Jim Denley and the eternally orchestrating sonoverse
As Weather Volume 3: Budawang Mountains
AUSTRALIA SPLITREC 33 CD (2024)
Australian player Denley continues to plough his unique pathway by bringing his instruments into the wilds of nature where he records his flute and voice work in tandem with the sounds of nature. I find I have nothing new to say about his music since his prior releases in this vein. He himself articulates his mission, and his own achievements, far better than any writer; this even applies to the very specific terms he uses to refer to the landscape, the weather, the animal kingdom, and their socio-political-environmental role in the context of his musical project. (08/04/2024)
Woo
Hoo-ha
FRANCE CIRCUM-DISC CIDI2402 / TOUR DE BRAS TDB900077cd (2024)
Free jazz. French pianist Christine Wodrascka with the Polish sax player Paulina Owczarek from Krakow, and Peter Orins on drums. The combined name + title may be designed to cause the listener to whoop “whoo-hoo-hah” with delight, but it’s simply an acronym of the surnames. Even so a lot of energy and movement here, especially on the long track ‘Why not?’ I shan’t say we’re hearing a feminine reinvigoration of Cecil Taylor with Jimmy Lyons with these piano-sax intermogs, but there is a lot of invention and strongly-interlocking lines, fitting together with the strength an ironmonger would recognise when testing a new meathook. Christine Wodrascka is the star for me, there’s a lot of quiet resilience and hidden reserves in her taciturn moments, which can erupt into powerful jets of flame as needed. Might be worth investigating her earlier LPs for Leo Records and FMP. ‘Why Not’ from a 2023 concert remains the 34:45 main event and magnet for polar excitement, ‘Spacer W Angielskim Ogrodzie’ is a bit too uncertain, and ‘Hoo-ha’ lapses into skittery mode (blame Orins and his over-busy rimshots). This is the first time they have made a record as a trio. (29/04/2024)
Cassette LA Drones (ROOM40 RM4234) is by Stuart Argabright and After After (i.e. Stefan Scott Nelson) – the backstory behind it is a travelogue story involving much travelling and driving around by car – Argabright apparently perceived his surroundings through the lens of science-fiction cinematic dystopias, and what he saw – or what he imagines he saw – through tinted windscreens is reflected in the music and track titles, emerging as a sort of twisted version of movie soundtrack music. This may not seem very original or promising, but the queasular mix of whispery voices, slowed down murmurings, distorted and backwards tapes, layered on top of meandering synth tones works surprisingly well, gradually erasing perceptive cells in a benign way. Not exactly Aki Onda, but the duo have come close to passing on a “haunted memory” into the oxide of the tape, as they’d hoped. (23/02/2024)
Xavier Camarasa / Jean-Marc Foussat / Marc Maffiolo
Seuil de Feu
FRANCE FOU RECORDS FR – CD 58
Free improvisation on piano and Fender Rhodes (Camarasa), Synthi AKS and voice (Foussat) and bass saxophone (Maffiolo), recorded in concert in France in 2023. Unsurprisingly, it’s the Foussat contributions that appeal to me most, and for certain moments on ‘Profondement Cache’ he lets rip with unearthly electronic burbling and echoed vocals sounding wild and energised; while on ‘Passage Decouvert’ he projects the feeling of a lost coal miner down in the depths. Camarasa’s good on the acoustic piano with them blocky chords, but I keep hoping for more violence. Maffiolo may be here somewhere at the start of ‘Milieu De Nuit’ confining his contributions to breathy puffs into the bell and droning murmurs. While the individual sounds are one thing, the team dynamics are just excellent, sustaining interest across three very long tracks; I may prefer the chaotic, noisy eruptions, but the peaceful segments are also grand, drawing you into poisoned atmospheres and distant inhospitable zones. (30/04/2024)