Time Sound Shape (PNL RECORDS PNL052) is a single 49-minute piece performed by Frode Gjerstad, Kalle Moberg and Paal Nilssen-Love. Unlike the aggressive high-energy free jazz that sometimes appears on this label, this one has a lot of endearing features – all acoustic, recorded in a church, slow moving, and showcasing some unusual instruments, all producing a wonderful cloudy billow of improv-mystery-jazz from the pulsating cerebellum. The woodwinds of Gjerstad, the accordion of Moberg, and of course the seven-gong set-up of Nilssen-Love; indeed it might be the first time I’ve heard him torn away from the drum kit. Plus there’s lots of gaps in the playing leaving space for the contemplative listener to draw breath. Some strong moments here the instruments just coalesce perfectly, producing a deliciously odd and alien surface which is much more than the sum of its parts. It seems the players got together in May 2021 after a whole year without performing (lockdown, of course) and may perhaps have been drawing on that strange reserve of energy that has affected so many of us – a curious combination of renewed hope mingled with physical and mental exhaustion after our long ordeal of containment. Very good. (02/03/2023)
Danish musician and composer Mads Emil Nielsen mostly known by us for his Framework series (challenging and dense conceptual abstractions), though we have heard other experiments from his mind and his hands since 2018, mostly released on his own Arbitrary label. Today’s Black Box 3 (arbitrary 14) is evidently part of another series, though earlier instalments haven’t landed our way sent by the wings of Mercury. The series seems to be pointed in a theatre/radiophonic and soundtrack direction; this item has a connection with dance performance and installation. It’s been realised with a mix of field recordings, samples and a grid-based approach to composition, and the track titles refer to nature – trees, branches, plants, the wind. Yet Nielsen himself seems to be completely disconnected from nature, unmoved by its beauty. Boring and unengaging sounds emerge from this record, many of them quite banal, but at least he hasn’t overworked his source materials inside the computer until they become unreclaimable mulch. (02/03/2023)
Follower (ROOM 40 RM4162) is by Chris Abrahams, the famed veteran performer known for his work with The Necks trio. Here he’s turned in an album of solo instrumentals played on organ, piano, and electronics. Quite nice; it’s good how these moments of simple melodic figures lift the music above the ambient backgrounds, and the various interesting textures convey a vague feeling of well-being. With the cleverly-paced changes in form, direction, and timbre, he’s aiming at some sort of “cinematic” analogue. (02/03/2023)