Per ricordare Guy Klucevsek (1947-2025) a poche settimane dalla scomparsa Adrienne Cardwell propone per KALW, radio pubblica che serve l'area della Baia di San Francisco, una bella selezione con il Nostro che esegue dal vivo alcuni propri brani assieme ad altri di Henry Cowell, Ramón Sender, William Duckworth, William Obrecht, Jim Hiscott, Arne Nordheim, William Schimmel e Carl Finch: Guy, Won’t You Play Your Accordion?
https://www.otherminds.org/broadcast/831/GuyKlucevsek
Tramite Bandcamp si recupera un bell'inedito di Derek Bailey proposto da Scatter nella consueta - e graditissima - formula a offerta libera: ECA [1992]. Si tratta della registrazione del concerto tenuto in solo all'Edinburgh College of Art il 5 marzo 1992 per iniziativa di Iain Patterson, non nuovo a proporre appuntamenti di musiche altre in Istituto: "As a painting student in the 1960s at Edinburgh College of Art, I helped to organise a three day event of improvised music in 1969 at the ECA College Club - inviting the Spontaneous Music Ensemble (Derek Bailey, Evan Parker, Trevor Watts, Barry Guy and John Stevens), the Instant Composer’s Pool (Peter Brötzmann, Buschi Niebergall and Han Bennink) plus Paul Rutherford’s Iskra and Johnny Dyani. The musicians in the end shared roles, and it became a forerunner of Derek’s idea for Company, which he curated over many years, inviting players of sometimes very different musical backgrounds to explore improvisation with each other in occasionally unorthodox groups. To stage the concerts, we raided the entire SRC funds for that year, and Derek admitted afterwards that (having personally pleaded with the college secretary for more money) it was his best paid gig. Later, on becoming a lecturer in painting at the college, I organised three more concerts of improvised music at ECA. The first was Derek, who played in the College Lecture Theatre, talking to students about improvisation. Later that evening he played a solo concert in the student club - the Wee Red Bar - where this recently discovered audience recording was made."
https://scatterarchive.bandcamp.com/eca-1992
https://daily.bandcamp.com/lists/derek-bailey-album-guide
Torna in circolazione in digitale e in forma leggermente ritoccata il clamoroso progetto Techno mit Störungen che Jon Rose allestì a Wels (Austria) per il festival Music Unlimited l'anno in cui ne fu il curatore artistico, il 1995. Manca qualche minuto rispetto al documento uscito a suo tempo in cd per Plag Dich Nicht, e il flusso musicale - la cui durata reale fu oltre le due ore e mezza - è ora racchiuso in due sole tracce di circa trenta minuti ciascuna. Sufficienti per riportare la memoria ai fatti: "My concept was direct, to set up collisions between distinct methods of music making: technological produced sound would be interfered with by a series of interruptions from instrumentalists and singers. Heard in many Berlin clubs in the 1990s was sequenced dance music - otherwise known as Techno - it seemed that the punters preferred to dance to the machine more than the human… 30 years later where are we, who are we? In the middle of the Music Unlimited festival 1995, there was a bomb alert initiated by some local right wing thugs, the building had to be emptied; Connie Bauer and Evan Parker played on outside surrounded by an enthusiastic crowd.
In Techno mit Störungen, the ‘tech’ was represented by sequenced beats, vinyl record manipulation, CDs, and sampling through the skills of Frank Schulte, Otomo Yoshihide and Christian Marclay: the ‘störungen’ (on stage) by the virtuosity of Connie Bauer - trombone, Jon Rose - violin, Lawren Newton - voice, Phil Minton - voice, Chris Cutler - drums & low grade electronics, Peter Cusack - bouzouki & interactive birds, Iva Bittova - voice, Fred Frith - guitars, Uli Gumpert - piano and organ, Sainkho Namtchylak - voice, Rudi Widerhofer - spoken text, Evan Parker - soprano saxophone, Nick Collins - trombone propelled electronics, Peter Hollinger - drums, Marc Ribot - guitar. And causing disturbances from the audience were members of Laboratorio di Musica & Immagine: Paolo Angeli - bass tuba & voice, Olivia Bignardi - clarinet, Daniela Cattivelli - alto saxophone, Ferdinando D’Andria - trumpet, Silvia Fanti - accordion, Filomena Forleo - piano, Pierangelo Galantino - bass & voice, Salvatore Manu - trombone, Pino Ursu - percussion & voice, Stefano Zozanello - soprano saxophone & flute.
As you can hear, some of the artists preferred to go with the ‘techno’ rather than the ‘störungen’. Franz Brummer was on the mixing desk and made the DAT of this incomplete performance recording (tape ran out). David Humer built the traffic light system by which the sequence of events were organised (sort of). Wolfgang Wasserbauer was and remains the amazing director and energy behind Music Unlimited."
Veryan Weston è invece al fianco di Jon Rose in Tunings & Tunes, uno dei capitoli della loro lunga e fruttuosa esplorazione di scordature, accordature non canoniche, intemperanze e deviazioni dagli standard di melodia e armonia operate con strumenti storici particolari, unici e rari, spesso autentici pezzi da museo concessi per l'occasione. Le registrazioni sono state effettuate a Bruxelles nel 2001 e nel 2005, in situazioni di concerto o dal vivo in studio; le aveva raccolte in cd la slovacca HEyeRMEarS-Discorbie di Nové Zámky, ora sono disponibili in digitale via Bandcamp. Con le note originali di Rose da (ri)leggere da cima a fondo: "More improvisations using differing tunings derived from science, history and the imagination - punctuated by the odd traditional Euro-tune such as La Paloma, Lavotta, Humoresque, Santa Lucia, or the Chupeh Tanz."
Ne esistono due distinte versioni nel Gran Catalogo Westbrook, una del 2020 di Kate in settetto con la Granite Band e una di Mike con la Uncommon Orchestra al completo, dal vivo al Ronnie Scott's londinese nel 2022. Ora è disponibile nero su bianco in una versione predisposta per pianoforte e voce: Says the Duke.
"Says the Duke is not a Blues in any conventional sense. It does not break down into the familiar 12 or 8 bar choruses. In fact the basic ‘chorus’ is 88 bars long. Yet it is faithful to the mood and spirit of the Blues. The lyrics of Says the Duke evoke our memory of the Ellington Orchestra’s final concert in London, at the Rainbow in 1973. Cootie Williams, Paul Gonsalves and Harry Carney were still there and in great form. In our piece there are quotes from the Duke himself, references to his compositions and name-checks for his legendary musicians." (Kate e Mike Westbrook)
https://mikewestbrook.bandcamp.com/says-the-duke-westbrook-songbook
Il lavoro di Louis Philippe, si sa, ha attraversato e sostenuto in mille modi le vicende della él nel breve periodo della sua folgorante avventura; non sorprende perciò che sia proprio con una cinquina di suoi brani - Anthony Bay, Like Nobody Do, Guess I'm Dumb (mais oui, quella di Brian Wilson e Russ Titelman), Touch Of Evil e If You're Missing Someone - che si apre la preziosa collezione The Rubens Room - Él Records: In Camera prodotta da Tapete Records in alleanza e concomitanza con il bel libro di Mark Goodall Bright Young Things-The Art and Philosophy of él Records pubblicato la scorsa primavera dalla tedesca Ventil Verlag. Parimenti presenti nell'album, anche sotto mentite spoglie, sono Anthony Adverse, The King of Luxembourg, Would-Be-Goods, Marden Hill, Bad Dream Fancy Dress, The Monochrome Set, Always, Momus e Simon Fisher Turner. Con le note di copertina scritte appositamente dal protagonista assoluto, Mike Alway, responsabile naturalmente della scelta dei brani: "él was the joy of my life. It was monumental."
Of all the independent record labels of the 1980s, él was the most singular and exciting. él only existed for a few short years and yet paradoxically - given its modest commercial success - was hugely influential. For writer Jonathan Coe, one of the label’s many devotees, él was ‘Britain's great musical secret’. This ‘best of’ compilation LP, curated by label supremo Mike Alway himself, will remind the world of the greatness of él. The secret is out…
https://www.tapeterecords.de/va-the-rubens-room-el-records-in-camera
https://www.ventil-verlag.de/bright-young-things
Questa la scaletta dei brani proposti nello splendido concerto londinese di Louis Philippe con The Night Mail (Andy Lewis, Robert Rotifer, Ian Button), coadiuvati egregiamente da Danny Manners, Dave Gregory e per un paio di brani anche da Rachel Hall: Pictures of Anna, Fall In A Daydream, The Mighty Owl, The Man Who Had It All (con una toccante dedica al compianto Ken Brake), The Wonder Of It All (con il testo scritto da Jonathan Coe, tra l'altro presente in sala), Ville lumière, Watching Your Sun Go Down, Il ne reste plus rien de l'eté, L'aventure, True Love (questi ultimi tre proposti in duo dai soli Philippe e Danny), L'hiver te va bien, Martine, Down By The Riverbank, All At Sea, Wild-Eyed And Dishevelled, Liverpool, Song For Paddy-Wings Of Desire (pensando a Paddy McAloon) e in finale la travolgente She Means Everything To Me. Quello di ieri rimane per ora episodio unico, legato in parte alla promozione del nuovissimo (e altrettanto splendido) The Road To The Sea. Ma c'è speranza!
I brani del nuovissimo The Road To The Sea - e quelli di Thunderclouds, oltre a vari altri tratti dalle precedenti magnifiche collezioni di Louis Philippe - risuoneranno stasera sul palco del Water Rats di King's Cross a Londra, dove a fianco del Nostro ci saranno il trio The Night Mail (Andy Lewis, Ian Button, Robert Rotifer), Danny Manners, Stuart Moxham (con un suo set solista in apertura) e - quasi a sorpresa - Dave Gregory. Qualcun altro, forse?
https://www.facebook.com/events
https://www.thewaterratsvenue.london
https://www.tapeterecords.de/louis-philippe-the-night-mail
Dopo le esperienze collettive con Yugen, Camembert e Loomings, e parallelamente agli altri impegni con Oiapok, The Juke Revue, La Bagatelle du Géant e i crimsoniani FraCKtal, Jacopo Costa si è voluto concentrare anche sulle forme della performance solitaria e provare a convogliar lì le proprie passioni per complesse costruzioni ritmiche e canzoni fuori standard, traducendole in tempo reale con svariate risorse elettroniche e alcune astuzie visive: il progetto, presentato dal vivo con il titolo Electroacoustic Songs, è ora documentato in Teachers and Demons, album pubblicato dall'etichetta belga Off. Lo si rintraccia via Bandcamp, con qualche esempio anche su YT.
https://jacopocosta.bandcamp.com
https://www.youtube.com/@jacopocosta504
Malgré l'indéniable présence de tendances qui peuvent être décrites comme expérimentales au cours de l'histoire du rock, parler de "rock expérimental" en tant que genre musical proprement dit reste problématique. Ce livre discute les approches de musiciens et de groupes qui, tout en étant enracinées dans la tradition du rock, dépassent les frontières - stylistiques mais aussi sociologiques et économiques - propres au rock. L'esthétique musicale de Frank Zappa, du collectif Rock In Opposition (et plus spécifiquement de Henry Cow et Stormy Six) ainsi que du groupe italien Yugen, s'inscrivent dans une même tradition de l'expérimentation, sans pour autant aboutir à des productions similaires du point de vue du style. Par ailleurs, les réflexions, menées par ces artistes, sur les enjeux économiques et sociaux - voire politiques - liés à l'activité de musicien, prouvent que l'expérimentation n'est pas simplement une question d'esthétique. Les recherches de ce livre suivent une approche pluridisciplinaire. Dans un premier temps, il est question de définir les traits constitutifs du rock, au niveau musical, sociologique et économique, et de comprendre dans quelle mesure la notion d'expérimentation a pu s'intégrer au rock au cours de l'histoire. Ensuite, les exemples fournis par Zappa, Henry Cow, Stormy Six et Yugen nous permettront de discuter concrètement l'articulation entre rock et expérimentation, à travers des analyses musicales et la description du positionnement socio-économique de ces artistes.
https://www.editions-delatour.com/le-rock-des-experimentateurs
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Altro contributo a proposito della valenza artistica e socio-politica del Rock in Opposition Jacopo Costa lo ha offerto in occasione del convegno Rock, engagements et émancipations (1950-2020) tenuto a marzo all'Università di Rouen, in Normandia, dove in tre giorni di studio si sono illustrati e messi a confronto aspetti e tematiche che hanno motivato e sostenuto - e tuttora lo fanno, anche in luoghi e tempi di guerra - alcune importanti esperienze di emancipazione culturale e impegno politico nel campo del rock e della musica contemporanea. Lo si può seguire assieme agli interventi degli altri relatori al sito web dedicato.
https://webtv.univ-rouen.fr/rock-engagements-et-emancipations
Prende il via a Parigi presso la Sorbonne Nouvelle la conferenza della IASPM (International Association for the Study of Popular Music) Enregistrer les musiques populaires, con un ciclo di interventi, seminari, presentazione di studi e progetti di ricerca che da oggi a venerdì 11 luglio affronterà i temi legati alla registrazione in campo musicale, tracciandone la storia, l'importanza e l'evoluzione come strumento di documentazione, di diffusione, di produzione e di processo creativo. Nel vasto programma troverà spazio un contributo di Jacopo Costa dedicato all'approccio dei gruppi del nucleo storico del Rock In Opposition allo studio di registrazione come strumento tecnico, artistico e musicale, luogo di specifica creazione estetica quanto anche di interazione sociale, politica ed economica: 'Rock In Opposition: bringing together ideology and aesthetics in the recording studio'.
"À la fin des années 1970, quelques groupes originaires de différents pays européens - parmi lesquels Henry Cow (Angleterre), Etron Fou Leloublan (France), Stormy Six (Italie), Samla Mammas Manna (Suède) et Aksak Maboul (Belgique) - donnèrent vie à Rock In Opposition, un collectif dont les buts étaient l’entraide et la promotion autonome et transfrontalière pour des artistes aux marges de l’industrie musicale, en raison de leurs orientations avant-gardistes mais aussi de leur opposition à l’économie capitaliste. Le collectif défendait notamment l’idée que les modes de création et de production eux-mêmes doivent correspondre à des répères idéologiques d’inspiration marxiste. Par conséquent, et contrairement à d’autres collectifs ou courants artistiques, la réflexion intellectuelle était particulirement développée au sein de Rock In Opposition, résultant par ailleurs en une ré-définition du concept de rock lui-même, où presque toute référence à un style de musique précis est absente, mais qui met l’accent, entre autre, sur «sa relation spécifique avec les technologies de communication modernes: les instruments électroniques e l’amplification, le studio, le disque et la bande, la radio, la production de masse, etc.» (Cutler). Avec cette communication, je me propose d’étudier l’approche des artistes de Rock In Opposition vis-à-vis du studio d’enregistrement. Il sera notamment question d’investiguer comment ces artistes articulent leurs pratiques d’écriture, de performance et d’improvisation, mais aussi leurs positionnements idéologique et esthétiques, dans l’environnement du studio. Cette recherche d’ordre historico-analytique sera basée sur l’ensemble des enregistrement réalisés en studio par les groupes de Rock In Opposition pendant la période d’éxistence du collectif (1978-1982), ainsi que sur plusieurs interviews conduites par moi-même avec différents artistes du collectif et avec Etienne Conod, technicien du son suisse et fondateur du Sunrise Studio de Kirchberg, où la plupart des artistes en question enregistra plusieurs albums."
https://iaspm-paris2025.sciencesconf.org/program
https://iaspmbfe.wordpress.com/iaspm-2025-book_of_abstracts.pdf
Atsuko Kamura fu una delle colonne delle strepitose/strepitanti Mizutama Shōbōdan (ovvero Polka Dot Fire Brigade) a fianco di Tenko, Kayo, Manako e Marume Miyamoto, capaci di suscitar clamore sulla scena giapponese dei primissimi anni Ottanta con eccitate esibizioni dal vivo invero poco contenibili nel formato discografico. I loro due unici album - Otome No Inori Wa Da Da Da! (1981) e Manten Ni Akai Hanabira (1985, prodotto con lo zampino di Fred Frith) - vennero pubblicati in modo indipendente e in quantità limitata dall'etichetta istituita da Tenko, Kinniku-Bijo, diventando ben presto introvabili in originale. Shoh li riprese in una compilazione in doppio cd nel 2001, alterandone un po' la scaletta; oggi tornano alla luce individualmente in vinile per lodevole iniziativa della fiorentina Spittle, che ne accompagna la riedizione con accurato apparato iconografico.
Japan's Mizutama Shobodan ("Polka Dot Fire Brigade") was led by the mononymous Tenko who would subsequently enjoy a long career in the avant-garde, rubbing shoulders with such elite members of the downtown NYC experimental scene as Otomo Yoshihide, John Zorn and future husband Fred Frith. In the early '80s, Tenko's experimentation was deployed in the service of Mizutama Shobodan, a group whose white hot No Wave sound would presage similarly uncompromising acts like Bride of No No, The Scissor Girls and Metalux. The band's chaotic intensity can be heard on two LPs, released independently on Tenko's own label, Kinniku-Bijo. 1981's debut, released shortly after the band's formation, was conceptualized as a reaction to the period's homogenous pop music. The response from Mizutama Shobodan’s five decidedly non-schooled members was a caffeinated mutant art rock that was both fierce and melodic, distinguished by the dual vocals of Tenko and Atsuka Kamura. 1985's A Skyfull of Red Petals, mixed by Frith, was an attempt to better capture the visceral energy of the band's theatrical and notoriously savage live performances. While boasting the same anarchic power as the band's debut, the four year break - during which time Tenko and Kamura released an album by their free-improv vocal duo The Honeymoons - provided the group ample time to progress as a unit. As a result, the musicianship is tighter, arrangements more sophisticated, angles even sharper. Mizutama Shobodan’s two albums were poorly distributed and as a result have remained quite rare and heard by very few; finally, these recordings from the Far East's outer regions can be discovered by discerning listeners everywhere.
Amici, colleghi, conoscenti e ammiratori si ritrovano oggi a Londra per ricordare il compianto Mick Hobbs, a sei mesi dall'improvvisa scomparsa: tra omaggi e commemorazioni ci sarà anche musica dal vivo, con la partecipazione di Tim Hodgkinson, Bill Gilonis, Rick Wilson, Andy Channing - Hobbs fu al loro fianco nei gruppi The Work e The Momes - e inoltre Atsuko Kamura e Dom Weeks. L'appuntamento è dalle 17.00 alle 23.00, presso The Ivy House.
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Quello che per altri era "political, pornographic and anti religious" - e che per questo venne rifiutato - lo pubblicò nel 1984 Recommended Records, con esplicito inserto informativo in forma di collage e note personali di Chris Cutler in forma di lettera ('South Africa as it is Today'). Oggi torna in copia identica in vinile - limitatamente a 500 copie - per iniziativa a Montreuil dell'etichetta Via Parigi: Own Affairs, il primo album completo a nome Kalahari Surfers.
Da Johannesburg ne (ri)racconta la storia l'autore, Warrick Swinney, ovvero Warrick Sony: "This is an album made during a crucial period in South Africa’s history during which there was a palpable feeling of a slow turning towards the collapse of the apartheid state side by side with an increasingly well-organised culture of resistance through the formation of the United Democratic Front (UDF) and various affiliated bodies. However, as a result, there was increased pushback from the state security establishment, a turning to dirty tricks and the formation of hit squads whose members murdered and tortured many of our friends and created chaos throughout South Africa as well as neighbouring countries.
This album is situated in this political environment however it took advantage of the new do-it-yourself music technologies available at that time. Technologies that made it possible to make and release records without interference from traditional record company executives. Two musician friends of mine pooled their resources after their respective bands had broken up. Ivan Kadey (National Wake) and Lloyd Ross (Radio Rats) built an 8-track recording studio control room and fitted it out in a second hand caravan and called it Shifty. They parked it in a garage attached to the only house left in a demolished and derelict mining village near Soweto on the outskirts of Johannesburg.
All the work on this album was completed there, mainly after hours and mostly alone where I enjoyed an exhilarating freedom to develop a whole new set of musical skills and ideas, incorporating my love of a wide range of music I’d grown up with. Influences of 1970s progressive/kraut/and psychedelic rock combined with mbaqanga bass styles, early reggae/dub and Indian tabla rhythms. Stockhausen, early Zappa and Holger Czukay were radio text and shredding influences, and Chris Cutler’s bands Henry Cow and Art Bears helped me see a way to political expression. Mostly though was the exciting post-punk and no-wave music coming through to us from Europe and America: bands like This Heat, Mekons, Raincoats, Sonic Youth and Pere Ubu were immensely important to me as was my reading from the period: J.M.Coetzee’s first 3 novels are strong influences on Free State Fence; the stark landscape, superstition, ritual, and sexual repression are in many of his settings. JG Ballard was a constant presence throughout that period, especially whilst living in such a surreal environment, surrounded by mine dumps, but mostly I think the whole French post-modern philosophical movement - Derrida, Foucault and of course, Baudrillard’s Simulacra and Simulation - set out a new sense of possibilities, possible ways to express oneself, ways to think, and ways to try and analyse the political intersection of public and private life. Most important at that time was the influence of sound recordings I had made and experiences garnered from working as a sound recordist on documentary films. These financed my work and later the studio and were consistent employment throughout the 1980s. Film work also enabled me to experience much of South Africa that was hidden from most. The track Independence Day is a good example; drawn from some time spent in the rural homeland of Venda.
This then was the first full length Kalahari Surfers album, completed in summer of 1984 it was taken to EMI pressing plant but rejected. Chris Cutler at Recommended Records took up the challenge and released the album through his label. He wrote the original liner note."
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