bass is the place

Tigersonic

Blipcuts

UK  Linear Obsessional  LOR132  Cassette/DL  (2019)

An engaging, super-varied, set of twenty (count ‘em) tracks of dub-inflected electronica, none of which break the two and a half minute mark, which is great if you’re, like, you know, into the whole brevity thing.  Linear Obsessional describe the work as “…abstract noise, majestic cavernous dub and angular funk…” which puts you in the ballpark, but I would add that parts of Blipcuts manage to bridge the divide between bass music and “experimental”; a divide whose borders seem to shift in intriguing ways on a seemingly daily basis - see recent work from Hieronymus Dub Sounds, Diatribes, Al Breadwinner/Nat Birchall/Vin Gordon, Young Echo, Dhangsha (see below) as well as recent developments at the ever-reliable On-U stable.

Felix Tigersonic is a London-based producer/engineer and bassist who works provides creative mentoring and recording services from her studio SmartMix.  Felix uses her knowledge amd expertise to good effect on this tape; presenting a batch of great-sounding material.

As a whole, Blipcuts is massively enveloping, with nicely paced development, despite the shortness of the tracks.  In fact, I found the shortness of the pieces a refreshing approach.  “Incoming Blur” and “You May Be Late” show a distinct On-U Sound influence.  “Shadow Shimmer” features Mick Karn or Jaco Pastorius-like bass harmonics, while “Lava Lava Lamp” is more abstract.

Apparently, initial copies of this cassette come with a packet of her own Tigersonic branded popping candy, in an effort to highlight the dichotomy in the necessity of presenting artistic endeavour as commerciality, perhaps.  The cassette I obtained direct from the label included a “Happy Bassday” badge.  Nice.

 https://www.linearobsessional.org/

Dhangsha

Future Tense

UK  self-released  no number  Cassette/DL  (2019)

I’ve noticed that there has been a steady drip feed of new material from Aniruddha Das under the moniker Dhangsha mainly on Soundcloud over the last 18 months or so.  Dhangsha is probably better known as  Dr Das, erstwhile bass player of Asian Dub Foundation who continue to regularly release new material, but perhaps more interestingly have been developing a second revenue stream by means of their live rescoring of films La Haine and The Battle of Algiers.  On Future Tense, Das weaves a dense and paranoid web of sonic intrigue with his minimalist electronic set up. Das says “DHANGSHA (Bengali for ‘destruction’) produces dark, edgy soundscapes where cyclical noise and distorted synth motifs mutate over sparse but heavy beats. Using little more than an Elektron Digitakt and RAT distortion pedal, he attempts to emulate the sound of broken speakers / windows reverberating at a warehouse party / interrupted transmissions from outer space.”

The dub sensibility is still heavily in evidence as you might expect, but this work is looser, more organic than any of his work with ADF, certainly.  The material is broken up into a morass of arterial tendrils; the unrelenting low end rolling over the listener in waves.  Actually, this is music best heard over a large soundsystem; I suspect Das has designed it that way - recently he has been working in partnership with Bantu and Ramjac.  Dhangsha live outings saw him in underground club spaces like Grow Tottenham and with 50-50 Soundsystem.

It shares some of the attributes of dub techno, but the DNA is not the same.  Where even the best dub techno has the feeling of being tightly controlled, this is seemingly on the edge of collapse at all times.  Satisfyingly, tape delay effects are allowed to feedback freely; some of the electronic drums sound like tabla.

Das himself says of Future Tense:

“A documentation of my return after over 25 years, to using hardware to pursue my undiminished love of experimental rhythm and noise. The sound is a consequence of being a practising dub musician who happens to listen to Detroit techno, particularly Underground Resistance and Robert Hood, electronic noise music and the scorched soundscapes of 70s Miles Davis.  An exploration of minimalism, repetition and fragmentation in sound and the political potential of pure frequencies.”

Available on Bandcamp for those of a non-analogue persuasion.  Recommended.

https://dhangsha.bandcamp.com/

STOP PRESS
Aniruddha posted a response to this review on social media which goes some way to explain the exact nature of his project Dhangsha, so I include it here verbatim:

"This album marks my departure from the 'dub scene' - but not from a 'dub mentality' as you rightly point out. I still utilise dub's scientific principles but am not at all interested in deliberately re-producing the 'genre,' or any of its mannerisms. The most perverse thing I've done is that as a known dub bass player of 25 years, I've not written any bass lines! What you have instead, are tuned bass drums, which, combined with de-tuned congas and other low frequency synth fragments produce 'implied' or 'imagined' bass melodies in the mind of the listener. The kicks are also modulated with a low pass filter which bends the note and produces movement. Your observation of the music being "seemingly on the edge of collapse" (a great possible album title) is spot on. It's deliberate and facilitated by feeding the entire mix through a RAT distortion pedal and blending to different degrees with the clean signal. Aside from my finding these textures rather pleasing (very disconcerting though for sound engineers and traditional dub heads) it has various implications - it represents uncertainty, discontent, debate, discussion, possible violence, destruction of discredited ideas, personal struggle etc. It is meant to f**k with your mind - in a positive way - not to be a passive, unquestioning recipient of someone else's wisdom - and compel your body to move in different, freer ways. In relation to the latter point, I've dispensed with snares and the few understated claps appear in unusual places. The rhythmic framework has been bust open - you've got 'Beat one' heavily stated to orientate you- then you're free to dance how you want."

- Aniruddha Das, august 2019

Rapt... up... again...

RAPT

Within Thrall

UK  self-released  CD/DL  (2019)

Brighton-based Jacob Ware follows up his 2018 self-titled debut album with this EP; a collaboration with Demi Haynes of the US nu-shoegaze troupe Seashine, and with the addition of Nestor Middleton on piano.  Haynes and her lank-haired troupe have perfected the kind of The Scene That Celebrates Itself (TM Steve Sutherland) or “cathedrals of sound” – there, I said it – approach typified in the late 80s by Lush, Moose, Slowdive, Catherine Wheel, Curve, Kitchens Of Distinction, Chapterhouse and Ride, which seems to be on trend in the US recently.  Despite seeing most of those 80s bands the first time, it is a trend I have little first-hand knowledge of - I do have a soft spot for Ringo Deathstarr and Ulrika Spacek - but Seashine themselves keep a fairly low profile within it.  What evidence I have found of their work on YouTube demonstrates that their output is pretty interesting, although miles away from Ware’s previous work, stylistically at least, so at first glance I thought this might be a weird pairing.  Not so.  Yes, largely a complete departure from his first – self-titled - album, Within Thrall carries over the lush production techniques but presents material less electronic in nature, more within the genre occupied by Haynes’ musical activities; neo-folk, rock influences in other words, or gentle, US-style acoustic indie-rock.  An acoustic Galaxy 500? A more upbeat Mazzy Star?  You get the idea.

Ware states: “The starting point on the EP conceptually was WB Yeats’ poem The Song Of Wandering Aengus.  Hmmm…the poem that gave Silver Apples their name.  And gave Morton Subotnik a groovy title.  You may think this poetic reference suggests wistful, windswept pale youths pining away and/or contemplating the meaning of it all from the relative mystery of a windswept promontory, deserted jetty or distressed attic room at dusk.  And you may be correct, but those are fairly apt images, considering the faintly dark mood of the music here.  Case in point is the first song, “Girl In Black”.  A minimal arrangement of Demi Haynes’ vocals, acoustic guitar and a nice Mellotron-like flute way back in the mix.  Nestor Middleton’s pretty piano parts are treated to a smudge of delay.  The chorus of “killing me…killing me…” has a backwards pad of some sort.  “Wax And Rosewood” features Ware on vocals while Haynes contributes heavily reverbed backing “aaah”s.  “Torn” sounds to be like it should be a parallel universe My Bloody Valentine demo with its whispered harmony vocals and pseudo-MBV chord progression.  Closing track “Lighthouse” has suitably remote and weather-beaten lyrics.  Isolation, regret, letting go…

Ware imbues a similar atmosphere of vague intoxication into the music on Within Thrall as on Rapt.

But where Rapt was expansive, Within Thrall is intimate.  Only his second release under the name Rapt, this is a beautiful and well put together EP.

https://rapt.bandcamp.com/album/within-thrall

Matt Atkins & Peter Marsh

Matthew Atkins & Peter Marsh

Paper Wasps

UK  Invisible City Records  ICR40  Cassette  (2019)

Paper wasps gather fibres from dead wood and plants stems which they mix with saliva and use to construct water resistant nests.  From ICR, (not to be confused with Colin Potter’s ICR), comes scuds of therapeutic laptop hums and buzzes from London based musicians Matthew Atkins and Peter Marsh.  You may recognise Marsh’s name as the bassist from the consistently wonderful Woven Entity, but he also dabbles in live soundtracks with Fourth Page and general freeformery with others including Found Drowned; a trio with drummer Crystal Moth (also from Woven Entity) and guitarist James O’Sullivan.  Atkins has released previous work under the name Platform, which was “…about lo-fi computer based sound manipulation and rhythm, twisting and deconstructing found sounds and unlocking the patterns within.”, but currently seems to be operating under his own name.  I’ve also been listening to his recent Porous Inner Montage cassette/download.  I believe Atkins is a drummer, but there is little evidence of what you might ordinarily think of as percussion in those recordings, being made up mostly of a most agreeable type of diaphanous backwards things, and delay.

Here on the four pieces that make up Paper Wasps, a stringed instrument is plucked and struck.  There is a good amount of creaking in the background and noises made by sheet steel and rebar being dragged around a builders’ yard.  Marsh is credited with "electric bass and assorted machines", which is intriguing, while Atkins uses "computer, percussion, objects, contact mics and pedals".  The music feels constructed to me, (although I cannot back this assertion up with any hard evidence); the final arrangement could have been made via software or possibly a hardware sampler.  I could be completely wrong and it may be that Messrs Atkins and Marsh have simply set up a mic in the middle of the rehearsal room and got everything as you hear it straight down to tape in one pass.  Either way, it’s certainly worth your attention.

https://invisiblecityrecords.bandcamp.com/album/paper-wasps

The Necks in Brighton

photo by Al Hill

The Necks

St Lukes Church, Brighton

Sun 26^th May 2019

Presented by Dictionary Pudding and The Brighton Alternative Jazz Festival, who were responsible for bringing this Antipodean improvising trio of Lloyd Swanton, Chris Abrahams and Tony Buck to Brighton at the same venue in 2017.  Tonight, BAJF founder Daniel Spicer makes the mildly irreverent introductions:  “Make good use of the cushions; the pews are quite hard…” Spicer urges; “The Necks will be performing two sets this evening…so that’s one per cheek…”

The Necks’ first set finds them in an abstracted mood.  Gradual changes, locked-in interplay of the type usually displayed by groupings that have played together for over thirty years.  Chris Abrahams’ piano works through every conceivable extrapolation of the key in which they play; a trembling filigree from his right hand while his left holds down rhythmic chords for drummer Tony Buck to bolster with his simultaneous shakers and bells; tinkling artefacts, openly resonating bass drum skins, simultaneously playing in marching time and syncopation.  Over the top of all this, double bassist, Lloyd Swanton coaxes simple yet effective non-typical sounds from his strings, sometimes pushing little scraps of melody off toward the edge of his plate.  At one point, the piano sounds almost like an electronic organ; lending a kind of Popol Vuh flavour to the music.  All the while, the group are bathed in an unchanging blue and pink light; the height of the church ceiling producing a lovely airy acoustic.  Beautiful music, a superb example of what can be done by three musicians improvising together at a consistently high level.

After a half hour or so interval – I use the word “interval” deliberately; this concert’s presentation at the foot of the pulpit had more than a little theatricality about it, albeit most likely unintentionally – the trio reconvene.  This time, however – and perhaps this was discussed as a strategy during the break – the initial impression is of the deep communication and delicacy of the methodically drifting first set has been lost and replaced with what seems to me, an almost a deliberate attempt to disrupt unity.  Tony Buck seems to unseat the rhythmic propulsion of the first set with a much more tangential strategy.  In fact, unison playing only happens sporadically – yet beautifully – as the players seem to concentrate on themselves as individuals.  Perhaps they simply wanted to make it a little harder on themselves; I’m all for musicians pushing their ideas of what is possible, especially improvising musicians.  Swanton veers from percussive mark-making to melodic input and Abrahams produces more electronic-like tones until, finally, unexpectedly, they bring the whole thing to a precision close with a pretty resolution; hitting the final note together in crystal harmony.

The difference in approach to each piece clearly appeals to the audience who applaud generously with even some whooping and some members off to the right hand side trying to encourage a standing ovation.  This ain’t a concert hall, sunshine, but it is the best place to see a jazz trio, only partly because St Luke’s reportedly has the best grand piano of any venue in Brighton.  Their recent long player, Vertigo is now available on vinyl as well as cd I’m told.  Best get your hands on a copy.

Diatribes - Echoes and Sirens

Diatribes

Echoes and Sirens

SWITZERLAND  Aussenraum  AR-LP-011  LP/DL  (2018)

This duo of Laurent Peter - aka d’incise - and Cyril Bondi break new ground in their pursuit of an amalgam of improvisation and modern composition, or as the sleevenotes put it; “…a possible relation between dub and experimental music.”  Echoes and Sirens is their third approach to said amalgam given a release after Augustus and Great Stone/Blood Dunza.  The task Diatribes have given themselves is to dissolve a healthy enthusiasm for dub reggae in a solution of sound production techniques before passing through a filter of extended-technique electro-acoustic improvisation.  Echoes and Sirens is a substantial piece of work.  Where on the previous records they have worked as a duo, here they employ more firepower; as well as adding Raphael Ortis on electric bass, they exploit a real horn section; Pierre-Antoine Badaroux on alto saxophone, Bertrand Denzler on tenor saxophone, Louis Lourain on trumpet and Fidel Fourneyron on trombone to great effect.

Aussenraum choose to describe what lies within these grooves in negative; “…It’s definitely not dub music, nor a dub version of experimental music, it’s not remixes nor a figurative soundscape…”  More like a silhouette.  There are flashes of the source subject; reminders or reflections of the original genre.  The sleevenotes cite the “aura” of London-based sound system operator Jah Shaka in particular as the inspiration for these pieces.  Shaka makes his own productions, most notably his Commandments of Dub series from which The Ragga Twins famously pulled a sample for their pristine 18” Speaker in 1991.  Diatribes may have borrowed the title of the first piece on Echoes and Sirens from Hugh Mundell’s Jah Fire Will Be Burning; a track Shaka has versioned.  Furthermore, the music is described as “Highly detailed textures, repeated gestures, soft tones, febrile pulses and acoustic hyper-sensibility”.  The album is presented as “Four imaginary moments of a sound system night” with the addition of “…found field recordings of Shaka’s parties and interactions with the crowd…”

The first piece is “Dub Fire Will Be Burning”.  Stretched perception.  Long-held harmony tones from the horn section; circa 44 hertz sine tones for a bassline, lo-fi shouts and cheers from the recordings of the parties, reverb-spring hits reverbed in turn, live rim-shots sporadically placed; a deliberate chord progression.  This is followed by “Tell Me, What Do You See?”  The hi-hat is used as the spine of this piece.  Shaka’s trademark siren makes its first appearance.  The sound of a vintage keyboard – possibly a Phillicorda? – is employed, and long echoes.  The horn section play a slow suave chord progression, the bass guitar stays minimal.  A flip from hi-hat to rim-shot and tambourine changes the mood to urgent; the horns become more strident.

Flipping the record over, “Don’t Trouble I (oh no)”, - the title possibly a reference to Johnny Clarke’s Don’t Trouble Trouble; an artist who has also worked with Jah Shaka - has an air of Minimalism about it.  Relentless repetition.  Bass and drums distilled down deep; forget about finding the One – this ain’t One Drop – this is No Drop.  The final piece, “Continually”, features the instantly recognisable vocal melody by Aisha – “The First Lady of Dub” no less - on Fast Forward Into Dub by Mad Professor, which you will be familiar with from Blue Room by The Orb.  Through endless repetition, Diatribes wring every last morsel of meaning out of it; a simulated locked groove.

All four pieces hover between 10 and 11 minutes each, giving a nicely four-square feel to the album.

What is common with all of Diatribes’ work is the care with which they select their sounds; often complementing percussion sounds with electronic noises of similar timbre to great effect.  They select carefully with the skill and experience of a Michelin-starred chef choosing ingredients.  The idea in use here is a good one and produces four radically different pieces.  Could Diatribes be moving experimental music on a couple of steps here?  I like to think so.  Highly recommended.

http://www.aussenraumrecords.com/

Slow Listener Live at Fort Process

Slow Listener

Live At Fort Process

UK  Chocolate Monk  CHOC425  CD-R  (2019)

Banging and a-clanging like there’s no tomorrow in suitably mysterious demeanour comes Newhaven’s premier sound-mangler Slow Listener.  Noises of beaten metal - dropped, thrown, chimed, bowed and struck - are arranged in steadily more and more yogic contortions.  These sounds were made inside Newhaven Fort at last year’s Fort Process experimental music/sound-art hoe-down.  Whether they were pre-prepared or derived from objects or the environment at the Fort is not stated but it certainly results in a chewy great wad of sonic paan with which to easily disorient the unwary spectator.  Slow Listener masticates a cheek-load over the course of 26 minutes; the steel girder intimidation gradually gives way first to suitably eerie electronic chirps and whispers and finally to phantom Morse code, slowed vocals, the smallest hint of Carnival Of Souls-style Wurlitzer, and electronically processed breathing.  Periodically, a female voice intones eerily “a thousand and seven, a thousand and twelve; eight, a thousand and five , nine nine three, nine eight eight; five, nine eight one” and so on.  The phrase “A thousand and five falling slowly” is repeated and seems to have some significance to Slow Listener.  I wonder what this is.  A numbers station?

Suitably stimulated by his own actions, Slow Listener gobs a big red gout of sickly sonic-paan residue out at the feet of Chocolate Monk heads Dylan Nyoukis and Karen Constance, who quite sensibly immediately sensed its transcendent potential and put it out as this here cd-r.  Constance provides the artwork for the full-colour sleeve.  Edition of 60, and be warned, Chocolate Monk titles don’t tend to hang around, so show ‘em yr heels.

www.chocolatemonk.co.uk

Cristián Alvear on Pilgrim Talk

Cristián Alvear

Pieza para Guitarra Afinada

USA  Pilgrim Talk  PT37  cassette  (2019)

Following Sarah Hennies collaboration with Cristián Alvear from 2016; Orienting Response for guitar on Mappa Editions, and the 2015 Diatribes & Cristián Alvear 3” cd Roshambo (trio) on 1000füssler, which both landed on my desk for review, here is a new one hour 29 minute solo piece for guitar from Cristián Alvear recorded at Estudios Madre Selva, Santiago de Chile in April 2018.  The slightly mysterious Pilgrim Talk tape label is a good home for this particular piece of work as their recent release schedule features modern composition including Baroque Classics (for Electronic Oscillators) – Couperin, Telemann, Scarlatti et al – and Parvae Harmoniae by Nick Hoffman.

On Pieza para Guitarra Afinada, Alvear has worked out a way to influence one’s perceptions for mysterious purposes.  Time bends.  Listen in awe as glum murders of crows contemplate the dwindling woodland habitat.  Alvear’s classical guitar exerts an iron grip on the listener’s senses though his use of subtle modulation threaded within structural repetition.  It is as if the instrument itself is audibly succumbing to a depressive episode.  The piece begins forlornly and continues with pitiless efficacy.  Alvear is commenting on his surroundings; his world – our world - if you want my opinion.  He make the guitar chime like plague bells.  It some mental temerity on Alvear’s part not just to compose such an unflinching piece of music but to then relentlessly rehearse and perform it himself as well.  Lesser souls would easily give up after half an hour and gone to the pub.  I’m making it sound faintly dark and ominous and depressing – not which the music actually is - but actually, I think Alvear is attempting to push notions of the classical guitar recital to the very edges.

Theres no doubting Alvear’s commitment to his instrument.  He knows the thing inside out.  What is also remarkable, is his accomplishments as a composer.  A process of stripping back – ideologically as well as musically.  Like neighbours who remove mature planting to “get more light” but what they are actually doing is reminding us of how uneasily close we have been placed to each other.  Proximity.  Claustrophobia.  This music is a salve to those of us who are sick of having to deal with fellow inhabitants of this world who “don’t like trees”.

It’s nice to see this on cassette – the aforementioned tape with Sarah Hennies from Mappa was presented in a wooden box with handmade inserts and is a beautiful object.  Quite a lot of my non-music friends now express surprise when I start talking about new releases on cassette; mostly they are surprised the format is still being manufactured.  “My cassette deck broke ten years ago and I didn’t see the point in replacing it” is a common articulation.  But for those of us whose first exposure to pre-recorded music was courtesy of the cassette-tape format and, more importantly, whose minds were opened by the ability to easily use them to make one’s own recordings, it’s hard to let the format go.

Alvear is co-curator of Relincha Festival in Valdivia and, together with Santiago Astaburuaga, directs LOTE, an ensemble focused on the production of experimental scores.  In addition, he coordinates concerts and experimental music workshops in rural areas of the Los Lagos region of Chile.  For this, and other more prosaic bureaucratic reasons, Alvear rarely visits the UK, although at the time of writing, I believe he will be touring Europe and the UK in May.  Keep an eye out – that prospect is not to be missed.