REVIEWS

black feelingsBlack Feelings' trebly Peter-Hook-like basslines, compressed effects-pedal guitars, glacial keyboards, tuneless ranting vocals and splashy drums, all covered in a thick layer of reverb, bring to mind any number of 80s Post Punk bands from Joy Division to the Fall. This three piece, consisting of Owain Lawson on drums and vocals, Brian Mitchell on bass and Kyle Fostner switching between guitar and keyboards, often seems to be straining towards and grand cinematic sweep with their music. 'Gails' in particular features relatively few vocals and nods towards Ennio Morricone with it's slowly-unfolding bassline backed by droning keyboards. Other tracks, such as 'Eternal Bad Trip' feature fast basslines and frenetic drumming and seem more geared towards live performance and encouraging audience members to fling themselves about with abandon. In common with many current bands, Owain  Lawson's vocals are often buried in the mix, distorted and (of course) soaked in reverb and seem to be intended to be heard as a part of the overall sound rather than focussed upon by the listener. The lyrics that are comprehensible are largely just repetitive sloganeering, although they delivered with a heartening amount of enthusiasm. I wouldn't be at all surprised if Black Feelings are not a very exciting live band, unfortunately the energy hinted at on this recording is sapped by production that delivers lots of 80s-era shine, but the cavernous echo isn't enough to disguise the lack of depth. -- nick ilott.

:: Black Feelings/Black Feelings - Alien8/Cargo.

fire!The first track on Fire! You Liked Me Five Minutes Ago, 'If I Took Your Hand...'  is over far too quickly. An insistent bass ostinato coupled with infectious drums get things off to a fantastic start. Bassist Johan Berthling and drummer Andreas Werliin lock together to provide the kind of groove that makes me wish it would go on forever. Mats Gustafsson's saxplay arrives after a while to squeal and squawk over the top. The songs six-minutes are over in a flash. If this track had been stretched to 60 minutes and took up the whole disk, I for one would have been very happy. As it is, it serves as a demonstration that Berthing and Werliin make a potent rhythm section, even if Gustafsson doesn't really have space to get beyond an initial statement of intent. The long pair of tracks that make up the majority of this recording, 'But Sometimes I Am" and "Can I Hold You for a Minute?" seem to aim more at creating an atmosphere than showing off instrumental prowess, although Werliin's percussion again features prominently. Berthing and Gustafsson both dabble with keyboards and Berthing also contributes electric guitar, while Mariam Werliin contributes some wordless, Sun Ra-ish vocals to 'But Sometimes I Am'. Typically for a Rune Grammafon release, everything is exquisitely recorded, Berthing's upright bass playing has a luscious depth and resonance. When things seem in danger of getting a bit too 'tasteful' Gustafsson pitches in with some serrated-edge sax or ring-modulated Fender Rhodes to stop any listeners from getting too comfortable. 'Can I Hold You for a Minute' is a more rock influenced with dubby electric bass, a selection of rich-but-abrasive electronic noises and particularly passionate sax contributions from Gustafsson. The title track, driven along by handclaps and catchy-but-simple sax riff, crackles with energy, with fantastic syncopated drumming and hints of synthesiser håkon kornstadnoises that are mostly buried in the mix. Håkon Kornstad's latest release Dwell Time features the saxophonist playing solo in Sofienberg church in Oslo and using a looper to layer the rich variety of sound textures that he creates. In keeping with the venue, the mood of this recording is contemplative and peaceful and a sense of spirituality is never far away. Kornstad exploits the acoustics of the church with a delicate ear, filling the space with resonant notes and allowing them to die back into silence. His early infatuation with Stan Getz is audible in his warm, carefully-articulated tone, while his harmonising gestures towards choral music. Kornstad plays not only tenor and baritone sax but also flute and 'fluteonette' (apparently a kind of hybrid instrument somewhere between a flute and a clarinet). There is plenty of melody in these pieces, even occasional moments of finger-snapping 'grooviness' and little to frighten off the unadventurous listener. Kornstad coaxing feedback from his flute during 'Wipeout' is about as  confrontational as things get and this recording could be accused of being rather tame when compared with Fire!'s gloriously rough-edged sound. There is an austerity and coolness to the performance, but it is clear from the first note that Kornstad is not interested in dazzling his listeners with barrages of sound. Played appropriately loud, "Dwell Time" captures a sense of grandeur rarely encountered in jazz-based music. Kornstad's mastery of his instrument is clear, but it is worn lightly and the moments of silence are exquisitely placed. Both You liked Me Five Minutes Ago and Dwell Time should be played as loud as you dare, all the better to enjoy their varied riches. -- nick ilott.

:: Fire!/You Liked Me Five Minutes Ago - Rune Grammofon/Cargo.

:: Håkon Kornstad/Dwell Time - Jazzland/jazzlandrec.com

exterminating angelIn the days of pedal worship and amplification, it's always interesting to see artists manipulate their traditional instruments through a rack of distortions and delays. Alec K Redfearn is doing what Antonie Chessex is doing to his saxophone - turning it into a fuzzy bleeding electric guitar. Unlike the take of musicians like Pauline Oliveros, who took advantage of the drone sound of the accordion, Redfearn brings in this project distorted, rolling melodies. Working since the mid 90's as part of the urban-improv-folk collective The Eyesores, writing scores for soundtracks and theater, Redfearn grew up to be an urban poet/singer/songwriter, making music that has the aroma of a full ashtray and the breath of whisky. A bit like Tom Waits' Closing Time front cover, only that Waits image projects tiredness and understanding of the end, while Redfearn will have much more angry face, like the work is not done yet. In this release he joins The Seizures, urban-folk unit, who uses percussion and string instruments, taking the acoustic instrumantation to it's dark sides, like Gira's Angels of Light, only more frantic. Together the result is a stroytelling jorney of lost souls which sounds like a take on Nick Cave blues by a 16 Horsepower -Americana feel. The liner notes on the inside cover of this release proudly says "there are no guitars on this record". This kind of old-school liner notes (same as "this record mixed to be played in maximum volume" and the likes of that) always create a pretentious feeling. In this case, there's no expermintation or any theory behind it. Redfearn simply express himself the best through fucked-up people stories and his distorted accordion, and the Seizures are a good ryhtm section to help him push his unsung sewage poetry. -- omer schwartz

:: Alec K Redfearn & The Seizures/Exterminating Angel -- Corleone Records

ooiooEin kurzes, knarziges Fiepsen eröffnet "Armonico Hewa", das neuen Album um Boredoms Yoshimi all-female Projekt OOIOO. Hier wird keine Zeit verplempert, direkt im Anschluss auf die Fiepseröffnung folgt eine Kanonade aus Tribal-Drum Sounds, gedubbtem Sing-Sang inkl. SchreiSchreiSchrei, so no-waveig und speedy wie bei Lizzy Mercier Descloux, samt crossfading in Weltmusikmania-Roots. Der Impuls, diese gesamte geschmolzene Melange ideologisch nach hier oder da zu verwurzeln erscheint verwegen, denn Yoshimis/OOIOOs Taktik überschlägt sich selbst sprudelnd in Sekundenbruchteilchen, entzieht sich damit jeder Referenzklausel, und findet seinen Boden in jedem Track neu. Wie schon auf dem letzten Album Taiga sind Gitarristin Kayan, Bassistin Aya sowie Drummer Al mit dabei, die Palette der (handgespielten) Instrumente klingt exotisch, wie das Daumenklavier bei Polacca, und wie es scheint, als haben OOIOO einen eigenen Sound gefunden. Das Keyboard wummert und schwemmt eine Melodie an die Oberfläche, die Yoshimis Worte sanft führt, und irgendwie schafft es die Band spätestens bei Ulda, die anfänglich etwas zu sprunghafte, rezessiv verspielte Hyperaktivität abzuschütteln um sich für ein paar Minuten auf eine Stimmung zu fokussieren, die Armonico Hewa am Ende sogar zu einem recht zugänglichen Album verschmelzt. Armoinico Hewa erscheint weich und einladend wie ein modernes Pop-Album, blubbernd, seismografisch messbar, bunt wie eine japanische Bonbonverpackung, ein leichter Happen demzufolge, dessen fesselnde Wirkung der eigens eingebaute Defekt erst erzeugt. Da sind radiandie Österreicher Radian ein gutes Gegengewicht, ruhig und ausbalanciert; Brandlmayr, Nemeth und Norman haben ihre offensichtlichen Referenz-Quellen wie This Heat auf „Juxtaposition“ nun mit „Chimeric“ ein wenig relativiert, dabei dürften Teile des neues Equipments eine Rolle gespielt haben wie auch der Zeitunterschied von 4 Jahren zwischen der Entstehung der beiden Alben. Chimeric haftet in der Tat ein etwas chimärenhafter-kammermusikalischgeformter Touch an, der die Konstruktion der Stücke beim Hören imaginär in ein dazugehöriges Theaterstück hievt, sie wirken ausnahmslos szenisch und suggestiv in ihrer kantigen, drängenden Bildsprache. Die Stücke Git Cut Derivat/Chimera lösen sich von der Vorgabe, interessant wäre es hier, die verschiedenen Versionen der beiden Tracks zu verfolgen, gut möglich aber, dass gar keine (frühen) Versionen existieren. Bei Radian Alben kommt die Vermutung auf, dass die Stücke allesamt in sehr kurzer Zeit, in zwei/drei Sessions entstanden sind, um dann in aller Ruhe in der Studionachbearbeitungsphase zu reifen. Chimeric zeigt sich als moderne Doom-Troinca, eine in sich kontrollierte Ambivalenz spiegelnd, zwar destruktiv im Gusto, immer aber mit dem richtigen Timing im Blick, um das umgebende Inferno pittoresk zu zeichnen.  

:: OOIOO/Armonico Hewa  -- Radian/Chimeric - Thrill Jockey/Rough Trade.