Julia Bloop - Out of the Bloop (Patient Sounds, 2019)

Hey all!  I hope that everyone is keeping healthy and not going stir crazy in these very interesting times.  We can do this self-isolation thing.  Just please be kind and loving to your fellow citizens, maintain your distance, and above all, stay positive!  Me, I turn to music in times like these, and this lovingly crafted cassette courtesy of Julia Bloop is getting me through the social distancing blues.

Out of the Bloop was released by the now-defunct Patient Sounds label, an imprint that had been at the forefront of sonic curiosity for 10 years before calling it quits in 2019.  As a matter of fact, this was one of the final cassettes to leave their hands before the proverbial towel was thrown.  I was misty-eyed when I heard that M. Sage was drawing his lovingly-curated label to a close, but the legacy that he’s left behind certainly stands tall, and we have over 100 releases to return to when the need arises, so there’s that.

Rather than going out with a bang, Patient Sounds chose to drift off toward infinity, patiently.  This is definitely reflected in the telltale loops and samples that have become a signature of Julia Bloop’s, and are featured readily on this stunning cassette.  The most rabble rousing of the pieces on offer here is “Sailor”, which leads off the proceedings with a loping drum loop and an almost Hawai’ian guitar that dives in when it’s appropriate to do so.  There are chirping birds as well, and this seems to be a thematic touch point throughout the cassette, as they appear again in “Pacific Sunset”.  On this track, Bloop dials the drums back to a clickety-clack ratcheting that seems to grow more pervasive as the track progresses.  Piano, sax, and other tones are sprinkled about gingerly, not merely decorative, but adding to the overall sense of good vibrations being transmitted.

“Deserted Shore” is even more mellow, a piano/guitar heartstring-tugger that tumbles through a bank of samples like that prince who rolls the Katamari ball around in that highly addictive video game.  Along the same lines is “The Thrill of Shelter,” which seems to bounce around with a misty reverb that implies a cavernous locale of some sort.  Eventually, it settles into a dreamy swirl of sound, before vanishing completely.  And then there’s “Set Us Free of This World,” which is the culmination of all that came before it.  A plethora of birdsong, piano, guitar and other samples are combined into a lengthy meditation on existence itself.  This is a doozy and the perfect way to sign off such a lovely cassette.

Should you wish to investigate the wonderful world of Julia Bloop, you can find both physical and digital options at their Bandcamp.  Enjoy, and once again, stay healthy and safe!

heArt Ensemble - Oréade (Small Scale Music, 2019)

The Small Scale Music imprint is a tiny Montréal-based label dedicated to pursuing the exploratory flavors of music: noise, free jazz, experimental stuff.  All of it is worthy of digesting for those listeners with feisty viscera.  The Montréal creative music community is prolific, adventurous, and has an incredible story to tell the rest of the world.

Recently, Small Scale unleashed a pair of CDs featuring the work of Guy Thouin and the second incarnation of his heArt Ensemble.  Thouin is a legendary figure in the French-Canadian free jazz scene.  He is the only surviving original member of the Quatuor de Jazz Libre du Québec, which was the first free jazz combo formed in the city of Montréal, active from 1967 to 1974.  A prolific drummer and percussionist, Thouin was also a member of L’infonie, a loose collective of musicians who favored beat poetry and prog-oriented avant-jazz.

This new branch of the heArt Ensemble tree finds Thouin paired up with saxophonist Félix-Antoine Hamel.  The two musicians have been improvising in the drummer’s basement every week since 2015, often inviting guests to explore along with them.  The material that comprises Oréade is the result of a heavy period of experimentation as a trio, with harpist Marilou Lyonnais-Archambault joining the fray.  There is almost 70 minutes of music presented here; who knows for how long these mavericks jammed in order to harvest this distilled product of their creativity.

One intriguing aspect of this particular recording is the melodic sensibility that wafts into the proceedings from time to time.  The CD actually begins in this mode, with the almost funky “Ostinato” searching out and finding a groove to lope along to.  That being said, the trio brings on the fire most of the time, roaring along with abandon.  The harp adds a certain uncanniness that is amplified by the clever deployment of electronics.  There be ghosts here, but their howls are shimmery and bright.  This is some straight up outstanding music!

Small Scale Music still have copies of this stunner over at their Bandcamp, so head on over and drop some dollars.  You will thank me later.

Amelia Courthouse - Ruby Glass (SPINSTER, 2019)

The SPINSTER Sounds label is doing magical things.  We were first introduced to them via the wonderful Quilt of the Universe compilation, and they’ve returned with another mighty undertaking, this time courtesy of Leah Toth who some might know from her work with Wooden Wand.  For this release, Toth is going by the name Amelia Courthouse, and Ruby Glass – as it’s called – is a quiet masterpiece.  The album is awash in delicate melodies that glisten with phosphorescent tracers as they weave about.  Each piece is the product of deft hands.  These hands are composed of fingers and nerve endings that are steeped in their craft.

We take flight alongside Amelia Courthouse beginning with “No Chimbo”.  A softly panned flute-like pad provides a base for a spindly melody to be plucked out overtop.  These elements are joined by a wafting guitar line that just might be the ghostly twin of the opening guitar solo from King Crimson’s “Starless”.  The title track juxtaposes a melancholy piano melody against bells and chimes, of which one seems to become enmeshed with an analog version of itself.  This analog ringing calls out with an uncanny sadness that is melted away by the higher pitched chimes.

“Hugh Kenner” takes its name from a Canadian literary critic (Courthouse is an assistant professor in modern literature) and is decidedly haunting.  Its morose piano line is swept up in a haze of wafting pads and chords that only heighten the sense of foreboding.  “Becker” just might also be named after a literary critic.  Could it be that Courthouse is channeling May Lamberton Becker?  This piece begins rather simply but quickly sprouts multiple adornments that are quite gorgeous.  There’s an unusually compelling distortion effect at play that adds drama to the mellifluous piano melodies.

Listening to the 17-minute-long “Murphie 1” is like trying to take in the entire night sky with one glance.  The delicate pinpoints of starlight, the shooting streaks of meteors, and the slow tracking of satellites coalesce into a fine needlepoint pattern imprinted on our eyelids.  Courthouse’s wordless vocals add an angelic touch to the proceedings.  This is a mighty fine way to close out such an already wonderful release.

It is highly, highly recommended that you obtain a copy of this entrancing release.  There are some left over at the SPINSTER Bandcamp so run over there pronto and seize yourself a copy.

øjeRum - Selv I Drømme Lyser Den Første Sne (Aural Canyon, 2019)

You’re probably wondering, ‘another øjeRum review?’  Well, we happened to have a bunch of his releases in our stack, so we couldn’t help but spilling a little more ink about this ultra-prolific Dane.  This one is a cassette reissue from our friends over at Aural Canyon of an LP that originally came out on the German label Midira Records.  It must be said that both editions are worth owning just for the artwork alone, although the vinyl is long sold out at source.  Each edition is graced with its own handsome collage created by Paw Grabowski himself.

The vinyl version of Selv I Drømme Lyser Den Første Sne (English translation: even in dreams the first snow glows) pairs classic øjeRum ambient bliss with an interpretation on cello by Aaron Martin on the flip.  The cassette changes things up a bit.  The original piece remains, but the B Side contains a ‘dual version’, in which Martin’s cello and Grabowski’s loop-based ambient shimmer are played together.  The result is unbelievably breathtaking.

Fans of øjeRum’s oeuvre will be pleased by the eponymous 20-minute long monolith of minimalism – with its craftily-arranged loops and richly-hued sonic textures.  When floating alongside the cello’s wavelike sheen, the drones seem to flourish, to grow deeper and more complex.  This music is evocative enough to bring tears to your eyes, but its origins are not in melancholy.  These emotions are rooted in an indescribable beauty, an experience that must be undertaken to completely understand the sheer immensity.

Aural Canyon still has a handful of copies of this captivating release as of this writing, so let the winter winds whisk you off toward their Bandcamp and enjoy… 

øjeRum - 7 Sjæle (Midira Records, 2019)

If there’s one thing in common across all the øjeRum releases out in the wild, it’s that they’re all intensely beautiful works of art.  Both aurally and visually.  Danish musician Paw Grabowski is a master collagist, and his artwork adorns every musical artifact that he unleashes.  They are magical, amazing to look at.  And amazing to listen to.

øjeRum here presents seven souls, or songs, each a series of cascading swells that unfold slowly and crash delicately into each other.  The music is hypnotic, dreamlike, and misty.  Each of the first six relatively brief tracks reveals itself and then vanishes all too quickly.  Every piece is a unique take on the impalpable nature of sound rendered palpable when received, transmitted and decoded by our own sensory systems.  Like a gas, this music seems to expand to fill whatever space it enters: the atmosphere, a room, your ear canal.  Harnessed by our minds, images take shape: waves, a sunset, the movement of bare branches in the wind.

The final piece takes its time to beam into existence.  Over twenty minutes, øjeRum harnesses the preceding souls into a whirlwind of lush and intertwined drones.  It is a symphony of synthetic tones, a splatter of starlight with a pattern that evolves as the music unfurls.  It is sound as beauty, the feeling of being awash in bliss.

These beatific tones are available as 7 Sjæle, on LP via the Midira Records website or on cassette through øjeRum’s own Bandcamp marketplace.  Whichever way you choose to digest this intoxicating elixir, take your time, let it wash over you, and enjoy.

Antony Widoff - Disposition (Full Spectrum Records, 2019)

Welcome to 2020, dear folks!  This year is already gearing up to be a doozy, and along those lines, we’ve got an interesting tape here to chat with you about.  An interesting tape filled with eclectic computer music created by one of the more fascinating figures that you’ve probably never even heard of.  Antony Widoff has had a lengthy career that has seen him rubbing elbows with the likes of U2 and Frank Zappa, co-developing a musical composition software tool, and creating multimedia installations for display around the world.

In the 1980s, a young Widoff was a student at Bennington College, where he got involved with the development of a musical composition tool called M, and was hired by Intelligent Music, the small company founded by another of the developers, Joel Chadabe.  The other two authors of the software were David Zicarelli (who apparently still works on M) and John Offenhartz.  At around this time, the aspiring musician and composer was also noticed by free jazz legend Bill Dixon, who was a professor at the school, and formed a sort of collaborative pairing with the innovative trumpeter.

He was also in an angular post-punk band called Memorial Garage alongside Philip Price, and has been attributed to a recording under the name Weak (released in 2003) and an animated storybook called Have Another Pillow.  He currently runs a podcast called The Assembly of Silence Radio Hour, writes philosophical texts, and creates videos (and still makes music).  These activities can be sampled over at his Patreon, on which Widoff goes by the name Taijireality.

Disposition was a series of demo recordings for the M software tool and was originally released by Intelligent Music as one of four products that the company had on offer.  The others were the M software itself, as well as another package called MIDI Draw, and a cassette from founder Joel Chadabe.  The music is, not surprisingly, varied from track to track.  Jaunty new age romps pair up with quiet interludes which butt up against more experimental fare.  There are some exquisite and incredibly fascinating moments here, especially the title track and the free jazz-like “Who Is This You”.  The closing piece, the evocative “Just a Phase”, samples the many moods and motifs found across the rest of the tape and juxtaposes these in a very evocative manner.  Somehow, this collection of ideas and experiments has coalesced into a unique experience that is definitely worth undertaking.

Fortuitously, a copy of the original Disposition cassette turned up in the hands of musician Andrew Weathers, who runs the Full Spectrum Records label.  Weathers immediately contacted Widoff, who was delighted to re-issue the music for a new, and potentially appreciative, audience.  I’m going to repeat myself when I say that this is certainly a tape worth investigating, so I urge you to bounce on over to the Full Spectrum Records Bandcamp site and take an aural gander at this lovely little gem; prepare to be pleasantly surprised.

Happy Holidaze!

Hey all!  We just wanted to extend our gratitude to those folks who read our humble little blog.  Also, a great big thank you to all the labels and artists who sent in stuff for us to listen to and enjoy.  The stacks are still piled high, so for those of you whose records we haven't yet gotten to, fret not: we'll be slowly digesting those lovelies into 2020.

Below, I've shared a couple of Mixcloud episodes from one of my close friends who's been running this amazingly curated Internet radio show for a long time now... ...enjoy!

Wishing you all a safe, healthy and happy season!

Cheers,

Hazy and the Nine Chainz Crew