Released! 10"

Fire! released "You Liked Me Five Minutes Ago" in 2009 and "Unreleased?" with Jim O´Rourke earlier this year, both on Rune Grammofon. Now you may go looking for a 10" vinyl with Fire! and Jim O´Rourke, with recordings from the same sessions as the ones that gave us "Unreleased?" (Tokyo, 12 and 13 Sept. 2010).
"Released!" is a great record too, and only 500 copies made.

Mats Gustafsson: Baryton saxophone, Fender Rhodes, live electronics
Johan Bertling: Electric bass
Andreas Werlin: Drums and percussion
Jim O´Rourke: Electric guitar, synthesizer, harmonica

Cover: Kim Hiorthøy.

Sun Boxes

It´s pretty dark in Norway these days, so a sound installation powered by solar panels, may seem far out, even if it seems to work on frozen lakes!
Sun Boxes is comprised of 20 speakers powered by the sun, with a different loop set to play a guitar note in each box continuously. Read more here.
The man behind the project is Craig Colorusso, and field recordings from Massachusetts are available on 7" vinyl too!

Relaxing in the sun sounds nice for sure, but (being realistic) may we have some running on rain and sleet?

Soft Machine live in Brussels (1971)

I have already posted from Soft Machine´s 1971 Brussels concert, but not this video of "Kings and Queens".
This was recorded in january 1971, with these fine gentlemen:
Mike Ratledge - Keyboards
Elton Dean - Alto Sax, Saxello
Hugh Hopper - Bass
Robert Wyatt - Drums

A month later Soft Machine (with the same crew) played in Oslo, and if you don´t have it, check out the recording of the show on "Live at Henie Onstad Art Centre 1971" (Reel Recordings 2009).

Sonore live

What a trio Sonore is! Ken Vandermark, Peter Brötzmann and Mats Gustafsson, a line up that´s pretty hard to beat!
Here you have almost one hour from SKIF-14 Festival 2010 (St. Petersburg).

A live album from Cafe Oto (April 2011) is just out on Trost, and over at The Liminal you may read about the recorded concert.

Terje Isungset and Arve Henriksen

Terje Isungset and Arve Henriksen have visited Tallinn to play on glass instruments.
See and hear the artists play some, and being interviewed in English. Glass artists/organizers (?) are speaking Estonian.

3 - 5 February 2012 both artists will play on ice instruments, during the Ice Festival at Geilo.

Wels 2008/11/08

I got one of the 157 (!) copies made of Fire Room´s LP "Wels 2008/11/08" for Christmas. The release is a cooperation between Pica Disk and PNL, and is numbered PICA030/PNL011 (2011).
Fire Room is Ken Vandermark (sax, clar), Lasse Marhaug (electronics) and Paal Nilssen-Love (drums).

It seems like Tiger in Oslo still has copies for sale! You might have a chance to check out this super sax-drums-electronics trio on vinyl, or see the video below (recorded in Wels, Austria). Make sure you also listen to their previous album "Broken Music" (Atavistic 2008).

Cover probably made by Lasse Marhaug.

Bat Chain Puller

A "new" album by Captain Beefheart (1941 - 2010) will be officially released 15 January 2012!
"Bat Chain Puller" was recorded in 1976, and has been bootlegged of course, but some of the tracks also ended up on the albums "Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller)", "Doc at the Radar Station" and "Ice Cream for Crow" (Wikipedia).

A bit more over at The Guardian.

A Christmas Video Festival

I´m not sure you will all agree about this being Christmas music, but then it´s my blog anyway, so here we go!

On the first video you will not recognize Nils Økland (fiddle), Ørjan Haaland (drums), Per Steinar Lie (guitar) and Rikke Westerlund Lie (dance), being part of the art project "Please Disturb".

Next ones out are C. Spencer Yeh, Stine Motland and Ben Hall (Dense Mesh 12/16/11 Brooklyn), followed by Terje Isungset and the dancers of Carte Blanche.

ISUNGSET og CARTE BLANCHE. Bimf2010 from leonardo cuevas on Vimeo.

And finally, you may walk on over to Gilad Atzmon´s site for a full concert with Gilad and The Orient House Ensemble at Black Mountain Jazz.

2Gether

Somebody over at Showbiz*411 have heard "2Gether", Steve Nieve´s next album. From the description it sounds like a real pop album, with guests like Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze, Vanessa Paradis, Joe Sumner of Fiction Plane, Robert Wyatt, Ron Sexsmith, Laurie Anderson and Harper Simon.

On the new instrumental album "Lazy Point", Nieve covers Elvis Costello´s (and Robert Wyatt´s!) "Shipbuilding".

My Top 15

I have read "Best of 2011"- lists until my ears have grown big and wet these last weeks.
And yes, I´m making a list too! The best? I really don´t know, having listened to just a small fraction of the total number of releases.
But check out my chosen 15, for a better life.

1982: "Pintura" (Hubro)
Alog: "Unemployed" (Rune)
Sigbjørn Apeland: "Glassolalia" (Hubro)
Kaboom Karavan: "Barra Barra" (Miasmah)
Nils Petter Molvær: "Baboon Moon" (Sula)

Poing: "Wach Auf!" (Øra)
Matana Roberts: "Coin Coin. Chapter One" (Constellation)
Conrad Schnitzler: "Hirschgebrüll" (Fysisk Format)
Splashgirl: "Pressure" (Hubro)
June Tabor: "Ashore" (Topic)

Richard Thompson: "Live at the BBC" (UMC)
The Unthanks: "The Songs of Robert Wyatt and Antony & The Johnsons" (Rabble Rouser)
Chris Watson: "El Tren Fantasma" (Touch)
Æthenor: "En Form for Blå" (VHF)
Nils Økland and Sigbjørn Apeland: "Lysøen: Hommage à Ole Bull" (ECM)

The Thing with Barry Guy live in Vilnius

I guess you are all ready for another video with The Thing (Paal Nilssen-Love, Mats Gustafsson and Ingebrigt Håker Flaten) now? This time from Vilnius (28 May 2011), and with extra bass player Barry Guy on the team!

The video is uploaded by the Lithuanian record company NoBusiness Records, and I have already mentioned some Mats Gustafsson records on this company in the blog.

Barry Guy will play at the All Ears festival in Oslo in January 2012. He might have been invited by Nilssen-Love at this very concert?

The Great Gig In Disguise

As already mentioned in this blog, Rune Grammofon are ready for Christmas with four new limited edition vinyl releases (500 numbered copies).

And here we are with Bergen´s own The Last Hurrah!!, and their 10" "The great gig in disguise".
Side A is the folk-pop side, starting with a great HP Gundersen song called "Sleeping without you", and following with a cover of Sandy Denny´s "Who knows where the time goes".
Side B is the prog side, with another fine one from Gundersen ("Chromatic Hysteria") and The Last Hurrah!!´s Pink Floyd cover "The great gig in the sky", originally on Mojo´s tribute CD "Return to the dark side of the moon" (October issue 2011).

The musicians: Heidi Goodbye (voc), HP Gundersen (g, pedal steel), Nils Einar Vinjor (g), Sonja Otto (keyb, b voc), Alex Grieg (b), Nils Are Drønen (dr), Sam Fossbakk (ringmodulator, theremin), Tomine Mikkeline Eide (b voc) og Mari Persen (strings, string arrangements).

Cover (as usual) by Kim Hiorthøy.

The Thing live in Poland

More than one hour with The Thing, live at Klub Dragon in Poznan, December 2011!
Filmed from an unusual angle, but still! We see and hear Mats Gustafsson (sax), Paal Nilssen-Love (dr) and Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (bass). What a trio this is!

El Tren Fantasma

Come on, let´s go by train, crossing Mexico, from Los Mochis to Veracruz, in 65 minutes!
Chris Watson has been field recording, weather, animals and glaciers for some time, and here he has made a fantastic piece of music/soundscape using recordings from a train ride (originally for a BBC radio production).

On "El Tren Fantasma" (Touch 2011) we listen to the sounds of the ghost train on the tracks, people on the train and on the stations, insects and birds, all beautifully mixed to make a fantastic trip!

Chris Watson was a member of Cabarete Voltaire (1973 - 1981).

In Conversation: Robert Wyatt

In Conversation: Robert Wyatt from Sound and Music on Vimeo.

Robert Wyatt in conversation with Tony Herrington, on his favourite music, during the Off The Page festival in 2011.

Off The Page 2012 is happening 24 - 26 February 2012 at The Playhouse, Whitstable.

Here Comes Everybody

Just a short message to tell the few of you that do not already know, that Atomic is here once more with a great album. "Here Comes Everybody" (Jazzland 2011) contains 7 tunes of hard bop, free jazz and something close to contemporary classical, and hey, I´m just stealing the descriptions from others, it´s jazz OK? I bet this one will manage to end up on some of the best of 2011 albums lists, even if it´s a bit late, so just start shopping.

Musicians (as usual): Fredrik Ljungkvist (sax, clar), Paal Nilssen-Love (dr), Håvard Wiik (p), Magnus Broo (tp) and Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (b), all of them in great shape. Ljungkvist composed three of the tracks, Wiik four of them.

Coverdesign: Lasse Marhaug. Well, some of the music might just fit as a spooky movie soundtrack?

Get The Blessing

According to Jazzwise Robert Wyatt participates on some tracks on Get The Blessing´s forthcoming album "OC DC". It´s scheduled for release 5 Mars (2012) on Naim.
Great news!

All Ears 2012

How a bout a festival for improvised music in Oslo (Norway) in the middle of January? Yes? Anyway, the program for All Ears 2012 (12 - 15 January) is here! The festival is organized by
Guro Moe, Paal Nilssen-Love, Jon Rune Strøm and Lasse Marhaug. Looking good!

ALL EARS 2012:THURSDAY JANAURY 12 @ Fabrikken:

SAKA (Jon Rune Strøm / Dag Erik Knedal Andersen / Kristoffer Alberts)

David Stakenes / Raymond Strid / Christine Sehnaoui Abdelnour / Patric Thorman

Activity Center (Burkhard Beins / Michael Renkel)

Void Ov Voices (Attila Csihar)


FRIDAY JANUARY 13 @ Fabrikken:

Barry Guy

Vilde Sandve Alnæs / Lisa Dillan / Nina De Heney

Kenneth Kapstad / Sveinar Hoff

Antoine Chessex / Okkyung Lee

Rolf Erik Nystrøm / Ketil Gutvik / Steve Noble


SATURDAY JANUARY 14 @ Fabrikken:

Bill Orcutt

Andy Moor / Anne James Chaton

Thomas Lehn / Marcus Schmickler

Arto Lindsay

Parker/Guy/Lytton


SUNDAY JANUARY 15 @ Henie Onstad Kunstsenter:

Kjell Bjørgengen / Keith Rowe

The Stool Pigeon

Brian Eno, Robert Wyatt and 38 other artists, have been writing stories for the free music paper "The Stool Pigeon" (no 35, 2011).

It seems like The Stool Pigeon publish some articles online after a while, and they also sell old issues. The desperate ones should check their site regularly.

16 December: And here is the history.

The Unthanks live

Oh no, I´m still not ready to stop writing about The Unthanks, and their versions of the songs of Antony & The Johnsons and Robert Wyatt!
Here are two videos from Saint James´s Church in London. First Antony´s "Paddy´s Gone" and next Robert Wyatt´s "Sea Song", from the tour happening right now.

Robert and Alfie attended one of the concerts of the tour, leading to the following message on The Unthanks´ Twitter account: "Don't think I'll ever do anything so heightening or stressful as playing Alifib/Alifie in front of Robert Wyatt & Alfie Benge last night."
My guess: No reason to be nervous!

Use It Or Lose It

Hurry up now, only two days left to listen!
BBC Radio 3's "Between the Ears" still offer "Use It Or Lose It", a radiophonic play by (and with) Peter Blegvad. Producer: Iain Chambers.
The topic is loss of memory.

The Unthanks, Antony Hegarty, Robert Wyatt

The Unthanks’ new album, ”The Songs of Robert Wyatt and Antony & The Johnsons” (Rabble Rouser 2011), is out now. The music was recorded live at The Union Chapel in London, and is probably the first one in a series a bit on the side of their ordinary releases, since it’s subtitle is ”Diversions Vol. 1”.

Previous to this one, The Unthanks, with sisters Rachel and Becky in the lead, have released four albums (the two first ones as Rachel Unthank and The Winterset), ”Cruel Sister” (2005), ”The Bairns” (2007), ”Here’s the Tender Coming” (2009) and ”Last” (2011).
On the albums they play traditional folk, self penned folk and a nice selection of cover songs by artists like Robert Wyatt, Nick Drake, Bonnie Prince Billy, King Crimson and Tom Waits. They have also done ”Sexy Sadie” by The Beatles on a CD included with Mojo magazine.

I guess it will not come as a shock, but on the new album they only sing Antony & The Johnsons and Robert Wyatt’s songs, all done perfectly (well “Dondestan” perhaps too lively!) with a touch of folk and presented in a charming way. Antony’s songs are mostly taken from the album "I am a Bird Now", while Wyatt’s are harvested from "Comicopera", "Dondestan (revisited)", "Cuckooland", "Shleep" and "Rock Bottom" ("Sea Song" of course!).
One of ”Wyatt’s songs” is Norwegian Anja Garbarek’s fantastic ”Stay Tuned”. Nice!

Oh yes, this is indeed a live recording. We hear several coughs, slips of the tounge and wrong starts, but that doesn’t matter really, it’s like being there in person. I play it loud (as suggested in the liner notes too), and like it a lot!

Vossajazz 2012

I´m not much of a Christmas man, but must admit I like the way the Norwegian Jazz Festival Vossajazz release their 2012 program as a Christmas calendar. The festival is happening 30 Mars - 1 April.

Marc Ribot is coming with Brad Jones and JT Lewis, but in this blog post video he is playing with Henry Grimes and Chad Taylor.

Robert Wyatt vocal improvisations

Robert Wyatt - vocal improvisation and more (1991-95) by melodyn

Prepare yourselves for some of Robert Wyatt´s vocal improvisations, recorded by a French radio station in 1991.
You also get some music from the Millenium album "A Civilised Word" (1995).

2 x Brötzmann trios

Check out Peter Brötzmann in two different trios, both of them recorded live in Japan, not long ago.
The first one is with Paal Nilssen-Love (dr) and Fred Lonberg-Holm (sello) (18 October), the second with Tamaya Honda (dr) and Michiyo Yagi (koto) (20 October).

Kjetil Møster: "Blow Job"

This may be of interest for some of you sax fanatics out there. Kjetil Møster is a regular visitor in this blog (and visiting even more often over at my Norwegian blog Wyatting), and he´s first solo album "Blow Job" (+3dB 2011) is being released today (can´t find it on Amazon or iTunes yet). I missed his release party in Bergen Wednesday (poster), but have heard the album, and recommend this mix of just breathing, tender melodies and powerful blowouts.

Still no info to be found on +3dB´s own site, but I seem to remember hearing that other solo releases were planned too. Time will show.

Facelift, a reminder

It seems like it is still possible to buy most issues of the old Canterbury fanzine "Facelift"!
Check "The Polite Force" blog and Phil Howitt´s FaceLift site.

Alog: Unemployed

If you hurry up, you might be able to get your hands on Alog´s "Unemployed", a "box" with four LPs on Rune Grammofon (300 copies)! You will get three white vinyl albums and one black and a numbered fold out paper (no proper cover, and no proper box).

Alog´s Dag-Are Haugan and Espen Sommer-Eide have made some weird electronica, using custom made instruments, samples and guest artists.
I love the sad version of a well known Swedish song called "Båklandets vackra Maja", and a pretty wild story in Norwegian, sung by Jaap Blonk ("Bømlo brenn om natta", libretto: N. H. Møllerhaug). The other guests are Sigbjørn Apeland, Jenny Hval, Signe Lidén and The Sheriffs of Nothingness (Kari Rønnekleiv, Ole Henrik Moe).

This is great fun, but to be honest with you, you really don´t have to fight for a vinyl copy. The CD (or download version) might be just the selection you prefer after all.

Tracks not on the CD: "Kompass", "Leisure", "Solitaire" (10,11,12), "September", "Working the streets of San Francisco", "Piraeus", "De arbetsskyggas förening" and "Avis".

Cover: Kim Hiorthøy.

Unthanks

I´m still waiting for my copy of the new Robert Wyatt and Antony & The Johnsons album by The Unthanks, so while waiting I checked some Unthanks links

The Guardian present "Rachel Unthank: soundtrack of my life", where Rachel claims that Robert Wyatt´s "Rock Bottom" is the album that "--framed my marriage".

Independent.ie use The Unthanks as an example on artists that think outside the box, to make contact with the audience in these times of "shrinking revenue streams".
The band invited fans to hang with them, join them for music sessions in local bars and even dine with them.

Fan-friendly artists are great, but come on folks, let them eat in peace.

How I Invented Time

The Archimedes Quartet is David Thomas, Peter Blegvad, Chris Cutler og John Edwards, and I wish I was going to see them at Cafe Oto in London 3 December!

A little info stolen from the project blog "How I Invented Time": "Five years ago David Thomas described a bath tub epiphany to Peter Blegvad at a chance meeting outside an architectural college in Oxford. "Edison, Einstein, Eisenhower and Elvis - The Four 'E's Who Invented The 20th Century." This evolved, in the way of these sorts of conversations, into a Big Idea - a lecture / symposium slamdown to be refereed by Chris Cutler", and now they go live.

I hope this happening is being recorded, filmed or painted!

Fire Room Live

Fire Room with Ken Vandermark, Lasse Marhaug and Paal Nilssen-Love have been touring lately. Here they are in Geneva, and if you are lucky you may find their new album too.
The LP "Wels 2008/11/08" is a limited ed. release on Pica Disk (2011).

More vinyl from Rune

Message from Rune Grammofon: To be released on 9th December, all vinyl only releases in numbered, limited editions of 500:

Elephant9 - Live at the BBC (LP)
Scorch Trio with Mars Williams - Made in Norway (2LP)
Fire! with Jim O´Rourke - Released! (10" EP)
The Last Hurrah!! - The Great Gig in Disguise (10" EP)

Dans Les Arbres

I have to admit I get a bit stressed, when I´m the first one to arrive at a concert in a big church, ten minutes before they are supposed to start playing. But there were obviously no reason to worry yesterday, when Dans Les Arbres played a fantastic concert for ten grown ups an one little baby in the Korskirken church in Bergen. Ivar Grydeland (guitar, banjo), Ingar Zach (drums, percussion), Xavier Charles (clarinet) and Christian Wallumrød (piano, shruti box) are professionals to their fingertips, and even played an extra number for the small "crowd".

The music was quiet and beautiful, and Birk Nygaard´s lights made me feel like I was swimming with the fish in a church aquarium. Now that may not sound positive to all of you, but it is!
Thanks a lot!

Christian Wallumrød was sitting in the dark all the time, and is not present on any of my unfocused pictures, and the baby slept all through the concert.

You will find several releases by these artists on SOFA.

Brötzfest

Peter Brötzmann has been partying over in Japan. Here Brötzmann and friends really get going at the Shinjuku Pit Inn in Tokyo (15 October 2011).
Musicians: Peter Brötzmann (sax), Fred Lonberg-Holm (g), Paal Nilssen-Love (dr), Michiyo Yagi (koto) og Jim O´Rourke (g).

The video was uploaded by EigenKino, and make sure you check out his (or hers) YouTube account!

The Golden Goose of Statoil

How about this new piece of street art in Bergen? The artist calls him- or herself Gaia and the artwork´s name is "The golden goose of Statoil".

Statoil is the Norwegian state´s oil company, and the hero of the Norwegian version of this fairy tale has the same name as this installation. Now start wondering.

Symphonies In My Head

Oops, I thought I had blogged this one already, and now all of you have probably heard Håkon Kornstad´s solo album "Symphonies in my head" (Jazzland 2011) already?
I liked (and still like!) Kornstad´s previous solo albums "Single Engine" (Jazzland 2007) and "Dwell Time" (Jazzland 2009), but this one beats both of them.
The pieces are pretty strong melodies, and I was sure they were composed, but all of them are probably improvised. Håkon Kornstad with saxophone and loops in the Sofienberg church in Oslo. Absolutely wonderful!

Kornstad pins several of his most beautiful tracks on the map: "Sweden" and "Turkey, Texas" ("Single Engine"), "Oslo" ("Dwell Time"), and "Damaskus" and "Mandal" ("Symphonies in my head"). I´m waiting for "Bergen".

Here are a couple of videos. The first one is a full office concert (Norwegian Broadcasting Co., NRK) and then "Sweden" played in Perugia (Italia) in July 2011.

Charles Mingus

Do you want to help financing a documentary on the great bass player Charles Mingus?
Now you have got the chance, because Mingus´ grandson Kevin Ellington Mingus is at it, but he needs some money,and is running a campaign through Kickstarter. Can you spare a dollar or more?

Check out Mingus and friends in Oslo (Norway) in 1964.

Stian Around A Hill

You might want to check out some (not so well known) young Norwegians today? Listen to the the quartet Stian Around A Hill. Their new album "Alle skal få" (meaning something like "It´s enough for everyone") (Atterklang 2011), is being released as a magazine with download code, but it´s been hard to find the magazine (strange, considering the title). I found the music on eMusic, but if you choose iTunes you get the digital version of the magazine (in Norwegian I´m afraid).
The music is really nice jazz, quiet and beautiful as in "God natt" and "Vals", and energetic stuff like "Action" and "Driva kro". Over at Stian Omenås´site he says they work with his chamber jazz compositions with room for improvisations. Call it whatever you like, it´s a good album anyway.

The band: Stian Omenås (tp), Svein Magnus Furu (sax, clar), Ola Høyer (b) and Øyvind Skarbø (dr) (Skarbø also drums in the folk-improv trio 1982).
I pushed their previous album "Lille Stille" (2009) too. That one had Jo Berger Myhre playing the bass, instead of Høyer.

The magazine contains:

• An interview with Stian Omenås.

• A history of improvisation by Svein Magnus Furu.

• Håkon Kornstad interviewed by Øyvind Skarbø.

• Ola Høyer´s recipe for white wine steamed mussels (!).

The Songs of Robert Wyatt and Antony & The Johnsons

The Unthanks will release "The Songs of Robert Wyatt and Antony & The Johnsons, Live from The Union Chapel (Diversions Vol 1.)" on November 28th. Looking forward to this one!

The tracklist:

Antony & The Johnsons
01 Bird Gerhl
02 Man is the Baby
03 You Are My Sister
04 For Today I Am A Boy
05 Paddy’s Gone
06 Spiraling

Robert Wyatt
07 Stay Tuned (Anja Garbarek) from Comicopera
08 Dondestan (Wyatt) from Dondestan (revisited)
09 Lullaby for Hamza (Wyatt/Benge) from Cuckooland
10 Lisp Service (Hopper/Wyatt) from Dondestan (revisited)
11 Free Will and Testament (Wyatt/Kramer) from Shleep
12 Out of the Blue (Wyatt/Elfriede Ellidge) from Comicopera
13 Cuckoo Madame (Wyatt/Benge) from Cuckooland
14 Sea Song (Wyatt) from Rock Bottom
15 Forest (excerpt) from Cuckooland

Mercury Heart

Anton Octavian made this animated video for Nils Petter Molvær's "Mercury Heart" (from "Baboon Moon" 2011).

Piksel 2011

If you happen to be near Bergen these days, please note that the 9th annual Piksel festival for Electronic Art and Technological Freedom is happening here 17 - 20 November.

This will happen (schedule):

Thursday:
-UKI Game level One (infect the city) Workshop
-MP19_SCHMUTZ||DISRUPTER ∆NALOG TOOLS. Workshop
-Streaming Experiences. Presentasjon
-SketchSpace. Presentasjon
-The Impossible City. Urban installasjon

Friday:
-UKI game level one [infect the city] Workshop
-Visual Live Coding with Texture Workshop
-Electromagnetic Cityscape Workshop
-din is noise Workshop
-Be Your Own Souvenir! Urban Intervensjon
-Ohanda Working Session
-Xth Sense, wearable, biophysical open source technology. Pres.
-Human Mobile Medium. Presentasjon
-Zero Dollar Laptop. Presentasjon
-UKI game level one [infect the city]. Presentasjon
-City Fireflies. Urban intervensjon

Saturday:
-UKI game level one [infect the city] workshop
-Bruk av Milkymist One Video Synthesizer. Workshop
-C/overt operations med CCTV sniffing. Workshop
-Cámara Lúcida. Presentasjon
-Be Your Own Souvenir! Urban Installasjon
-The 120 Days of *Buntu. Presentasjon
-Proxy. Presentasjon
-Pueblo Nómade. Presentasjon
-Re-framing the world wide web. Presentasjon
-Hacking Dinner – Remote eating with KIBLIX
-City Fireflies. Urban intervensjon

Sunday:
-UKI game level one [infect the city] workshop
-din is noise. Workshop
-Sudamerica experimental workshop
-Icestream- a new free software in the live streaming world. Pres.
-Sonic drift. Workshop
-Ecology of precariousness. Presentasjon
-Lumibots presentasjon
-Network topology as a site of resistance. Presentasjon.
-A popular guide to unpopular cinema. Presentasjon/performance.
-The impossible City. Urban Intervensjon

My pictures from previous festivals here.

Vandermark and Nilssen-Love (again!)

Ken Vandermark and Paal Nilssen-Love never give in! They seem to be all over the place, in one setting or the other. Here you get some solo drumming by Nilssen-Love at the Kongsberg Jazz Festival (Norway) in 2011, and a concert with both of them, that took place in Moscow some days ago.

Go "Like" Ken Vandermark on Facebook, to follow him around. He still writes on the good and bad sides of playing gigs. In Moscow smoke machines and strip tease seemed to be planned for the concert. I won't tell it all!

Ribbon of rust

Now this may give you some ideas on how you may combine two interests, like plants and music. The artist Cecilia Jonsson visited Bergen´s Galleri Fisk (transl: "Gallery Fish"!) this weekend, with her exhibition "Ribbon of rust".
I usually don´t post local exhibitions from Bergen in this blog, but this one was too good to hide. Jonsson combined sound installation and plant growing. She had scraped iron oxide from a cassette recording of Vivaldi´s "Four Seasons", and mixed this into the earth where a nettle was growing. The plant then just sucked Vivaldi up through it´s roots, and the artist (some way or the other) managed to recorded the plant, and let us hear.

It was pretty hard to recognize Vivaldi, but still quite interesting! What next? Metal, jazz or country? We could get some serious Wyatting in the greenhouses!

Robert Wyatt documentary

"Free will and testament. The Robert Wyatt story" (BBC 2003).
Please let this documentary be on YouTube for a while!

The Unthanks: "Last"

The title track of the latest album by The Unthanks, has got itself a beautiful and sad video, made by Nick Murray Willis.

Head on over to YouTube, to find the lyrics too.

Motorpsycho at the Nidaros Cathedral

Oh! How about that?! Motorpsycho and Ståle Storløkken at the Nidaros Cathedral (Nidarosdomen, Trondheim, Norway) (early November 2011?) Lights: Pekka Stokke.

Eloquent Vandals

The publishers Kontur Forlag (who also gave us the book "Street Art Norway") recently published a book on Stavanger´s street art festival Nuart.
In "Eloquent Vandals" we follow the festival from it´s beginning as the little brother of Numusic in 2001, with a focus on digital art, and from 2006 the kind of street art festival it still is.
The book is peppered with great photos of street art by Nick Walker, Chris Stain, Herakut, Blek Le Rat, Dotmasters, Swoon, Blu, Pøbel, Dolk MIR and lots more, and the texts are written both in Norwegian and English.

Editors are Martin Reed (the founder of both Numusic and Nuart), Marte Jølbo and Victoria Bugge Øye.

The book will probably soon be sold by Amazon?

Since Stavanger is a marked city after the festivals, I have managed to catch some of the festival art too.

Attitude & Orbit Control live

It seems like Jeanette Lindström will perform her fine album "Attitude and orbit control" (2010) live in Gothenburg 14 November.
Robert Wyatt is not present I guess, but he sure is on the album! Why don´t you first listen to a remix of the song "River", then "Morning", before you find the whole album somewhere?

Jeanette Lindström - River (Lidbo Remix feat. Robert Wyatt) by Playground Music

Jeanette Lindström - Morning by Playground Music

Corroncho

I have had Phil Manzanera and the Columbian artist Lucho Brieva´s album "Corroncho" on my iPod for a long time already, and now it seems like it will be released in the USA too (8 Nov). "Corroncho" is a name given by people from the capital Bogota, to people from Barranquilla, and the Spanish lyrics tells the tale of two latino males. I don´t speak Spanish, but still smile from these songs, and please be careful, I guess the weak ones might start humming or dancing too!

These musicians participate: Robert Wyatt, Paul Thompson, Enrique Bunbury, Chrissie Hynde, Annie Lennox, Quimi Portet, Gilad Atzmon og Aldo Lopez Gavilan.

Anders Hana

Anders Hana (Noxagt, Ultralyd, MoHa!, Circulasione Totale Orchestra) has released a solo album on Drid Machine. "Dead Clubbing" is another beautiful piece of vinyl on this company, with music (six tracks) only on one of the sides. 300 copies made.

The first track on the record ("Iskoras") is on SoundCloud.

Anders Hana: Iskoras by kjetildb

Orient House Ensemble in Trondheim

Gilad Atzmon and Orient House Ensemble have been to Trondheim. here is a video from 1 November. Musicians: Gilad Atzmon (sax), Eddie Hick (drums), Frank Harrison (piano) and Yaron Stavi (bass).

And I allow myself to remind you of the very fine Wyatt/Atzmon/Stephen´s "For the ghosts within" (2010) too.

Maja SK Ratkje and Stephen O´Malley

(Uploaded by Kunstsenteret).

"Engebøfjellet; Where were you when they cut me down from the gallows?"
Commissioned Work for Henie Onstad Kunstsenter (Oslo), October 2011.

Roy Harper cover

Twelve Hours of Sunset by Susanna Wallumroed

Susanna Wallumrød (Susanna and The Magical Orchestra) recently started her own company, SusannaSonata, and released a nice cover version of Roy Harper's "Twelve Hours of Sunset".

Listen here, via SoundCloud, and head on over to iTunes to shop.

News from Frode Gjerstad

If you collect Frode Gjerstad, I hope you have some money to spend!
Here are some new albums I have heard recently:

Circulasione Totale Orchestra: "PhilaOslo" (Circulasione 2011). A double album recorded in Philadelphia (30 Jan 2010) and Oslo (9 March 2011). Tough enough, this electro-acoustic gang: Louis Moholo Moholo (dr), Morten J. Olsen (dr), Anders Hana (g - only on "Oslo"), Frode Gjerstad (Sax, clar), Nick Stephens (b), Paal Nilssen-Love (dr), Ingebrigt Haaker Flaten (el b - only on "Phila"), Per Zanussi (el b - only on "Oslo"), Kevin Norton (vibtraphone), Børre Mølstad (tuba), Sabir Mateen (sax, clar), Bobby Bradford (cornet), Lasse Marhaug (electronics).
Cover: Lasse Marhaug.

Frode Gjerstad Trio:"East of West" (Circulasione 2011).
Frode Gjerstad Trio: "MIR" (Circulasione 2011).
The trio is Frode Gjerstad (alto sax, clar), Jon Rune Strøm (b) and Paal Nilssen-Love (dr). "East of West" was recorded in Stavanger in April 2011, while practicing for the May tour, and "MIR" was recorded live at the club MIR (surprise!) in Oslo in September 2010. Good stuff on both of them.
Cover:Lasse Marhaug.

Motland/Lonberg-Holm/Solberg/Gjerstad: "VC/DC" (Hispid 2011). Stine Janvin Motland (Voice), Fred Lonberg-Holm (Cello), Ståle Liavik Solberg (Drums) and Frode Gjerstad (Clarinet). A fine first release from the new label Hispid. Great playing and singing!.
Rock cover by Dirty Deeds Design.

And there are more albums to! Check Frode Gjerstad and Paal Nilssen-Love´s sites for more info.

Watch Frode Gjerstad Trio live in Austin (August 2011).

The Icicle Works: "Sea Song"

In 1983 the band The Icicle Works released a cover version of Robert Wyatt´s "Sea Song", on the EP "Up here in the North of England". This spring saw the release of a 3xCD box version of the album "If you want to defeat your enemy, sing his song", and on this one we find "Sea Song".
Buy the album at Amazon, or do as I did, download "Sea Song" from iTunes.

You may listen to "Sea Song" over at DailyMotion.

November festival

Lemur at Gråmølna from Lemur on Vimeo.

To kick off November, we are having a little festival today. The artists (top to bottom):

Michiyo Yagi Double Trio : Michiyo Yagi (21-string koto, vocal), Todd Nicholson (bass), Takashi Sugawa (bass), Tamaya Honda (drums), Noritaka Tanaka (drums) Live at Shinjuku Pit Inn, Tokyo (Japan), 2 September 2011.

Decoy: Steve Noble (drums), Alex Hawkins (piano), John Edwards (bass) + Joe McPhee (sax, trumpet). Cafe Oto (London) 29 October 2011.

Liarbird: Ola Kvernberg (violin), Bergmund Skaslien (viola), Håkon Kornstad (sax), Eirik Hegdal (sax), Ingebrikt Håker Flaten (bass) ,Ole Morten Vågan (bass), Torstein Lofthus (drums), Eirik Nylander (drums), Mathias Eick (trumpet). Bergen Jazzforum (Norway) 28 October 2011.

Lemur: Bjørnar Habbestad (flute), Michael Francis Duch (bass), Hild Sofie Tafjord (French horn) and Lene Grenager (cello). Gråmølna Art Gallery, Trondheim (Norway) (2011).

Molde

We have to have a football post today folks! My team Molde celebrate 100 years this year, and won their first Norwegian title, with two matches to go!
Thanks to coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and his team too! Manchester United striker Solskjaer played for Molde before he went to Manchester.
A bit more here and here.

Still waving flags and singing here. Sorry!

Fante

I love the books of the Los Angeles author John Fante, but I doubt if I will re-read them. I have done that with other authors I adored when young, and they did not strike me as powerful any more. I´m sure John Fante´s books still do, but I think I will just keep them in my memory for a while longer.

As a student in Bergen (long time ago!) I randomly picked up "Wait until spring Bandini" in a shop, and was completely blown away by the prose. Later I realized he was some kind of cult hero, and got his other books too. The four books about Arturo Bandini, "Wait until spring Bandini" (1938), "The road to Los Angeles" (1933), "Ask the dust" (1939) and "Dreams from Bunker Hill" (1982) , are available in a one volume paperback, if you want to try.

John Fante´s son Dan Fante, recently published the biography "Fante" (Harper Perennial 2011). The subtitle "A family's legacy of writing, drinking and surviving" tells it all I guess.
I must admit I did not know Dan Fante, and thought this biography was all about his father. Of course we get the history of John Fante here, and his struggle to survive by writing for Hollywood and his fight to be accepted as a great novelist, but this is just as much a book about the father and son relationship between John and Dan Fante, and Dan´s alcohol and drug fueled life, finally becoming an author himself.
This is from the Fante´s epilogue: "My father was an artist of great rage and passion, perhaps born out of his own time. He was not a nice guy".

A good read, and with lot´s of private photos too.

I might want to read Dan Fante´s book of poetry called "A Gin Pissing, Raw Meat, Dual Carburettor V-8 Son-of-a-Bitch from Los Angeles" (2003), having a tendency to fall for crazy titles like that.

SGAR

SGAR (Svarte Greiner & Alexander Rishaug) by miasmah

Svarte Greiner (Erik Skodvin) is soon to go on a Black Oyster Tour with Alexander Rishaug. A CDR named "SGAR" is made for the occasion, but being a Miasmah release, it´s no surprise you´ll find it on SoundCloud already.

Tour Schedule:

01.11 Berlin, NK
02.11 Nijmegen, Extrapool
03.11 Rotterdam, Worm
05.11 Heerlen, h(ear) Kunstencentrum Signe
08.11 Paris, Espace B
09.11 Basel, Plattfon
10.11 Krakow, Alchemia
12.11 Vienna, Rhiz

Pintura

1982 recording of Pintura from Tor Kristian Liseth on Vimeo.

I have already mentioned the folk impro trio 1982´s, new album "Pintura" (Hubro 2011) in the blog (see here). The record has been out in Norway for a while (great album indeed!), but for one reason or the other, the rest of the world has to wait to late November.

Check out this video from the recording of the album in Bergen´s Grieghallen Studio, December 2010 (mostly in Norwegian, but with subtitles).

Musicians: Sigbjørn Apeland, Nils Økland and Øyvind Skarbø. Sound man: Davide Bertolini.

Hayward/Lo/Taxt

Three men with tubas improvise for half an hour. The first ten minutes what sounds like one singular tone is vibrating like a tense wire, the musicians walking on the wire. Then they fall down into the deep, even taking long breaks before they rise again towards the end of the piece.
I would guess that this meaningless description will get only the worst among you hooked, but head on over to SOFA, and see if you get it then.

Robin Hayward is a new one to me (he plays a microtonal tuba), while Martin Taxt has visited the blog earlier with Koboku Senju, Jæ and Splashgirl, and Kristoffer Lo was here with Pelbo. I am sure that you will agree that the music of Hayward/Lo/Taxt is more like Koboku Senju than Pelbo!

Eyolf Dale

Sunday I promised to buy the new Albatrosh album, and I´m writing down Albatrosh pianist Eyolf Dale´s new album on the same shopping list too.
"Hotel Interludes" is being released by Curling Legs (2011), and on the video Dale plays "Prolleprep", on prepared piano.
Nice?

"Sea Song" again

I have no idea who cestdisco is, but in lack of Wyatt news we go for this disco (?) version of Robert Wyatt´s "Sea Song" today.

Sea Song (Robert Wyatt) by cestdisco

News from Rune Grammofon

Rune Grammofon just released the new Albatrosh album, and Eyolf Dale (p) and André Roligheten (sax) have received rave reviews already. Putting it on my shopping list right now!

The next releases from Rune:
Alog - Unemployed - RCD2116 / RLP3116 (ltd 4LP set)
Elephant9 - Live at the BBC - RLP2118 (ltd vinyl only)
Scorch Trio with Mars Williams - Made In Norway - RLP2119 (ltd vinyl only)
Fire! with Jim O´Rourke - Released - REP2120 (ltd 10" only)
The Last Hurrah!! - The Great Gig In Disguise - REP2121 (ltd 10" only)
Jono El Grande - The Choko King - RACD109 / RALP309

Bergen Støyfest - Bergen Noise Festival

If you are interested in noise music, and happen to be not too far from Bergen next weekend, seek out Bergen Støyfest at the Landmark club (27 - 29 October).
Links are leading to some info (quite witty too) in Norwegian.

27. oktober: Jazkamer (Lasse Marhaug, John Hegre, Nils Are Drønen), Hair Stylistics, Anla Courtis.
28. oktober: Jazkamer Metal (Ivar Bjørnson, Iver Sandøy and Jørgen Træen), Reiko. A, Robert Oiotrowicz/ Lasse Marhaug, Black Packers.
29. oktober: Jazkamer The Big Picture (big band including all artists at the festival!), Astro, Anders Hana, Ambolthue.

New album from Pelbo

Pelbo - Join Their Game from Riot Factory on Vimeo.

The trio Pelbo (Ine Hoem (voc), Kristoffer Lo (tuba) and Trond Bersuer(dr)) release their new album "Days of transcendence" (Riot Factory 2011) today. Let´s celebrate with the video to the tune "Join their game", showing how it really could be to travel by public transport.The video was recorded in Trondheim, and they might behave like this all the time of course?!

The director is André Chocron, who got rave reviews for his video for Cold Mailman´s "Time is of the essence". And, OK, it´s Friday, so let´s have two videos then!

Cold mailman - Time is of the essence from André Chocron on Vimeo.

Mike Patton and Fred Frith

Mike Patton and Fred Frith played at the RADAR Festival (30/9 2011) in Mexico City.

Baboon Moon

I guess you know already, but I still want to tell you. Nils Petter Molvær (trumpet and misc.) has got himself a new band, a trio with Stian Westerhus (guitar and misc. - "too many pedals") and Erland Dahlen (drums and misc.) They just released "Baboon Moon" on Sula Records (2011), a great album with a perfect mix of "sad and beautiful" music, like on "A small realm", "Prince of Calm" and "Coded", and powerful tunes like "Mercury Heart", "Sleep With Echoes", "Recoil" and "Baboon Moon" (Susanne Sundfør guesting on vocal).
All the way we feel and hear a dark sound carpet under the melodies, probably made by all the misc. they are playing. On "Blue Fandango" Erland Dahlen even get his singing saw going!

I like pretty much all of Molvær´s stuff, but my guess is that I will play "Baboon Moon" even more often than the other albums! Go buy!

I even like the cover girl Maggie (fold out cover with lots of pictures)! Photographer Per Maning knows how to take pictures of animals. Check his "Early works" here.

Gary Burton live 1971

I usually do not post sound files in the blog, if they are not uploaded by the artist, but this one I have to link to. So much for my ethics.
7 November 1971 Gary Burton played Jazztage in Berlin. According to Michael King´s "Wrong movements, A Robert Wyatt history", Burton did a solo concert with accompaniment for the opening and closing songs. Musicians were Robert Wyatt (dr), Terje Rypdal (g) and Neville Whitehead (b).
Run on over to YouTube, and listen to "Moonchild".

I can´t find this recording in the bootleg section at "Une Discographie de Robert Wyatt", so I guess no one has got this on CD or Vinyl?

Liarbird live

Liarbird Kolben 19.09.11 from Rikskonsertene on Vimeo.

Last week I tried to convince you to listen to Ola Kvernberg´s album "Liarbird", and here you have one more post with music from "Liarbird". The Norwegian concert organizers Rikskonsertene uploaded a video from Kolben (Kolbotn) on Vimeo, and I wish more artists and organizers would share high quality videos!

The musicians are (taken from Rikskonsertene´s site, and I believe you will understand the Norwegian names of the instruments):
OLA KVERNBERG fioliner og mandolin
BERGMUND SKASLIEN fioliner
HÅKON KORNSTAD saksofon
EIRIK HEGGDAL saksofon
MATHIAS EICK trompet
INGEBRIGT HÅKER FLATEN - bass, elektronikk
OLE MORTEN VÅGAN - bass, elektronikk
TORSTEIN LOFTHUS - trommer
ERIK NYLANDER - trommer/perkusjon

Peter Blegvad Trio with Karen Mantler

How about Peter Blegvad Trio (Peter Blegvad, Chris Cutler, John Greaves) and "Waste of time"? Guest at Cafe Oto (London) in September was Karen Mantler.
The sound isn´t the best, but Blegvad is Blegvad, and I wouldn´t mind a new album soon!

Soft Macine: Ronnie Scott´s Jazz Club

Vinyl Lovers have released a double live LP with Soft Machine, from London´s Ronnie Scott´s in April 1970.
According to Michael King´s "Wrong movements. A Robert Wyatt history" (SAF 1994) Soft Machine were supporting John Williams 20 - 25 April. Mike Ratledge: "The way it (the 6 day residency) stretched our repertoire was very challenging, and we had to push ourselves into areas of freedom where we wouldn´t normally need to go".
Soft Machine had already been in the studio to start recording their third album when this happened, but the recordings for that one were mainly done in May. So the "Ronnie Scott´s Jazz Club" must be interesting stuff?! I have not got hold a copy yet, but It´s a must I guess.
Anyone heard it?

The band: Robert Wyatt, Hugh Hopper, Mike Ratledge og Elton Dean.

The tracks:
- Slightly All The Time/Out-Bloody-
Rageous
- Eamonn Andrews
- Mousetrap *medley* (including:
Mousetrap / Noisette / Backwards /
Mousetrap - Reprise)
- Hibou Anemone And Bear
- Facelift
- Moon In June
- Esther's Nose Job *medley*
(including: Esther's Nose Job / Pigling
Bland Cymbalism / Esther's Nose Job -
Reprise)

Added November 6th:
This is the very same recording that we may find on the album "Somewhere in Soho" (Voiceprint 2004).

Catastrofuk

John Cale recently released the EP "Extra Playful" (Domino 2011).
We already posted the video for the track "Whaddya Mean By That", and here is "Catastrofuk", directed by his daughter Eden Cale. Far out!

Kwes and Robert Wyatt

Over at Red Bull Studios Emma Warren is making a program called "Pick'N'Mix". I have no idea how long it will be on the site, but London producer and musician Kwes is talking about his great source of inspiration, Robert Wyatt.
Wyatt is a genius, his voice is soulful and soul bearing, he means everything he sings, he is humorous and completely himself. All according to Kwes (and myself of course!).

Kwes also loves his cups of tea, as we may see in an interview in Under the Radar and from the track titles on MixCloud.

Ken Vandermark and Paal Nilssen-Love

Oh my! Ken Vandermark and Paal Nilssen-Love are hard working guys, and not sleeping on the job! The video was recorded in 2010, and this autumn they tour as a duo, with The Thing and Fire Room (with Lasse Marhaug), and you name it. The touring will probably result in several albums too, so don't spend all your money today.

These days Paal Nilssen-Love's site seems to be the best place to look for concert dates and releases.

Ivor Cutler by Stewy

Ivor Cutler lives! Check out these London stencils by Stewy.
Stewy also made Robert Wyatt.

Moe: It pictures

Moe is Guro Skumsnes Moe (bass, voc), Håvard Skaset (g) and Sveinar Hoff (dr). This is a powertrio, more focused on power than melodies, and they smell of both punk and metal.
I heard them at the Nattjazz festival in Bergen this June, but they did not get to me that evening. The music was too loud and monotonous for my old pair of ears. The album "It Pictures" (Conrad Sound 2011) is still not one that make you hum along to it, but the music is far more open and alive than what I heard at Nattjazz.
On the album Okkyung Lee (cello) (played in Bergen too), Lasse Marhaug ("acoustic noise") and Kjetil Møster (sax) are guesting. On "Island" Møster is honking along, making me think of Morphine (the band of course).

Guro Skumsnes Moe has visited Wyatt and Stuff several times. See posts on Art Directors (Håvard Skaset plays there too) and Sekstett.

The CD was released in May, and now they also sell (don´t ask me where) 300 copies of a black vinyl LP version and 200 copies of a blue one. Also files on eMusic and iTunes. Buy if you dare.
Listen to some tracks over at SoundCloud.

Liarbird

Everybody and their grandmothers seem to like the album "Liarbird" (Jazzland 2011), so I better join the choir. I missed the concert, but Ola Kvernberg really made waves at the Molde International Jazz Festival in 2010 with this music, played by Norwegian musicians and sax man Joshua Redman (video below). Kvernberg and band did a couple of concerts more (without Redman), and recorded the material at Redroom Studio in Trondheim in June 2010.
Even if I expected some more power and energy in this music, I have to say it is full of great melodies. Some of it almost ambient, some of it swinging really good, we hear some eastern influences and we even get a bolero ("Olero").
I wonder if he uses the same tactic to attract listeners, as this "liar bird" when he tries to attract girls!?

Musicians: Ola Kvernberg (violin mm), Bergmund Waal Skaslien (viola, voc), Eirik Hegdal (sax, voc), Mathias Eick (tp), Håkon Kornstad (sax, fluteonette, voc), Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (bass, voc), Ole Morten Vågan (b, voc), Erik Nylander (dr, perc) og Torstein Lofthus (dr, perc). Cover art: Harald Øren.

A must have album!

Simon Bookish: Sea Song

Sea Song (Robert Wyatt Cover) by Simon Bookish

Simon Bookish (or Leo Chadburn) recorded his version of Robert Wyatt´s "Sea Song", and uploaded it to SoundCloud. Thanks a lot.

John Peel's Sounds of the Suburbs

It seems like "John Peel's Sounds of the Suburbs" now is on YouTube. The series was made for Channell 4 in 1999, and if you jump 8 - 9 minutes into the video posted here, you will see Peel making a short visit to robert Wyatt´s summer house.

SPUNK in Nest

SPUNK in NEST from SPUNK on Vimeo.

SPUNK built their own nest during this year´s Ultima festival in Oslo.
SPUNK is Hild Sofie Tafjord, Lene Grenager, Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje and Kristin Andersen.

Another release party with 1982

A couple of weeks ago, 1982 sent a message in a bottle from Bergen. The bottle contained a limited version of their album "Pintura" (Hubro 2011), now available in Norway on CD, LP and mp3 files (international release late November).

Yesterday they held a more traditional release party at the Bergen Jazzforum. Sigbjørn Apeland (organ), Nils Økland (fiddle) and Øyvind Skarbø (drums) were on the floor, with the audience on the stage and floor surrounding them. In this intimate setting they did a great concert, flavored by improv, contemporary classical, folk and jazz. We heard incredibly beautiful melodies, free and playful parts and fiddle virtuosity, all of it improvised. For a while the music was made only from the cracking of the wood of the organ and Økland´s shoes while Skarbø was brushing the drums. And I am not lying, towards the end of the concert Skarbø was doing a duo with a hail storm outside the windows!
Buy the album and hope to see 1982 live, and don´t forget their previous album on NORCD

And if you find one of the bottles they have thrown into the sea, make me an offer. OK?

The animals of Bergen

Street artist Argus seems to have opened a zoo.