Kurws are a peculiar entity. Alarm is their most recent release, and is almost embarrassingly good. “Nagonka” readily baffles you with its odd polyrhythmic bouncing groove accompanied by saxophone and recording artefacts left in. It’s composition aimed at emulating free improvisation, or is it? It doesn’t matter, the result is the same: Alarm is disconcerting and wild! The Polish quartet certainly continues to experiment with music and push themselves on the brink of cohesion. Thanks to analog tape recording, the texture of the sound is at times very grainy, giving even more consistency to the aural soup we’re served, which, … Read more
Tag Archives: free jazz
Logan Strosahl Team – Book I of Arthur
Classical music and jazz are opposite and unreconcilable ends of the musical spectrum. Clearly, Logan Strosahl and his Team have never heard such words of warning, or, if they have, they foolishly ignored them and ventured forth. To the wise man’s surprise, however, they have returned victorious! Holding in his hands three tomes and chanting in a mighty parade, Logan handed one of the books to the old man and he looked at it with much confusion, assaulted by the unorthodox fanfare. Unfortunately, as is most common in the sixteenth century, the man was illiterate. There is no moral to … Read more
Rivener – Rivener
The Connecticut free rock duo Rivener sent me a message about their 2016 album, Svengali Gaze, about which I had mixed feelings – a sentiment I still hold. On September first, they released its successor in this self-titled package of about one dodrant-hour long. Here, I feel a stronger sense of vision and unity within the duo, which translates into semi-improvisations serving much more convincing purposes. The songs on Rivener are oddly reminiscent of Omniataxia‘s “Scatterwhite” in their construct and in their final forms. The band definitely borrows a lot from free jazz, but they apply their knowledge … Read more
Chryste Panie – Chryste Panie
Chryste Panie – Polish for “Christ, Lord” – released their self-titled album earlier this year. The quatuor plays an interesting blend of free jazz and ambient electronic music inspired by devotional and shamanic music. Here, the synthesizers stick exceptionally well to the ritualistic free jazz aura the band is conveying. The droning notes and chords are exploited to their full extent by saxophonist Michał Małota, while the drummer and percussionist provide rhythmic continuity and occasional eccentricity. One of the defining moments of the album is on “Wejście”, when the folly picks up and a very rare entrance of a voice … Read more
Sunn Trio – Sunn Trio
The scorching heat of the Arizona day, and the complementary soothing coolness of its night, is whence Sunn Trio emerges. Playing a punk-spirited, Arabic-music-tinged free jazz, the ‘trio’ release cassette recordings of their live performances since at least 2015, with Radiowaves. Their new, self-titled endeavour takes the form of a vinyl record. What baffles me is that there seems to be a whole lot of people credited for a trio… Indeed, there are no less than eleven players mentioned on bandcamp, making it rather close to the scope of a big band, but I suppose they would be guest … Read more