellent solo piano records over the years, it still feels like something of a rarity outside of traditional classical circles. Most musicians bury themselves in excessive tracks, often doing disservice to the composition by giving into the temptation of modern digital recording. Therefore, to write a work for solo piano…
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FaravelliRatti ~ Lieu
Lieu is the debut from the collaborative pair FaravelliRatti. As the name might indicate, the members of the duo are named Attilo Faravelli and Nicola Ratti. Ratti is better known, having received attention for the excellent Bellows project with Giuseppe Ielasi, as well as for solo records and remixes. Faravelli has done much work in…
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(Vladislav Delay as) Sistol ~ On the Bright Side
Sasu Ripatti can apparently do no wrong, though it is a bit surprising to see him reactivate this long dormant persona after almost eleven years. Why would a successful producer revive a one-off, nearly forgotten project from over a decade ago? This multifaceted Finnish musician has consistently impressed us with his versatility, from the grooving…
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Victoire ~ Cathedral City
Brooklyn-based composer Missy Mazzoli founded the quintet Victoire to perform her compositions, and their full-length debut demonstrates what happens when talented musicians take the time to develop their craft. Last year’s debut EP Door Into the Dark was good, but the time since has paid off in the fantastic Cathedral City. The release has an…
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108 Capsules
108 capsule reviews written between 2012 and 2020 Matteo Uggeri | Luca Mauri | Francesco Giannico ~ Pagetos (Boring Machines) The long-awaited final chapter in the Between the Elements quadrilogy didn’t disappoint. Together the four releases cover a wide spectrum of experimentation and aesthetic forms. The first three installments – the sparse desert drone of Erimos, the slowly unfolding melodies of Nefoldhis, and the electroacoustic…
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Jon Hassell ~ Seeing Through Sound
You don’t hear too many octogenarian trumpet players. The horn is a cruel instrument, in that embouchure collapse cuts many brass players’ careers short. (A good friend of mine was disappointed many a time by Freddie Hubbard cancelling a gig at the last minute.) So as the years passed following the release of Jon Hassell‘s…
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Pedro Soler & Gaspar Claus
Originally published at SSG Music Marion Lefebvre/Courtesy of the artist While in Paris during the summer of 2011, I was lucky to receive a generous invitation from the InFiné label to attend a small showcase by Pedro Soler & Gaspar Claus. The label that specializes in “easy music for the hard to please” has…
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Sigur Rós ~ Heima and Hvarf/Heim
Originally published at The Silent Ballet Heima The music of Sigur Rós has a way of impressing melancholy and hopefulness at the same time. Their music is awfully powerful, and, though the live recordings are flawless and the performances stellar, there is no substitute for actually being-there. Unlike any other “concert,” a Sigur Rós performance…
Sound Propositions 