La tecnica del celebre gioco collettivo surrealista cadavre exquis - volendo, buono anche per liquidare il vecchio anno - è stata applicata con infinite varianti in molti ambiti diversi. Una recente versione in musica è stata curata da Kavus Torabi, coinvolgendo nella realizzazione amici e colleghi - ci sono JG Thirlwell, British Theatre, Bob Drake e Weasel Walter tra i molti - ovviamente ignari (o quasi) del contributo degli altri partecipanti: gli esiti in tredici risvolti sono in The Exquisite Corpse Game, per l'etichetta Believers Roast.

Exquisite corpse is a method by which a collection of images is collectively assembled. Each collaborator adds to a composition in sequence until finally the whole completed picture is revealed. This technique invented by the Surrealists is similar to the old parlour game, Consequences, in which players write in turn on a sheet of paper, fold it to conceal part of the writing, and then pass it to the next player for a further contribution.
The Exquisite Corpse Game is a unique musical collaboration based on these rules. Once the first 'fold' was recorded each artist was given only the last 20 seconds of the previous composition and had to continue by recording instrumental music in any way they saw fit. Whether they chose to develop themes or take an obtuse 90 degree turn was entirely up to them. Each 'fold' had to be a response to the 20 seconds they were given and be between one and four minutes long. None of the contributors heard the entire piece until the final 'fold' had been completed

http://www.thegenepool.co.uk/items/1108.htm
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Believers-Roast/289124947781844
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-HRAOYdC4Y
http://oliverarditi.com/2013/07/31/believers-roast-presents-the-exquisite-corpse-game

Serata Satie con il lavoro imbastito da François Raulin, Michel Mandel e Pascal Berne con colleghi musicisti e attori in seno al collettivo La Forge - Compositeurs Improvisateurs Réunis a Grenoble (Francia), ora trasposto dalle scene al supporto audio: Sati(e)rik Excentrik.

Musicien autodidacte et intuitif, Erik Satie a ouvert la voie à une irrévérencieuse liberté. Il a écrit la première pièce répétitive, invente la “musique d’ameublement” et fait de l’annotation musicale un poème calligraphique. Précurseur de génie, grand pourfendeur d’académismes, il est une figure admirée par l’avant-garde de son époque: Picasso, Cocteau, Ravel, Cage… Au-delà de l’oeuvre, Sati(e)rik Excentrik nous parle de l’artiste décalé et intègre, aussi important par ses attitudes et ses écrits que par sa musique. À partir de ses célèbres petites mélodies (Gnossiennes, Morceaux en forme de poire, Gymnopédies…), de ses lettres, critiques et aphorismes à l’humour corrosif, le comédien et les sept musiciens combinent fantaisie et exubérance. Ils nous invitent à “naviguer sur le continent Satie”, et à partager la douce folie d’un créateur hors norme.

http://www.erik-satie.com
http://www.laforgecir.com/Artistique/Spectacles/Satierik-Excentrik.fhtm
http://www.laforgecir.com/galerie/satierik-Excentrik.htm/pages.fhtml

http://www.citizenjazz.com/Sati-e-rik-Excentrik-3468836.html
http://vimeo.com/33721480
http://vimeo.com/33595366

Il sassofonista Bryan Murray e il suo quintetto - Bryan and the Haggards - giungono con Merles Just Wanna to Have Fun al terzo capitolo di riletture free ed eterodosse del repertorio di uno dei padri della tradizione country, Merle Haggard. Stavolta a dar loro man forte c'è un deliziato Eugene Chadbourne, che nel progetto ha sempre visto onorate alcune sue antiche intuizioni: "This was what I was trying to do in 1980, get a jazz band to play country and western and get a record label to pay to record it and put it out. The closest I could get to that was Shockabilly and obviously that was a sidetrack. So listening to this is really gratifying! Let’s see if anybody else likes it!". In cd e vinile per la newyorkese Northern Spy Records.

http://www.bryanmurray.net
www.eugenechadbourne.com
http://northernspy.11spot.com
http://northernspy.11spot.com/music/cd/bryan-and-the-haggards-featuring-dr-eugene-chadbourne-merles-just-wanna-have-fun.html
http://somethingelsereviews.com/2013/10/25/bryan-and-the-haggards-feat-dr-eugene-chadbourne-merles-just-want-to-have-fun-2013
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvjyIZgdGjQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVr_gaHkXxM

Willard's Wormhole ha sempre avuto un occhio di riguardo per Henry Kaiser, offrendo a più riprese diversi suoi materiali rari o inediti, curiosità, registrazioni in studio e dal vivo non pubblicate in modo ufficiale, collezioni speciali per l'appassionato. Ora la sezione dedicata al chitarrista si espande e diventa un blog autonomo, che promette di arricchirsi mensilmente di nuovi documenti: The Henry Kaiser Collection.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Kaiser_(musician)
http://www.willardswormholes.com
http://thehenrykaisercollection.blogspot.com

Steve Nieve torna all'idea di Welcome to the Voice - album quasi operistico del 2007, composto con Muriel Teodori, sua partner anche nella vita - e la riprende con piglio chansonnier sull'onda dell'entusiasmo della nuova residenza parigina. Presenti per l'occasione molti amici e celebrità: Elvis Costello, Laurie Anderson, Glenn Tillbrook, Ron Sexsmith, Sting e il figlio Joe, Tall Ulyss, Vanessa Paradis, Alain Chamfort e il figlio di Paul Simon, Harper. C'è anche Robert Wyatt, che duetta in francese con Todori in La plus jolie langue. L'album è ToGetHer, per l'etichetta 429records.

The British born musician now residing in Paris has composed a thrilling collection of songs in a pop rock vein incorporating a heady mix of experimental, theatrical, classical and French styles. Produced and written with Teodori (with whom he composed the 2007 classical opera “Welcome to the Voice”) and French musician Tall Ulyss (front man of the popular rock group Tall Ulysses), and with the help of musicians Vincent Segal (cello), Francois Poggio (electric guitar) and Benoit de Segonzac (bass), Nieve has crafted an evocative song cycle that’s both a contemporary musical statement and an ode to his adopted home of France. A departure from his former solo releases which showcased the classical and minimalist side of his craft, ToGetHer is a fully fledged pop rock manifesto masterfully utilizing the talents of artists he has known and respected through the years and who help him realize his unique musical vision outside of his comfort zone. Says Nieve: “I truly love what we have created with ToGetHer, and the thing I enjoyed the most was hearing the songs finally come to life, each time – all these strong, clear, beautiful voices coming together to help me share and give rise to my vision,” he adds. “I am so blessed to have so many great musical friends who could be part of this journey to create what is, in essence, a true chorale album.”

http://www.stevenieve.com/beta/non-flash.html
https://www.facebook.com/SteveNieveMusician
http://fashionweekonline.com/fashion-week-online/fashionmusic-vanessa-paradis-steve-nieve-sting-elvis-costello-together
http://www.429records.com/sites/429records/429details/d_stevenieve.asp

Ben dieci le candeline sulla torta di compleanno del prezioso archivio Une discografie de Robert Wyatt, frutto della costante e appassionata attività di indagine e catalogazione di Jean-Paul Marillier. E come da tradizione di fine anno, i frequentatori del sito trovano un paio di rarità in coda alla newsletter:
www.disco-robertwyatt.com/images/newsletter/37/index37_site.htm

Bianco Natale, bianco vinile! Ho ho ho...

http://cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.com/album/68

Le caldarroste al caminetto le han cantate tutti, Mel Tormé naturalmente, Ray Charles, Nat King Cole e Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland e Whitney Houston, Doris Day e le Supremes, di recente anche The National Jazz Trio of Scotland... Lol Coxhill lo faceva da par suo, e volentieri fuori stagione: The Christmas Song, sull'inevitabile Joyeux Noël (nato, 1987). Anche con Romulus and Cumulus!

Faire un disque pour faire plaisir à ses parents est-il une bonne excuse? Faire un disque de Noël est-il bien raisonnable? Non! Et c'est sans doute pour cela que nato l'a fait.
On trouve le collectif le plus gentiment iconoclaste dans cet album à la couverture réminiscente des numéros spéciaux bien épais et chatoyants du Journal de Tintin. Et puis Phil Spector n'a-t-il pas signé un album de Noël de référence qui donne confusément aussi envie d'en faire un à son tour? Dans Joyeux Noël sont évoqués toutes sortes de Noël, du Sussex, du pays Basque, on esquisse Elvis, on s'inquiète de voir Mummy embrasser Santa, on fait du foin pour avoir ses dents de devant, on déprime légèrement à l'approche du réveillon et on file sur Hawaï, on titille les rennes, on salue les rois, on s'aime dans la neige et l'on découvre les méfaits du chauffage central sur les visites du Père Noël.

http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Christmas_Song
http://www.natomusic.fr/catalogue/musique-jazz/cd/nato-disque.php?id=126

'Tis the season to be jolly? Alle sorgenti di gaiezza ed allegria, allora, con le canzoni che ci insegnarono i Bonzos! Ne raduna alcune il curatore di Birds with Broken Wings - prendendole da una splendida antologia di qualche anno fa - e le mette a confronto con le successive versioni dei Nostri: "I've assembled many of the original recordings that first inspired the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band on their merry way. These were culled from a great compilation that was released in 2007 called A Pre-History Of The Bonzos: Songs The Bonzo Dog Band Taught Us. I then followed each of these songs with the often faithful performances that were rendered by the Bonzos themselves many, many decades later. A few of the additional re-creations were contributed by ex-Bonzo saxophonist, Roger Ruskin Spear. These were taken from his long out of print recordings, Electric Shocks and Unusual. You'll also find in a couple of isolated instances that the Bonzos instead created their own tunes that were directly inspired by the originals, rather than actually covering the period songs as they were first written. Examples of this include Laughing Waltz vs. the Bonzos' Laughing Blues, Dr. Jazz Stomp vs. Dr. Jazz, and Skirts vs. Shirt. Scattered throughout you'll also hear a handful of songs that were unique to the Bonzos, all done up in the same old-timey vein as the material that first inspired them. These include Hello Mabel, Jazz. Delicious Hot, Disgusting Cold, Tubas In The Moonlight and Mr. Slater's Parrot. Likewise with Roger Ruskin Spear. His originals include I'm A Fly and Unusual."

http://www.iankitching.me.uk/music/bonzos
http://www.discogs.com/Various-Songs-The-Bonzo-Dog-Band-Taught-Us-A-Pre-History-Of-The-Bonzos/release/1097657

http://birdswithbrokenwings2.blogspot.it/2013/12/jollity-farm-presents-battle-of-bands.html

Dagli archivi Cordelia Records - ma lo si recupera anche via SoundCloud - rispunta un dimenticato motivetto appropriato al qui e ora: Santa Says, dal doppio cd The All Night Bookman ('probably the best album ever made in the history of the world', per graziosa ammissione) di un gruppo tra gli alfieri della simpatica etichetta, The Creams, con Alan Jenkins, Blodwyn P. Teabag, Howard Fairey e Robyn Gibson.

http://soundcloud.com/cordelia-records/the-creams-santa-says
http://www.cordeliarecords.co.uk/Pages/Creams.html
http://www.discogs.com/Creams-The-All-Night-Bookman/release/2898393

Buona scelta di titoli nuovi e nuovissimi - ma anche molti classici - nella promozione natalizia di Ambiances Magnétiques, con sconti tra il 15% e il 50% sul normale prezzo di listino. L'offerta vale fino al 12 gennaio 2014.

Ambiances Magnétiques is an independant label created in 1983 by Montréal musicians: Michel F Côté, Jean Derome, André Duchesne, Joane Hétu, Diane Labrosse, Robert Marcel Lepage, René Lussier, Danielle Palardy Roger, and Martin Tétreault. The idea of a collective was brought about by the need to create quality recordings of their musical material. Recordings that reflect the creative process and aesthetic values of the artists themselves. Ambiances Magnétiques seeks to give greater access to a music that is innovative, audacious, and authentic.

http://www.actuellecd.com/en/boutique/ambiancesmagnetiques
http://www.actuellecd.com/en/boutique/special/etiquette_rouge

ReR inaugura la propria sezione di materiali download-only con una raccolta di brani tratti dai concerti tenuti negli anni scorsi dai 'ragazzacci' Daan Vandewalle, Arne Deforce, Jean-Marc Montera e Chris Cutler - The Bad Boys Collective - a vari festival di musica contemporanea in Europa: Out of their Heads aka Graphic Process Instruction.

The Bad Boys specialize in the kind of contemporary repertoire that is both enigmatic and driven by the pressure of immediate transmission – which is why we avoid studios; studios give you too many second chances. Structurally, we are suckers for U-turns, dramatic gestures and polycontentuality, and we like our music to be sensual and intentional – with holes in it. Initially, we were convened to play pieces by Cage, Brown, Cardew and Stockhausen at various international music festivals (hence the name) and aspects of those languages have audibly influenced this work; certainly, our aesthetic, like the band itself, has been marinated in contemporary acoustic and electronic musics, noise and theatre. But our prime objective was to fill a stretch of time intelligently. We like you. We want you to enjoy yourselves – but we don’t want to make it too easy because easy is too quickly exhausted – and you won’t respect us in the morning. So, no spoon, no sugar – but we don’t skimp on the shopping.

http://tinyurl.com/put5anq
http://www.rerdownloads.com/?p=7624

Torna disponibile tramite Bandcamp l'irresistibile prima serie di programmi radiofonici - oltre otto ore di ascolto - prodotti da Bing Selfish e trasmessi a cadenza mensile qualche anno fa dalla londinese Resonance FM: The Bing Selfish Radio-First Series. E in questi stessi giorni esce anche Stropicalia, secondo album dei Capybaras - Bing Selfish, Ray Hogan, Caitlin Hogan e per l'occasione anche Bob Drake - preceduto su YouTube da un gustoso video d'ambiente: McCapybara Park.

The Capybaras are still pretty angry about a lot of stuff. But they are angry in a loving way, like a parent who's just had a mint choc chip ice cream cone shoved in their face by their sugar high offspring, or like a kid looking up at a group of adult townspeople shouting "You destroyed my planet!!!". Well, anyway, The Capybaras have a sense of justice and they're not afraid to use it. None of them being qualified international lawyers, they choose the next best thing to International Law: making a bloody racket about it.
Amongst other things, Stropicalia takes you to the nub of the matter on international relations, intranational relations, internal relations, internalised relations, internal organs, external Hammond organs, passport control, telephone switchboards and flowers. So if you're in International Law school, or maybe medical school, and it's not working out, or you're just goofing off for an afternoon, 42 of your minutes would be wisely spent with The Capybaras. You are most welcome to their lovely, marvelous world.

http://www.bingselfish.com
http://bingselfish.bandcamp.com/album/the-bing-selfish-radio-first-series
http://bingselfish.myzen.co.uk/Capybaras
https://www.facebook.com/TheCapybaras
http://capybaras.bandcamp.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bd12w_U54as

Ha visto la luce per merito dell'editrice L'Apocalypse la versione in francese del meraviglioso libro di Peter Blegvad The Book of Leviathan, antologia delle strisce illustrate con le avventure di Levi e Cat apparse ogni domenica dal 1992 al 1999 sul britannico The Independent on Sunday (in Italia, occasionalmente, su Linus). Il battesimo si è celebrato in pubblico lo scorso 23 novembre in un bistrot parigino, il Lou-Pascalou, con un concertino dello stesso Blegvad raggiunto da John Greaves.

Le Livre de Léviathan mérite vraiment le terme d’ovni parmi les parutions actuelles de bande dessinée. Américain installé à Londres, Peter Blegvad est plasticien, musicien reconnu depuis les années 70 (avec Slapp Happy, Henry Cow, jouant avec Robert Wyatt, Fred Frith ou John Greaves), et président de l’Institut Londonien de Pataphysique. C’est en autodidacte qu’il a abordé la bande dessinée avec ce Léviathan qui fut d’abord un strip hebdomadaire dans The Independent, où chaque semaine, Blegvad innovait et expérimentait à la manière des premiers maîtres du XXe Siècle: on pense à Mc Cay ou à Herriman plus qu’à un livre paru en Angleterre en 2000 et maintenant traduit en Français par Claro. Léviathan, bébé sans visage à l’imaginaire et aux raisonnements philosophiques insoupçonnables par son entourage, est un prétexte à des variations thématiques et graphiques d’une audace rare, d’un humour insolite et d’une poésie confondante.

http://www.lapo.fr/018-le-livre-de-leviathan
http://www.lapo.fr/int-leviathan
http://www.lapo.fr/journal/25-novembre-2.html
http://leviathan.co.uk/menu.html
http://www.amateur.org.uk

Dopo Black Sky, White Sky - ma in forma breve, e in chiave meno narrativa - Ken Hyder torna a scrivere e a riflettere sul proprio lungo percorso di esperienze e conoscenze musicali e spirituali: How to Know: Spirit Music - Crazy Wisdom, Shamanism And Trips To The Black Sky.

This is a memoir of a musician from Dundee, Scotland who began exploring spiritual energy before his teens when he embarked on a lifetime journey of connecting spirit through music. Ken Hyder's musical explorations took him through over 30 albums of jazz and various ethnic musics. The spiritual path included encounters with Japanese and Tibetan Buddhist monks and finally, in Siberia with shamans.
Ken Hyder's memoir is unusual. It is short, and tight. And it reflects the way he gained insights along his path...from Dundee, Scotland to the heart of Siberia and the shamans of Tuva, on the border with Mongolia. He said: "Of course I read books. Lots of books. And I learned a lot from books. But what really struck me was that all along the way, everyone who gave me insights did it and a simple, brief way. They did not go on and on, deluging me with words, nor binding me with coils of instructions. So that is why the memoir is brief and to the point. It is more about showing how to find the knowledge rather than giving a booklist."
He argues that most of what we need to know, we already know inside ourselves. But we are unaware of that fact. So we need to know how to find the knowledge which is often so simple, we just don't see it.
Hyder examines how spirit manifests itself in different musics - including Gaelic psalm singing which was the fore-runner of American gospel -  and how musicians working in spirit music put themselves in the right frame of mind to create that fusion of spirit and music. He says: "There is no single right way, though there are plenty of wrong ways. Individuals need to find the right way for themselves. Some people may do better with peaceful meditation, while others will thrive better on active meditation."
The insights of Siberian shamanic practice were gained just as shamans were coming out into the open after decades of oppression under the old Soviet regime.

http://www.kenhyder.co.uk
http://www.kenhyder.co.uk/?page_id=15

Tratto dal volume Red Strains-Music and Communism Outside the Communist Bloc (Proceedings of the British Academy-185, OUP, 2013) è disponibile in qualche copia presso ReR Megacorp il capitolo dedicato all'esperienza politica degli Henry Cow, così come illustrata da Chris Cutler in un'intervista condotta da Benjamin Piekut: The Multiple Politics of Henry Cow.

With the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, a third of the world's population came to live under communist regimes. Over the next forty years, the lives of most people in the non-communist world were also shaped in some way by communism and the Cold War waged against it. In the cases of many artists, intellectuals and workers, this involvement was wished and active. Yet, while the left-leaning tendencies of western artists have long been recognised, the extent and depth of musicians' involvement in communism specifically has been largely ignored, suppressed, or dismissed as youthful infatuation.
The volume offers, for the first time, a representative overview of the relationship of music and communism outside the communist bloc. Ranging across multiple musical genres, five continents, and seven decades, the nineteen chapters address both prominent musicians who aligned themselves with communism, and the investments in music of a range of communist and radical Marxist organisations (including national Communist Parties, the Black Panther Party, and Maoist and Trotskyist groups in Britain, Germany and Nepal). In the book's first section, five musicians (Giacomo Manzoni, Ernie Lieberman, Konrad Boehmer, Chris Cutler and Georgina Born) offer their own, more personal perspectives upon their engagement with communism. The volume as a whole highlights two 'red strains' in particular: the irreducible differences of opinion between communists regarding key debates concerning music's role in society; and the multiple challenges faced by every engaged musician in reconciling political and artistic agendas.

http://www.rermegacorp.com
http://tinyurl.com/redstrains
http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780197265390.do

Celebrano trent'anni di attività i messicani Banda Elástica: l'album dal vivo Aquí, allá y acullá, uscito da poco per l'etichetta Luna Negra, ne segue le vicende nel periodo 1994-2008 tra rock progressivo, jazz e mambo, folk, improvvisazione e avanguardia. C'è anche un brano con ospite Chris Cutler, loro estimatore e sostenitore fin quasi dagli esordi.

http://www.bandaelastica.com.mx
https://www.facebook.com/banda.elastica.5
http://tinyurl.com/nn8bqh8
http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=1396

Dopo quelle effettuate a Londra, Pechino, Bruxelles, Chicago, Praga, lago Bajkal, mar Caspio e Chernobyl, Peter Cusack presenta una nuova indagine sonora condotta 'sul campo', questa volta nel cuore di Berlino: gli esiti sono in Favourite Berlin Sounds, cd per ReR Megacorp.

"Berlin is interesting because it’s changed so much since the Wall came down over 20 years ago. The transformation of Berlin from being a divided city and a divided nation, to being the capital city of the united country means that there are big changes in Berlin which are unique to Berlin. And of course those changes have created changes in the soundscape. For example, a lot of industry, particularly in the former East Berlin, was immediately closed down. Those areas are now being rebuilt, the factories are going and housing is being built, for example. So the area has changed in 20 years from an industrial area to a residential area, a new community, that was not there before, is moving in and growing and forming. Those are actually big social, architectural, and economic changes in Berlin. How that changes the soundscape is what this project is about."

http://tinyurl.com/n99xuyc

http://www.petercusack.org

http://www.ausland-berlin.de/peter-cusack

http://createdigitalmusic.com/2013/05/you-learn-a-lot-about-the-city-by-asking-about-its-sound-peter-cusack-interview

Quando l'anno scorso si incontrarono in uno studio dell' Ontario (Stati Uniti) Robert Wheeler e Allen Ravenstine - appassionati ed esperti di sintetizzatori analogici, accomunati dall'aver fatto parte entrambi, pur in epoche diverse, del gruppo Pere Ubu - non era in programma una seduta di registrazione, ma una breve intervista per un documentario sulla musica elettronica. Invece è proprio quanto accadde: due giorni di sorprendenti sessioni musicali, documentate in due distinti cd, City Desk e Farm Report, disponibili singolarmente o in coppia: http://ubuprojex.net/wheelrave.html

In the spring of 2012, Allen Ravenstine and Robert Wheeler travelled to historic Grant Avenue Studio in Hamilton, Ontario, to appear in I Dream of Wires, a film documentary about the role of modular synthesizers in electronic music. Canadian Filmmaker Robert Fantinatto dedicated 20 minutes to an interview with the two pioneers of industrial electronics, and their choice of the unique EML Electrocomp synthesizer as a performance instrument in Pere Ubu.
Allen Ravenstine was a composer, patron and pioneer of the burgeoning Cleveland arts scene in the early 1970's. As synthesist with Pere Ubu, playing the EML-200 and later the EML-101, he earned international acclaim for his inspired use of industrial sound before retiring from popular music in the late 1980's. His approach to live performance - rejecting the traditional tonal keyboard for an intuitive wash of modulated noise - has been much imitated but rarely equaled.
Robert Wheeler (of Home & Garden) joined Pere Ubu in 1994, playing the EML-101 and a handmade Theremin. He is a relative of Thomas Edison - a birthright that led him to take a leading role in the Edison Birthplace Museum in Milan, Ohio. In January 2010, he accepted a Grammy Award on Edison's behalf.
Ravenstine had left synthesis behind him years before but, with characteristic good humor, he agreed to patch and perform on the EML-200 for the documentary. With Wheeler joining in on his signature EML-101, two lengthy stretches of unplanned improvisation followed. The filming schedule was thrown out the window and the studio stayed open until Ravenstine was forced to catch his flight back to New York City.
Perhaps because the two had never played together before, the recordings that followed have a magical quality; a voyage of mutual discovery in a genre that they had pioneered a decade apart. "This project is the work of two friends with mutual respect and a profound shared intelligence," Wheeler said. "Electronic meditations, musique d'ameublement, imaginary landscapes; there are dozens of ways of describing the end result of this remarkable collaboration. The fact is that you have probably never heard anything quite like it."

http://ubuprojex.net/wheelrave.html

La tragica spedizione del 1924 di George Mallory e Andrew Irvine per la conquista della cima del monte Everest è stata immortalata dalle immagini girate, in condizioni a dir poco proibitive, da Captain John Noel, cineasta al seguito del gruppo. Il suo film, The Epic of Everest, è stato di recente restaurato dal British Film Institute - lo commenta con lo sguardo del moderno scalatore Mark Horrell al suo blog - e presto sarà disponibile al pubblico in formato dvd e blu-ray. A comporre il commento sonoro è stato chiamato Simon Fisher Turner: l'album è su Mute, anche in un'edizione deluxe che include vinile e cd con materiali aggiuntivi.

Color-tinted archival footage of the majestic ice formations at East Rongbuk Glacier in Tibet forms a dramatic backdrop in today’s clip of the newly restored The Epic Of Everest. The film, shot by Captain John Noel while he documented the ultimately doomed 1924 British attempt to reach the summit of Mount Everest, has been restored by the BFI with the help of the intrepid director’s daughter Sandra Noel, who is interviewed below. Simon Fisher Turner - who has previously composed soundtracks to Derek Jarman's Edward II and Caravaggio and has more recently worked with DFA’s dance minimalists, Factory Floor -has provided a multilayered new score featuring Nepalese musicians alongside Throbbing Gristle’s Cosey Fanni Tutti, cellist Peter Gregson and drummer Asaf Sirkis. “I first saw an unrestored copy of the film that had hairs, cuts and gashes all over it, but I was still stunned by its beauty and extraordinary camerawork,” says Turner. Noel used modified cameras and pioneering lenses to shoot in the atrocious conditions, and the expedition itself was as much a battle of untested technology against the elements as it was endurance: the climbers made their ascent relying on hemp rope and temperamental oxygen supplies, wearing tweed jackets over wool undergarments and leather boots studded with nails. A haunting moment comes towards the end of the film when tiny figures move slowly up the steep slope, part of a third and final summit attempt made by 36-year-old George Mallory and 22-year-old Andrew Irvine. They were never seen alive again: Mallory’s body was found in 1999; Irvine still lies undiscovered on the mountain.

http://www.simonfisherturner.com
http://www.mutebank.co.uk/mutebank/mutebank/The-Epic-Of-Everest-Vinyl-CD/2QRS0000000
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/oct/17/epic-of-everest-london-film-festival-review
http://www.nowness.com/day/2013/10/25/3420/the-epic-of-everest
http://www.markhorrell.com/blog/2013/the-epic-of-everest-captain-john-noels-film-of-the-1924-expedition

Volendo, si può iniziare da Words Lurking - c'è su YouTube, presa dal vivo a Lainate lo scorso settembre - ma l'album pretende e merita un ascolto integrale, fluido, ben oltre i minuti indicati in copertina, possibilmente senza intrusioni... Empty Days (AltrOck, 2013).

http://www.francescozago.com
https://www.facebook.com/FrancescoZagoMusician
http://www.discogs.com/artist/Elaine+Di+Falco

Sounds of Silence: trenta silenzi d'autore tratti da altrettante opere e raccolti da Alga Marghen in un'edizione in vinile di sole 250 copie. Varie le durate e varie le intensità: tra i più riconoscibili quelli di John Lennon, Sly & The Family Stone, Afrika Bambaataa e Andy Warhol. Significativo anche quello di Robert Wyatt, preso da Cuckooland, lì tra 'neither here...' e '...nor there' ('a suitable place for those with tired ears to pause and resume listening later').

"Sounds of Silence" is an anthology of some of the most intriguing silent tracks in recording history and includes rare works, among others, by Andy Warhol, John Lennon, Maurice Lemaitre, Sly & the Family Stone, Robert Wyatt, John Denver, Whitehouse, Orbital, Crass, Ciccone Youth, Afrika Bambaataa and of course Yves Klein. In their own quiet way, these silences speak volumes: they are performative, political, critical, abstract, poetic, cynical, technical, absurd… They can be intended as a memorial or a joke, a special offer, or something entirely undefined. The LP presents the silences as they were originally recorded, preserving any imperfection that the hardware conferred upon the enterprise, without banning the possibility to satisfying the ear. This album is meant to be played loud (or not), at any time, in any place: a true aural experience!

http://www.soundohm.com/product/VARIOUS-/Sounds-of-Silence/pid/20240

Lutto anche nell'universo canterburyano per la perdita pochi giorni fa di Richard Coughlan, batterista storico nel gruppo Caravan fin dalla sua fondazione, nel 1968, e prima ancora nei Wilde Flowers, nel 1965. Da tempo si era ritirato dalle scene, per ragioni di salute, apparendo dal vivo un'ultima volta a fianco dei compagni nel dicembre 2010, in occasione del concerto filmato nella saletta dei londinesi Metropolis Studios. Un messaggio di affettuoso ricordo è al sito ufficiale del gruppo, mentre un profilo biografico è in Calyx.

http://officialcaravan.co.uk/2013/12/richard-coughlan-rip
http://calyx.perso.neuf.fr/mus/coughlan_richard.html
http://www.macgraphic.co.jp/ich/wilde_flowers/index.html
http://britishrockmemorabilia.blogspot.it/2011/05/caravan.html

Lutto nel jazz britannico per la scomparsa del pianista Stan Tracey, dopo lunga malattia. Lo annunciano i suoi cari dalle pagine del suo sito web: "It is with deepest regret that we must announce the death of Stan Tracey OBE, CBE today, at the age of 86. After a struggle with illness, he passed away having recently celebrated his 70 year professional career as a jazz pianist/composer. He is survived by a family who love him, and will miss him profoundly. His legacy is the generations of musicians young and old, past and future who have his influential example to look to. Many thanks to all those who have shown him such love and support over these many years".

Compositore prolifico e fine armonista, guida di numerose formazioni anche orchestrali, si è spesso cimentato anche con l'improvvisazione e il free jazz, incontrando in quest'ambito Keith Tippett, Louis Moholo, Mike Osborne, John Surman ed Evan Parker tra gli altri. John Fordham sul Guardian ne ricostruisce la lunga carriera a pochi giorni dai festeggiamenti per i settant'anni di vita professionale: http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/dec/06/stan-tracey

Stan Tracey is an outstanding figure in the jazz world. His distinguished career has spanned seven decades of flourishing creativity. He has been a highly influential and stimulating musical voice, not only to his peers, but to each successive generation of musicians with whom he has worked. Stan's capricious piano playing combines the percussive melody of Thelonious Monk with the robust lyricism of Ellington in a highly idiosyncratic style. A master of harmony, he possesses a potent and compelling improviser's intellect. Through Stan Tracey's unflinching commitment and dedication has emerged a very rare artist who has sustained an output of highly exceptional music.

http://www.stantracey.com
http://www.stantracey.com/biog.htm
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/dec/06/stan-tracey
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/dec/06/stan-tracey-dies
http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2013/dec/07/stan-tracey-jazz-passion-appreciation

Bella iniziativa oggi a Londra, con i tre migliori club musicali di Dalston - Servant Jazz Quarters, The Vortex e Cafe Oto, a quattro passi uno dall'altro - finalmente alleati per un programma comune con eventi in successione dal primo pomeriggio fino a tarda notte dislocati nelle rispettive sedi: Intersect. Ne parlano i responsabili in un'intervista salvata in podcast presso LondonJazz.

An extended evening of adventurous music taking place across Servant Jazz Quarters, The Vortex, Cafe OTO and The OTO Project Space. The ticket price gives you a wristband that gets you access to all four venues throughout the day.

Cafe Oto, 18-22 Ashwin Street, E8 3DL
www.cafeoto.co.uk
Vortex, 11 Gillett Square, N16 8AZ
www.vortexjazz.co.uk
Servant Jazz Quarters, 10A Bradbury Street, N16 8JN
www.servantjazzquarters.com

http://www.londonjazznews.com/2013/11/podcast-cafe-oto-servant-jazz-quarters.html

Per Nelson Mandela (18 luglio 1918 - 5 dicembre 2013), per esempio: Chris McGregor, Mayibuye; Irène Schweizer & Louis Moholo, Free Mandela!; Robert Wyatt, Born Again Cretin.

http://www.nato-glob.blogspot.it/2013/12/nelson-et-la-confrerie-du-souffle.html

Bel ritratto di Carla Bley per la francese Naïve Livres, redatto con i contributi di Jean-Michel Court, Alex Dutilh e Jean-François Mondot sotto la direzione di Ludovic Florin, e con uno scritto della stessa Bley sulla realizzazione di Escalator Over the Hill (in origine su Impetus, nel 1978): Carla Bley, L'inattendu-e. Una presentazione del volume e una conversazione con Florin sono negli archivi radiofonici di France Inter.

Carla Bley est aujourd’hui considérée comme l’une des artistes de jazz les plus originales des xxe et xxie siècles. En puisant autant aux sources du jazz, de la musique religieuse, du folk, du rock, des musiques du monde, du cabaret ou de la musique classique, elle a su créer un style musical qui ne se laisse pas classifier. Carla Bley occupe de fait une place sans équivalent dans l’histoire de la musique mondiale, et du jazz plus particulièrement. Célèbre pour son opéra Escalator Over the Hill, pour son rôle dans le mouvement free des années 1960 et pour ses collaborations avec des artistes comme Charlie Haden, Don Cherry, John Cage, Robert Wyatt, avec le batteur des Pink Floyd, Nick Mason, ou encore avec le bassiste de Cream, Jack Bruce, Carla Bley a exploré les champs du jazz les plus variés, des contextes traditionnels jusqu’aux recherches les plus avant-gardistes et subversives. Si elle est d’abord et avant tout compositrice et arrangeuse, elle est aussi chef d’orchestre, organiste, pianiste, mais également coordinatrice de production et de diffusion underground. Elle fut ainsi pionnière dans son travail d’artiste indépendante, en développant par exemple son propre label actuel, Watt Records, ou en co-fondant la New Music Distribution Services, un réseau de distribution pour la promotion de musiques nouvelles.

http://www.wattxtrawatt.com
http://www.naive.fr/oeuvre/carla-bley
http://www.franceinter.fr/emission-summertime-sextet-stellaire-avec-christophe-marguet-et-biographie-inattendue-de-carla-bley-
http://www.citizenjazz.com/Carla-Bley-L-inattendu-e.html

Un omaggio a Frank Zappa che trascende le commemorazioni di rito nel ventennale della scomparsa è l'installazione Let's Make the Water Turn Black, dell'artista canadese Geoffrey Farmer, una settantina di sculture cinetiche che avvicinano all'esperienza zappiana in una coreografia di luci e musiche suggestiva, pertinente - stando a quanto documentato sul web - e mutevole ad ogni visita. Dopo Zurigo - in futuro sarà ad Amburgo e Miami - l'opera è attualmente ospite a Nottingham (Regno Unito) del centro d'arte Nottingham Contemporary, dove pochi giorni fa è intervenuto per una presentazione pubblica Paul Carr, autore del corposo studio Frank Zappa and the And, nonché redattore del programma di sala che non avete mai letto - respinto dallo staff di casa Zappa - per la prima londinese di 200 Motels lo scorso ottobre.

http://www.nottinghamcontemporary.org/art/geoffrey-farmer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKvrPKuNbK0
http://paulcarrmusings.wordpress.com/2013/11/29/geoffrey-farmerlets-make-the-water-turn-black
https://www.facebook.com/FrankZappaAndTheAnd
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6ObCjj0TXU
http://paulcarrmusings.wordpress.com/2013/10/22/200-motels-the-programme-notes-that-never-happened

Il film si avvia ormai alla fase di post-produzione, ma le spese da affrontare sono ancora molte. Per terminare Theory of Obscurity: a film about The Residents nei modi e nei tempi previsti - l'uscita è per giugno 2014 - Don Hardy scrive ad amici e appassionati e avvia una colletta tramite Indiegogo: "As some of you may know, I'm currently putting together a feature length documentary film about The Residents called Theory of Obscurity: a film about The Residents. We started shooting this film last January, recording 20 shows during the 40th anniversary Wonder of Weird Tour in the US and in Europe. In addition to the new concert footage we've also been digging through the vaults beneath The Cryptic Corporation looking through archival footage, photos, costumes, and sets. It's really a spectacular amount of stuff... some of which has never been seen. We've also done interviews with more than 40 people who have either collaborated with or been inspired by The Residents. People like Simpsons creator Matt Groening, Penn Jillette, Les Claypool, Gary Panter, Chris Cutler, Eric Drew Feldman, and many more. Heck, we even did interviews with the four founding members of The Cryptic Corporation: John Kennedy, Jay Clem, Homer Flynn and Hardy Fox. We're thrilled that they all agreed to participate in this film. We recently launched a fundraising campaign to help us get all of the archival material transferred to HD and to get our film through post-production. It's an expensive process, and even though we've been able to negotiate good prices for these services, we need your help to finish strong. Thanks very much for your time and consideration."

http://www.residents.com
http://residentsmovie.com/about
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/theory-of-obscurity-a-film-about-the-residents

Un po' svogliatamente e da buon ultimo, Miles Mellough di Birds With Broken Wings cerca di avvicinare - ma si ferma ben prima che a metà strada - Caravan e Hatfield and the North: "I'd probably be inclined to say that they roughly cross paths at the imaginary urban intersection where 'Sgt. Pepper' collides with Zappa's, 'Roxy And Elsewhere,' causing Brian Auger's Oblivion Express (which has Jethro Tull, the Atlanta Rhythm Section and Jean-Luc Ponty partying in the second cab) to careen out of control and right into the front window of the Grateful Dead's 'Mars Hotel' where that band is busy rehearsing 'Unbroken Chain.' At least that's what it sounds like to my ears". Glub!

http://birdswithbrokenwings2.blogspot.com/2013/11/halfway-between-heaven-and-earth.html

In una nuova puntata dell'imperdibile serie Inside the Music Dave Stewart rivela temi ispiratori e particolari costruttivi del brano Henry & James, composto e inciso in fretta e furia con Barbara Gaskin nel 1984 per accompagnare sul lato B il singolo I'm in a Dfferent World, prendendo spunto dai personaggi di Leipzig, brano di Thomas Dolby interpretato dai due qualche tempo prima.
Alcune rare copie di Leipzig - con copertina disegnata da Peter Blegvad - sono in vendita in questi giorni presso Burning Shed assieme ad altre antichità della premiata coppia: il primo vinile della serie Broken del 1983, Siamese Cat Song, firmata e con dedica; Busy Doing Nothing, regolare e anche in versione picture disc; The Big Idea in audiocassetta originale Rykodisc...

http://www.davebarb.demon.co.uk
http://www.davebarb.demon.co.uk/dsbgfeat.html
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dave-Stewart-Barbara-Gaskin/171696959516360
https://www.burningshed.com/store/davebarb/collection/512