October in Molde

I have been blogging mostly YouTube videos these last days, keeping it simple, since I have been visiting my folks in Molde.
Molde might be the town of jazz and roses for a week or two during summer time, but is quite nice the rest of the year too (but a lot more quiet than during the festival!). The mountains and the light conditions may make you want to take pictures all the time, but sometimes it even gets a bit kitschy around here!

Olivia Chaney

If you have followed this blog for a while, I'm sure you have noticed that I'm quite fond of both British folk music and Norwegian improv. So I was obviously quite surprised when I found Olivia Chaney doing Sidsel Endresen's "Blessed Instant" with harmonium, together with Jordan Hunt (violin) and Dave Smith (drums). The video is recorded in May 2010.

Jeanette Lindström: "We Would"

Jeanette Lindström and band perform "We Would" in Stockholm in April (2010). The song is on the album "Attitude & Orbit Control", where Lindström cooperates with Robert Wyatt. Recommended!

Sophia Domancich

Since  Robert Wyatt is a guest on Sophia Domancich's new album, she deserves a couple of videos in the blog. First you see her with the old Canterbury heroes Hatfield & The North, taped in 1990. The boys in the band are Phil Miller, Richard Sinclair and Pip Pyle.
Then she's playing with William Parker and Hamid Drake in London in May 2010!

Chicago Tentet festival in Oslo

This weekend the Chicago Tentet festival is happening at Nasjonal Jazzscene in Oslo!

Peter Brötzmann and the gang meet in different projects. Be there if yoou can. The rest of us will wait for videos, and we might just as well get going right away, with Joe McPhee, Fred Lonberg-Holm and Michael Zerang filmed at The Vortex 20 October 2010.

Sophia Domancich: Snakes and ladders

 

You better look for Sophia Domancich's "Snakes And Ladders", out on the French label Cristal Records 4 November. Why? Well it's probably good, and she has recorded  the song "Wilderness" with Robert Wyatt and Alfreda Benge.
Most readers of this blog will be probably be just as happy as me to see John Greaves' name on the cover too!

Crab is crap

Sunday evening I saw Håkon Kornstad´s new trio Crab is crap, at Bergen Jazzforum´s free concert Jazzout. The trio is Håkon Kornstad (saxophones and sampling) and two local, hard working drummers Øyvind Skarbø and Øyvind Hegg-Lunde (and it might be their trio, and not Kornstad´s, for all I know!).
They played a great concert, with fine melodies, some rhythmic circus  and lots of pure fun. Kornstad claimed it felt more like Saturday than Sunday, and Skarbø even interviewed the other ones about their traveling habits. And the trio´s name was heard in Gambia, where a woman said "Crab is crap"!

Someone uploaded a (not to good quality) video on YouTube too.

Sometimes I feel the need to excuse myself for the lack of Robert Wyatt news in this blog. I hope you don´t mind too much, but I´m sure you must have noticed that I try to promote a lot of (more or less famous) Norwegian artists here! If you have visited this blog regularly you have also been exposed to my ramblings about other artists, more or less Wyatt related.
If you should feel that there is too much "and stuff" here, feel free to follow only posts with a Robert Wyatt tag. OK?

Sten Sandell Trio live in Japan

EigenKino uploaded a fine video of Sten Sandell Trio live in Japan (18 October 2010).
Some members of the audience are pretty close to the musicians here!
The musicians are  Sten Sandell (p), Johan Berthling (b) og Paal Nilssen-Love (dr), and don´t forget to put "Live in Tokyo" (PNL 2009) on your wish lists.

Svarte Greiner at Ekko

I decided to visit the  Ekko festival once more this week, this time to hear  Svarte Greiner (Erik Skodvin).
After some DJing (that´s what it´s called, isn´t it?) Svarte Greiner enters the stage. It´s pretty dark in here, and packed with kids half my age. The room gets a bit too smoky, and the music starts. Skodvin is turning knobs and pressing pedals (I´m guessing here, it was hard to see from my position) and playng guitar with a bow. The concert is following a well known scheme, starting quietly before going into more hot and dramatic landscapes, and then slowly cooling down.  It´s over in less than half an hour, nothing is being said, and all is very well!

I seldom think concerts are too short, but (for me at least) this one could have lasted a bit longer.
The kids were waiting for  more and wilder stuff, but I sneaked out while Kim Hiorthøy was pumping out heavy electronica, like a wild man.

I was hoping Skodvin would sell his fresh album "Flare" released by Sonic Pieces, but he might not work as a salesman while touring, like lots of artists do.  More information, and other records to be found, over at  Miasmah.

Stian Westerhus at the library

Stian Westerhus played at Trondheim Public Library to celebrate Norwegian author Carl Frode Tiller´s new novel "Innsirkling II" (17October). The electric guitar seems to be the new fiddle. Nice!

Phonophani at the Ekko festival

The Ekko festival  for electronic music and art, is happening in Bergen. Yesterday I went to see a triple bill, but had to drop most of Jeff Carey´s concert and all of Tim Hecker´s. A hard working man (*blushing*) has to get up the morning after.
I came to see  Espen Sommer Eide´s project Phonophani anyway, and the audience at this well attended concert (the young ones cross legged on the floor - how do they manage?) seemed to enjoy Sommer Eide´s quite strange electronica, made by home made instruments connected to computers.
Damned fascinating stuff, and let me recommend the album "Kreken" once more.

Here comes winter

Mount Ulriken (Bergen) covered in snow,  21 October 2010. A bit early, if you want to know how I feel, but here comes winter!

mp3, CD, CD + DVD, Dobbel LP

I have already posted (of course!) the new album by Wyatt/Atzmon/Stephen (Domino 2010), so here is just a reminder that you may want to buy more than one version of it!
You can get the CD and mp3, but also a double vinyl LP (with download voucher), where Alfie´s cover art is at it´s best, and it is also available as a limited edition package with CD and DVD (now, how limited, I don´t know). The DVD is a film made by Tali Atzmon, where we see the musicians during rehearsals and recordings.
The record is (as we all know) called ".. for the ghosts within" and the movie "The Muses Within". The movie is really great, and I hope they upload it for all the interested fans to see, when the special edition is sold out.
I know it´s out there, hidden on Vimeo!

Ultralyd: "Inertiadrome" (Rune 2010)

Ultralyd´s new album "Inertiadrome" is out on Rune Grammofon. Kjetil Møster (sax), Anders Hana (guitar, synth), Kjetil Brandsdal (bass) and Morten Olsen (drums, vibraphone) make heavy industrial rock. I only see shipyards and large halls full of machines, when Brandsdal´s rock steady bass is pumping from the speakers, and he and the rest of the crew make a (quite monotonous) soundtrack to some imaginary film about industry, or the fall of the industry.
I´m sorry I went a bit off the track here, but just count it as another recommendation

I´m usually not too focused on sound quality, but here it struck me, that this must be quite good. Recorded and mixed by Jørgen Træen at Duper Studios (Bergen).

If this is not too much for you, look for a new 12", probably on sale at concerts, and probably released later. I really don´t know, but I´ve been lucky,  and have received a copy with silvery cover, and two tracks, recorded by the same mr Træen at Duper.

Svarte Greiner

I have mentioned Erik Skodvin several times in the blog, and recommended his solo project Svarte Greiner and the band Deaf Center. This is just another recommendation I guess, and a reminder to the people of Bergen, that he plays at the Ekko festival 22 October.
I really want to go, but it´s at a club late on a Friday night, and you know, an old man like me? I´m really not sure that´s appropriate behavior. Might be young people there too, waiting to dance or something.

This video is from a festival in Italy this summer.

Haunted by ghosts

Gilad Atzmon and Robert Wyatt are presented in a pretty long interview in Israeli haaretz.com.  They talk about music, Israel and Palestine (of course!).  The interview is posted on Atzmon´s own site too, where he says he is a bit surprised he wasn´t censored.

Cassette

Remember what your mother told you? Don´t go into cars with strangers! Words you might like to remember, for less serious cases than the ones she had in mind too.

On Friday night I met a couple of people who seemed very nice, and I thought "Hell yes, I´ll go for a ride". The guys were Jørgen Træen and Jørgen Knudsen, well known figures from the shady parts of the Bergen music scene. They were doing cassette concerts in their car, that had an exhibition of photos and objects in the roof, dices and a scary woman hanging from the mirror and a photo of a holy man taped to the front deck (or whatever you call that part of a car, I don´t drive).  I must admit that the holy man looked a lot like noise maker John Hegre.

This concert had room for three people, in the back seat of the car. We got large glasses of red wine, they lighted incense (!) and got the noise music cassettes going, driving through the streets of the Bergen city center. The streets of Bergen are not at all totally flat (surprise),  so half of the wine were out of the glasses before we realized what to do.

This happening was a part of an exhibition  called   Kassett (Norwegian, sorry) held by  Lydgalleriet (The Sound Gallery) and the Ekko festival of Bergen. Here they focus on the Norwegian history of the cassette, and if that should be of any interest, Lasse Marhaug compiled a double cassette with both obscure and well known artists (Maja Ratkje is well known, at least). You might be able to get it by contacting Lydgalleriet.

 If you want to see some more pictures please click here.

Full Blast

Let´s just blow up a storm for the weekend, starting with Full Blast and Ken Vandermark at Cafe Oto (30 September 2010). Full Blast is Peter Brötzmann (sax), Marino Pliakas (b) and Michael Wertmueller (dr).

And what better opportunity to remind you about the Chicago Tentet Festival at Nasjonal Jazzscene in Oslo 28 - 30 october.

Compendium Records

October 25 Plastic Strip will release "Compendium Records - Norway´s First Progressive Record Store & Label 1974-1977" on CD and double LP.
I have posted the Compendium discography in a previous blog post, and I suggest you just run over here to get more info on the new release, track list and all.

You are interested in all these artists of course, but let me just mention Henry Cow and Hugh Hopper here. Hopper is on two tracks, one from "Hoppertunity Box" and one from the Dean/Hopper/Tippett/Gallivan quartet.

Mystery Orchestra

Albatrosh is André Roligheten (sax) and Eyolf Dale (p). They released the fine "Seagull Island" last year (Inner Ear 2009), and are now ready with "Mystery Orchestra with Grenager & Tafjord" (Inner Ear 2010). The two guest musicians (or maybe they are going steady now?) are of course the great Spunks Lene Grenager (cello) and Hild Sofie Tafjord (french horn), who also toured with Albatrosh in 2009. The new album is in the jazz/contemporary classical landscape, and I recommend it! No surprises in this blog.
They had a release concert at the Music Department of the Trondheim Public Library, and they even filmed a couple of tunes. Here they play "Derrick at P1", a nod to Germany´s best (?) police detective. Ich habe keine Angst.

Wyatt/Atzmon/Stephen

Robert Wyatt, Gilad Atzmon and Ros Stephen are more than ready with their new album "For the ghosts within" (Domino 2010).
We get some new songs, written by Alfreda Benge with Stephen and Atzmon ("Lullaby for Irena", "The ghosts within"), a couple of new versions of songs from older Wyatt albums ("Where are they now" and "Maryan"), Chic´s "At last I am free" (sung by Wyatt  in the 80s too) and standards like "In a sentimental mood", "Lush life", "Round midnight" and (yes, it´s true) "What a wonderfull world"!
Wyatt´s voice (enough said!), Atzmon´s strong alto and clarinet and Stephen´s (not too sweet) strings make this a wonderful album. Sometimes here I feel like I´m in a black & white movie soundtrack, but today´s realities shine through still. "Where are they now?" even got some Palestinian rap.

On "Round Midnight" and "In a sentimental mood" Robert Wyatt is just whistling and humming, and Tali Atzmon sings on the title track. She also uploaded some photos from the recordings on Flickr and filmed the DVD you get if you buy the limited special edition of the CD. (That´s what I believe at least, I´m waiting for my copy from Amazon).

The strings are handled by The Sigamos String Quartet, and Alfreda Benge made the cover illustrations, nice as always.

Come on, buy the CD, the limited edition CD with DVD, LP or mp3.

"...For The Ghosts Within will act like a foot spa upon your soul". (Record Collector).

The Unthanks, Robert Wyatt and Antony

Let me remind you about the concert at The Union Chapel in London December 8th and 9th, where The Unthanks "Explore and perform the music of Robert Wyatt and Antony & The Johnsons"!

Triads and More

Among the interesting albums being released 11 October (Robert Wyatt and friends´ already on everybody´s shopping list I guess) I´m afraid you have to consider some Norwegians too. Here you may watch the video documentary presented on the CD "Triads and More" with  Trondheim Jazz Orchestra and Joshua Redman.  Eirik Hegdal of Trondheim Jazz Orchestra and Joshua Redman cooperated at the Molde International Jazz Festival in 2006.
Watch a better format over at  Lydverket.

And on the 27 October I hope to see Trondheim Jazz Orchestra with Chick Corea in Molde!

Number 100 from Rune Grammofon

I already bragged about my copy of the jubilee box from Rune Grammofon, but let´s not forget that you also may buy  the sampler "Twenty centuries of stony sleep" without getting the whole box!

You already know of course, but here is the proof that  Rune is a killer company, with great musicians. You meet several of them quite often in this blog, like Maja Ratkje, Stian Westerhus and Supersilent. They deliver the goods on this album too, but check it out and you will hear a fine mix of beautiful songs (Hilde Marie Kjersem, Jenny Hval, In The Country), improv-noise-elektronica (Ultralyd, Puma, Deathprod), piano jazz (Espen Eriksen Trio) and rock (Low Frequency in Stereo, Bushman´s Revenge).

I have to count Alog among the rockers here, doing a post punk song called "My card is 7".

I Worn My Elbows Down To The Bones

I was Looking for some Ivor Cutler stuff, and found this video of Lisa O´Neill doing a cover of his "I worn my elbow down to the bones". First listen to "Wagoners Lad", then Cutler´s song will come.

Who will write a fantastic Ivor Cutler biography then? Isn´t it about time the great Mr. Cutler got one? For all I know he wouldn´t have liked it, but I would!

Mary Halvorson on Robert Wyatt

Guitarist Mary Halvorson is guesting "Destination Out", and I´m happy to say she sounds like a real  Robert Wyatt fan! 

Firehouse 12 just released Mary Halvorson Quintet: "Saturn Sings". This is supposed to be music with harmonies inspired by  Clifford Brown, Sam Cooke and The Soul Stirrers, Marvin Gaye, Thelonious Monk, Alexander Scriabin, Archie Shepp, Dmitri Shostakovich og Robert Wyatt. A great bunch, or what!?

Avant Art Festival

The Avant Art Festival in Poland seems to have been a great festival. Here you get Maja Ratkje and Arve Henriksen/Jan Bang,  but check out OffonOff, Stian Westerhus and Terje Isungset, Jono El Grande  and Puma too (or perhaps not, if you are a HiFi freak).

Flaten, Kornstad, Christensen

Compunctio will release two live albums with the trio Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (b), Håkon Kornstad (sax) and Jon Christensen (dr) in 2011. The recorded concerts were held in Oslo and Uppsala.

Here you get a teaser, with "Mitt hjerte altid vanker" (meaning something like "My Heart Is Always Wandering"), and don´t you forget the beautiful album "Elise" (Compunctio 2008).

Gilad Atzmon and Robert Wyatt

Visit Gilad Atzmon´s site, and read  "Gilad Atzmon: A conversation with Robert Wyatt on cultural resistance" (and other stuff too!).

-- On planet Wyatt almost everything is magically simple but at the same time profound and compassionate.  “My politics is clear”, he says,  ‘I am an anti racist’. “The idea” he continues, “that some people believe others to be inferior is plain silly.” 

Don´t forget that Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Ensemble is all ready with "The Tide Has Changed" (World Village 2010).

Eldbjørg Raknes: Sense

Eldbjørg Raknes´new album is here, and it´s called  "Sense" (My Recordings 2010). On her previous record "From frozen feet heat came" (2008),  Stian Westerhus and Eirik Hegdal were important parts of the sound, but on "Sense" Eldbjørg Raknes´voice is the main component.
The record has two longer peaces (well, the album is not more than 35 minutes all in all), "Close To" (1-5) and "Far From" (1-5), and the final track "All Right, Alive". On Close To 4 we get some heavy rhythms, but the rest of the album is Eldbjørg´s vocals (sometimes layer upon layer) and a bit of percussion.

This is music for active listening. Used as background music or on the iPod on a noisy bus it will just be irritating, but play loud and listen! The great voice and the album´s great sound will satisfy your ears.

Co producer: Stian Westerhus.

Robert Wyatt on Humming, Whistling and "Wyatting"

Billy Reeves recently interviewed Robert Wyatt, and you may listen to i over here

Antony: "Thank you for your love"

Antony and The Johnsons new album "Swanlights" is just around the corner, and the teaser EP "Thank you for your love" has been on heavy rotation on my iPod and CD player lately.

At first I wondered if we really needed this one, the music sound very familiar to other Antony songs, but hell yes, I think we need it!

Blame me for liking Antony´s voice too much, if you disagree. 

"Thank you for your love" is from "Swanlights" (watch video with a young Antony here), but you also get four more songs that are not on the album. Antony´s "My Lord My Love" is just beautiful, and I really like the cover of "Pressing on" from Bob Dylan´s "Saved".

And then the  EP is ending with John Lennons "Imagine"! Ouch! This is one of the pop songs I am more than a bit fed up with (no offense meant and so on), but it works just fine here, with guitar instead of piano, and I hate to admit it, but I have been humming "Imagine" this afternoon. Sorry.

Møster!

Look out for the band Møster! They played their first concert at the Kongsberg Jazz Festival earlier this year, and hit Bergen Jazzforum hard yesterday.  You may blame: Kjetil Møster (saxophone), Ståle Storløkken  (keyboards), Nikolai Hengsle Eilertssen (bass) and Kenneth Kapstad (drums).

Møster plays Coltrane inspired jazz, contemporary classical and is even in Datarock, and the other guys  play in  Supersilent (Storløkken), Elephant 9 (Eilertsen, Storløkken) and  Motorpsycho (Kapstad), and the music they make may sound like a mix of the mentioned bands (no, I won´t try to explain!).

Yesterday they seemed to scare the audience a bit during the first part of the concert, but I blame the DJ (DJ Rotekopf he calls himself) for this. He chose to play the theme from "Colargol" just before the band entered the stage, so we were all in some kind of children´s TV mood.

Throw Me Away

Today a post (mainly) for the ones who are able to read Swedish. Kristoffer Andersson interviewed Robert Wyatt  on politics and music for the Swedish site "Throw Me Away".

I´m sorry I don´t have time to translate some of it into English right now (I might come back to it), but I can assure you that Robert is more than a bit critical towards Blair, and very positive when it comes to pop music!
Now, how many of you are surprised by this? No hands in the air?