wnyc.org: "Earlier this year British singer/songwriter Vashti Bunyan gave her first-ever American performance right here on Spinning On Air. Since then she's been touring in Europe and recently returned to the U.S. to great acclaim. When Vashti and her ensemble were in New York a few weeks ago, they crowded into host David Garland's apartment and performed some songs in his living room. Despite the snug fit, the performances sound great, and you can hear them on this show. Also, selections from a recently reissued gem of an album by guitarist/singer Robbie Basho, and a haunting songs from west coast songwriter Holcombe Waller, Canada's Wyrd Visions, and Brooklyn's Sufjan Stevens." Listen here
wnyc.org "British songwriter Vashti Bunyan visits Spinning On Air for her first American performance and radio interview. Her new, second album, “Lookaftering,” was released 35 years after her first album, and the story of her earlier artistic discouragement and current renewal of creativity is moving and fascinating." Download
wnyc.org: "Dave Longstreth is one of those rare composers who has created his own musical world, with its own unusual laws of musical physics. Passionate songs that seem on the verge of falling apart suddenly turn on a dime; melodies that seem improvised are repeated exactly by the ensemble; the musical vocabularies of jazz, classical, rock and folk mutate into something excitingly alien. Longstreth brings his band Dirty Projectors (Longstreth singing and playing guitar, two female singers, cello, and double bass) into the WNYC studio for a live set, and for conversation with host David Garland. Highlights from Dirty Projectors' new CD, "The Getty Address," are also heard. It's a concept album that links the Eagles' frontman Don Henley with the ancient Aztecs... " Listen here
epitonic.com: "Since their formation in a Melbourne, Australia bar on the wrong side of the tracks, the Dirty Three have been exploring the extent to which an all-instrumental three-piece can summon up emotions and awaken long-dormant passions. The group got started in 1993 when classically trained violinist Warren Ellis (also a member of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds), who had been performing music at plays and art openings, tapped two fellow Blackeyed Susans alums, guitarist Mick Turner and drummer Jim White, to start a band." More
This is not my cup of tee, but while I was reading all the CD reviews in the current issue of the WIRE, I found the whole review online available and also some mp3 excerpts, which doesn't happen with all the CDs and records reviewed, so I decided to post them anyway.
Julian Cowley - Wire Magazine 12/2005 "Once live in Ghent, once live in New York, Belgian composer and electric guitarist Guy De Bievre steers a sextet through Bending the Tonic. The composer's sleevenote suggests that this music is what happens "when you read Schoenberg while listening to Bukka White." This is a vivid description, although neither version delivers an obvious grafting of theoretical Vienna onto the Mississippi Delta. De Bievre is alluding to the music's unusual harmonic organisation and its 144 bar structure, the squaring of a 12 bar blues."
betterpropaganda.com: "After over a year of internet exchanges of ideas and sounds, Parisian Sebastien Roux and Vermonter Greg Davis decided to put their love to the test. Combining their interests in psychedelic music, digital processing, folk, sunshine pop, musique concrete, ethnic sounds, drones and field recordings, Sebastien (who works at the famed computer music institution IRCAM) and Greg (who holds two degrees in music and composition) have created a dynamic musical journey full of joy and surprises. Whether it's large rocks being thrown into a stream, Sebastien singing or Greg playing the double mijwiz, diverse sound worlds come together in this "surprise package" More
The download link at betterpropaganda.com didn't worked for me, so here is the direct link:
allmusic.com "By turns cuddly and chaotic, San Francisco's Deerhoof mixes noise, sugary melodies, and an experimental spirit into sweetly challenging and utterly distinctive music. The group began as the brainchild of guitarist Rob Fisk and drummer/keyboardist Greg Saunier in 1994; early releases, such as 1995's 7"s Return of the Woods M'Lady and For Those of Us on Foot, had a more traditionally harsh, no wave-inspired sound, though they also included the quirky tendencies that dominated their later efforts." More
allmusic.com. "The classically-trained Greg Davis, who has largely helped to define subgenres such as folktronica, laptop folk, and pastoral electronica, creates intricate and subtle compositions that merge organic, computer-generated sounds with warm, natural tones, live instrumentation, and field recordings, while referencing artists like Boards of Canada, Brian Wilson and the Incredible String Band." More
"The Caution Curves is a Washington, DC-based trio that began as a solo project of Rebecca Mills, who used a laptop and various samplers to compose organic sonic landscapes." More
alexward.org: "Alex Ward was born in 1974, and began learning piano and clarinet at the ages of 5 and 9 respectively. While growing up in Grantham, he developed an interest in a wide range of music, largely inspired by trawling through his parents’ record collection. The presence of a copy of Ornette Coleman’s “This Is Our Music” led him to investigate subsequent developments from jazz, including free improvisation. As a result of this interest, he went on a summer course on improvisation run by Community Music in 1986, where he met Derek Bailey, who invited him to play at various events including Company Weeks in 1988, 1990 and 1994. Bailey also organised the recording and release in 1991 of his first CD, a duet with percussionist Steve Noble, “Ya Boo, Reel and Rumble”. During this period, Ward developed his approach to improvisation, shaped by twin interests in jazz and contemporary classical music, and also through regular practical experience of improvising on clarinet and alto sax with the Stamford-based collective AWARE, led by Brian Parsons."
allmusic.com: "A producer, songwriter, and singer, Bertrand Burgalat emerged in the late '90s as one of the top individuals involved in the "nouvelle vague" (new wave) of French music. Born on the French island of Corsica in the '60s, Burgalat inherited his love for music from his parents, who were mostly dedicated to the sounds of classical composers. However, and at the same time, he also started growing his own particular preferences and selections, by then focusing on the creations of bands like Roxy Music and Kraftwerk, or artists like Serge Gainsbourg." More
alien8recordings.com: “Dinosaur Dinosaur” is the latest release by Los Angeles based Books On Tape, Todd Drootin’s project dedicated to the style he terms “beatpunk”. The tag is definitely apt as Drootin has gained a reputation for fusing hip hop and electronic beats with the energy and mayhem of punk rock. “Dinosaur Dinosaur” further cements this style by incorporating more of the rock spirit of his animated live performances" More
Drootin also released a lot of his material via netlabels. Links to the netaudio stuff and also live shows can be found in the audio section of his homepage. Link
thewire.co.uk: "To illustrate Brian Marley's primer on Jamaican reggae from the 1970s and 1980s listen to these selected excerpts from the songs featured (All excerpts are 40kbs mono streams)"
DENNIS ALCAPONE - Spanish Amigo
U-ROY - Train From The West
RANKIN JOE - Zion High
DR ALIMANTADO - Best Dressed Chicken In Town
TRINITY - How Long Jah
BIG YOUTH - Jim Screechy
I Roy - Noisy Place
allmusic.com: "A man with a message, Big Youth arrived on the music scene in the wake of U-Roy, Dennis Alcapone, and I-Roy, but quickly established his own style, threatening to eclipse them all. The consummate cultural toaster, the DJ ruled the dancehalls across the '70s, and although his career flagged in the next decade, he returned with a vengeance in the '90s, and continues to have an impact on both his own nation and beyond." More
READ the unedited transcript of Alan Licht's interview with US hardcore drums 'n' bass duo, Lightning Bolt, cover stars of the current December Issue. Link
HEAR new and exclusive tracks by Lightning Bolt. Link
allmusic.com: "Known as the Originator, U-Roy wasn't the first DJ, nor even the first to cut a record, but he was the first to shake the nation and he originated a style so distinctly unique that he single-handedly changed his homeland's music scene forever. Born Ewart Beckford in Jones Town, Jamaica, in 1942, he received his famous moniker from a young family member unable to correctly pronounce Ewart and the nickname stuck." More
thewire: From Hamburg, Germany, Black To Comm's debut album is described by its creator Marc Richter thus: "Many moons ago mankind discovered a female southeast Asian insect whose scarlet resinous secretion could be magically transformed into music with the aid of manmade machines. This is a tribute to said insect (hence the title), made exclusively from scratchy shellac loops."
allmusic.com: "Scottish percussionist, improviser, and musician of eclectic tastes Ken Hyder began his career of blending jazz with a variety of world and folk musics in the late '60s when he formed his first band, the jazz and Celtic group Talisker. Among Hyder's projects are his long-standing collaboration (over two decades) with avant-garde pianist Maggie Nicols, called Hoots and Roots, and an equally long musical relationship with revered improviser Tim Hodgkinson." More
"In days of old, some bard would have sung the ballad of Vashti Bunyan. It is a tale full of romance, adventure, tragedy, redemption and unlikely twists. It has a happy ending, too, in the form of an album, Lookaftering, released this month on Fat Cat. Lookaftering is not Bunyan's first album - that would be 1970's Just Another Diamond Day - but it is her first in 35 years, and it represents a new lease of life for one of our most extraordinary artists." Read more
ON THE COVER: Lightning Bolt: Alan Licht meets the Rhode Island duo who are reconfiguring US Hardcore with their breakneck drum and bass thrash
FEATURES: Ken Hyder, Vashti Bunyan, Invisible Jukebox: Ray Russell, Primer: Jamaican Deejays, Tujiko Noriko, Susanne Brokesch, Kang Tae Hwan
REVIEWS:
SOUNDCHECK: A Handful Of Dust, Akercocke, Tetuzi Akiyama & Jason Kahn, Angel Corpus Christi, The Luke Barlow Band, Black Sun Productions, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Books On Tape, Hélène Breschand & Jean-François Pauvros, Bertrand Burgalat, Burning Star Core, John Cage, Vinicius Cantuária, Bill Carrothers, The Caution Curves, Chiesa/Guionnet/Marchetti/Noetinger, John Coltrane, Greg Davis & Sebastien Roux, Guy De Bièvre, Deerhoof, Deflag Haemorrhage/Haien Kontra, Frank Denyer, Dirty Three, Tod Dockstader, Dooley-O, Arthur Doyle, Ephel Duath, Es, Excepter, 4G, Fovea Hex, Free Base, Growing, Hanna Hartman, Richie Hawtin, Susan Howe & David Grubbs, The Howling Hex, Jackie-O Motherfucker, Joseph Klein/William Kleinsasser, Hans Koller, Miya Masaoka/Joan Jeanreneaud, Sean Meehan, Mr Dorgon, MX-80, NMS, Luigi Nono, 1-Speed Bike, Francis Plagne, Schlippenbach/Dunmall/Rogers/Bianco, Yoko Solo, Stevan Kovacs Tickmayer, Birgit Ulher/Lou Mallozzi/Michael Zerang, Birgit Ulher & Gino Robair, Various: The Invisible Pyramid: Elegy Box, John Wall, Alex Ward, Ward/Barlow/Fell/Noble, Windy & Carl and more...
PRINT RUN: Soft Machine: Out-Bloody-Rageous, by Graham Bennett; Richard Cook's Jazz Encyclopedia, by Richard Cook; Body And Soul: Jazz And Blues In American Film, 1927-63, by Peter Stanfield; The Velvet Lounge: On Late Chicago Jazz, by Gerald Majer
CROSS PLATFORM: Rodney Graham: Pablo Lafuente investigates rock's role in the Canadian artist's work. Reviews: Woyzeck in London, Nuit Blanche in Paris and Cameron Jamie in Venice; Crossing The Bridge and Dave Markey on film; Einstürzende Neubauten and So Wrong They're Right on DVD; The Music Library in print. Plus, The Inner Sleeve: Phill Niblock on Duke Ellington's Black, Brown And Beige; and Go To: Our monthly Net trawl
ON LOCATION: Instal 05, Glasgow, UK; Xenakis, London, UK; Kronos Quartet, London, UK; Karlheinz Stockhausen, London, UK; Terry Riley, Los Angeles, USA; Erstquake, New York, USA
PLUS: Epiphanies: Andy Hamilton on saxophonist Lee Konitz; Global Ear: Sydney; Savage Pencil's Trip Or Squeek and more Link
ONLINE WWW.THEWIRE.CO.UK
VIEW an exclusive video clip from Rune Grammofon's latest signings Moha recording the song "(C5)" which is included on this month's Wire Tapper 14 CD. Link
HEAR tracks featuring percussionist Ken Hyder (interviewed in the new December issue by Will Montgomery), including an unreleased track from K-Space's forthcoming CD on Ad Hoc Records. Link
VIEW live footage of Kim Gordon, Jutta Koether and Jenny Hoyston filmed at the Her Noise exhibition launch event on 9 November 2005 at the South London Gallery. The exhibition, curated by The Wire's Anne Hilde Neset and Lina Dzuverovic and produced by Electra in association with Forma, continues until 18 December 2005. Link
VIEW a selection of photos taken at the Her Noise launch Link
HEAR an exclusive mix by Tujiko Noriko and Lawrence English produced specially for The Wire. Link
VIEW a selection of 'segments' taken from work by painter Paula Brooks, who collaborated with Susanne Brokesch on her Disko B album Emerald Stars. Link
HEAR a track taken from Susanne Brokesch's Emerald Stars. Link
LISTEN to a streamed selection of tracks included in Brian Marley's Primer on Jamaica's greatest talkover deejays. Link
