Gabriel Saloman: Adhere

Thanks a lot for 2012 folks, and a happy 2013 to all of you!

Here in Robert Wyatt and Stuff there will be no fireworks tonight. Instead we would like to finish off 2012 with another dark pearl of a recording from Miasmah.

Enjoy Gabriel Saloman´s "Adhere" (Maismah 2012).

British Jazz, 1960-1975

Interested in British jazz? You better check out Duncan Heining´s "Trad Dads, Dirty Boppers and Free Fusioneers. British Jazz, 1960-1975" (Equinox 2012).

The book is a part of the series Popular Music History, but popular or not, I think you have to be more than just a bit interested to read all of it! You get close to 500 pages, packed with info on British artists, with a lot of interviews, and the music assessed against the economy, drugs, racism, women´s rights and so on, you know - society.

How packed is it? Don´t be surprised if the author mentions more than 25 albums and track titles, and 30 - 40 artists on one page. The index is quite good though (but missing Lol Coxhill and Alexis Korner there), so you might find back, but you better read it with a pencil in hand.

Let me just mention that after reading I know that Ronnie Scott played saxophone on Beatles´ "Lady Madonna" and the free jazz movement in USA was lead by saxophone players, while in Britain it was lead by drummers (no offense intended towards some great sax players here)! The things you learn while reading a book!

The author has listed 100 essential British jazz albums in an appendix.
Here in Robert Wyatt and Stuff we are happy to see Soft Machine 3 (1970) on the list (Soft Machine also get several pages in the book´s main part), and to see that Robert Wyatt is represented as a musician on Keith Tippett´s "Dedicated to you but you weren´t listening" (1971) and Centipede´s (listed as K. Tippett) "Septober energy" (1971).

I own some of the albums of course, but could only find a few of the 100 on Spotify. On YouTube I was quite surprised to find a lot of old videos, and I might come back with a collection, but why don´t you start on your own with Weather Report with John Surman, Alan Skidmore and Eje Thelin from 1971 (4 parts)!

The album I planned to listen to while I was reading, is still on it´s way (I hope!).

The Dope on Perelman

"The Dope on Perelman" from Peter Blegvad and Andy Partridge´s album "Gonwards" (Ape House 2012).

If you are a regular visitor here, you already know that Ape House are quite generous with their videos!

You´re Next

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Diamanda Galas at Ultima 2012

Diamanda Galas rehearsing at the Emanuel Vigeland Museum in Oslo, for the concert at the Ultima Festival.

More info on Vimeo.

Would you buy a refrigerator from The Residents?

THE ULTIMATE BOX SET INFOMERCIAL from The Cryptic Corp on Vimeo.

I went over to Hibou, Anemone & Bear (not possible to link to each blog post) and was reminded about the ultimate The Residents box

Only $100.000.

Now watch Randy Rose´s infomercial, and consider what you have to sell, to get it!

The boxes you got for Christmas were pretty small, were they not?

Merry Christmas, Folks!

The Guardian: Six alternative Christmas songs.

Mama, I´ll Be Long Gone

I´m not making a best of 2012 list this year (at least I haven´t made it yet!), so let me just recommend an album I have been listening to a lot this year; "Mama, I´ll Be Long Gone: The Complete Recordings Of Amédé Ardoin 1929-1934" (Tompkins Square 2011).

Christopher King is the one who has managed to collect all known records by the cajun accordionist and singer Amédé Ardoin, and transferred them to CD/mp3. Yes, it crackles, but it does not matter, because what you really will hear anyway, is Ardoin´s beautiful voice!
Almost all of his songs may be about the same girl, that is the one he loved and could not have.

Please read "Dragged through the forest: The long-gone sound of Amédé Ardoin" in Oxford American (Nov 2012), and watch "The death of Amédé Ardoin", narrated by Alan Lomax.
Strong tales from a hard life!

Terje Isungset live

Terje Isungset has been touring with his ice music lately. Here he is on video from England and Polen, recorded in December, with Maria Skranes singing.

Isungset will play both a solo concert, and concerts with Lena Nymark at the Ice Musicfestival Geilo in January 2013.

How about Daniel Herskedal playing the "tubice" - the ice tuba - at the same festival?! Good luck!

Ich Bin N!ntendo & Mats Gustafsson

We have already had a post on Ich Bin N!ntendo & Mats Gustafsson, and they are back!
This time with a great video!

Ich Bin N!ntendo & Mats Gustafsson´s album is released by Va Fongool, a Record Company you better watch closely.

Trondheim Jazz Orchestra & Marius Neset

Check out Trondheim Jazz Orchestra & Marius Neset with "Birds" at Moldejazz 2012!

Ronny Farsund - trumpet
Eivind Lønning - trumpet
Erik Johannessen - trombone
Daniel Herskedal - tuba
Peter Fuglsang (DK)- alto saxophone
Marius Neset - tenor and soprano saxophone and compositions
Hanna Paulsberg - tenor saxophone
Eirik Hegdal - saxophones
Jovan Pavlovic - accordion
Espen Berg - piano
Petter Eldh (DK) - bass
Gard Nilssen - drums
David Solheim - sound design

Video by Svein Roger Ivarsen

The Unthanks: Songs from the Shipyards

The Unthanks recorded music by Robert Wyatt and Antony & The Jonsons, and worked with the Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band, for their Diversion series and are now back with some quite stripped down music on "Diversions Vol. 3: Songs from the Shipyards" (Rabble Rouser 2012).

I´m stealing like a thief from The Unthanks´ site:

"Diversions Vol. 3 contains the music created by The Unthanks for the Tyneside Cinema commissioned film of the same name, Songs from the Shipyards – a beautiful and moving film, tracing the story of shipbuilding.

Made by internationally acclaimed North-East filmmaker Richard Fenwick, Songs from the Shipyards is made from archive footage from the past 100 years, and illustrates in microcosm the highs and lows of Britain’s industrial journey. Fenwick and The Unthanks collaborated on the film from the start of the creative process, devising a strong political and human narrative to the story, and creating a unique, powerful, live audio-visual event, in which The Unthanks would perform a live soundtrack to the film.

Diversions Vol. 3 is a studio album that documents a non-sequential ‘best of’ the live soundtrack It is part of a series of side-project releases for The Unthanks, all three of which have been released inside a prolific 12 month period. Vol. 2, released this summer, charted their collaboration with Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band, while Vol. 1 featured an exploration of the music of Robert Wyatt and Antony & the Johnsons. On that project, The Unthanks resisted the temptation to tackle Shipbuilding, which was written for Wyatt, knowing that the Shipyards project was just around the corner! The Elvis Costello/Clive Langer classic features on Vol. 3 and represents a rare lead vocal by Unthanks pianist and producer Adrian McNally, backed up by eerie vocals from the rest of The Unthanks".

Another great album by The Unthanks!

Epic Soundtracks

I just learnt that Troubador released "Wild Smile", a double CD collection of the songs of Epic Soundtracks, also known as Kevin Paul Godfrey (1959 - 1997).

He used to play in Swell Maps with his brother Nikki Sudden, but on "Wild Smile" his solo career is in focus.

To read about the album (I order my copy in a couple of minutes, and haven´t heard the album yet), head on over to Aquarium Drunkard or All Music.

Let´s steal this sentence from All Music: "The real treat is the second disc of rarities that gathers tracks going back to 1981 ("Jelly, Babies" from his 1981 EP on Rough Trade) all the way up to performances from his last show in 1997", and add that the one and only Robert Wyatt is guesting on "Jelly Babies".

No surprise I guess, that some crook uploaded "Jelly Babies" to YouTube, but if you promise to buy the album you may listen here. And not only that, an upload from a cassette where Epic Soundtracks is talking about the same track, may be found here.

Nils Petter Molvær Trio live in Frankfurt

Nils Petter Molvær Trio (Nils Petter Molvær, Stian Westerhus og Erland Dahlen) live at Frankfurt Jazz Festival - 27.10.2012.

Great! Or what?

Die, Allround Handwerker!

Friday night I attended the release concert for Øyvind Skarbøs drum album "Die, Allround Handwerker!" (+3dB SUB 2012) at Bergen Kjøtt.

Skarbø did a short, but elegant concert, surrounded by video projections, in what was a fantastic use of the industrial concert hall. Light man Birk in full control here.
The videos will be uploaded later, probably on Skarbø´s own site.

If you have seen Skarbø live with 1982, BMX or solo, then you know that "drumming" also means, blowing through your drum, creative use of corn and throwing and shaking tealight holders.

The new album will make an exciting soundtrack to around half an hour of your life, mostly solo Skarbø, but with Kresten Osgood joining on one track.
Only 100 CD-Rs made, all numbered by hand (I have got 1/100).

Cover design:Blankblank.

Øyvind Skarbø might want to think before he prints "blurbs" the next time (check out the critics on this one here).

Ivor Cutler x 2

ivorfan has made a couple of new Ivor Cutler videos, "High iz de wind" (aka "High is the wind") and "Big Jim".

Let´s play "Jammy Smears" (Virgin 1976).

December Pasteups

I went for an afternoon stroll in the cold wind today, and found some new pasteups.

- Zen has named his new piece "Evolution", and it is probably the next step after the snails we see here.

- I kind of liked that blue and yellow smiling face, close to Argus´ nod to Pussy Riot.

- And some guys are tougher than the rest of us. Bare-chested in this chilly wind, I hope is mother does not read the blog!

Cortex: Gøteborg (Gigafon 2012)

I´m sure you want to check out Cortex! A real hard swinging, groovy jazz band with Thomas Johansson (trumpet), Kristoffer Berre Alberts (saxophone), Ola Høyer (bass) and Gard Nilssen (drums).

Reviewers seem to agree that they are inspired by bands like Atomic and Ornette Coleman Quartet with Don Cherry, and that´s probably right. Anyway, they are here now with their new album "Gøteborg" (Gigafon 2012), as files, CD and everybody´s favorite - vinyl (but unfortunately without download codes).

Melodic, tough music that just might be played at parties too (not that I visit such happenings). I don´t know how much these guys love their tobacco, but "Nicotine" has got a hit potential, and I just might have missed something, being a non smoker?

"Cerebrum" is of course a fitting title for a band called Cortex (anatomy lesson here), and draw lines back to their previous album "Resection" (Bolage 2011), having track names like "Grey Matter", "Neocortex" and "Frontal Lobe". A great album that one too!

Stian Westerhus on sound

KLANG: Stian Westerhus, Vigelands mausoleum og god lyd from ENO Magasin on Vimeo.

The Norwegian music magazine ENO has so far hardly had a web page, but are starting an interview series on sound.

The first video is with Stian Westerhus, recorded at the Emanuel Vigeland Museum in Oslo.

And a minor detail - he speaks Norwegian, but I think you still should give it a try, for the beautiful filming and the sounds this fantastic guitar player makes.

The All Ears Festival (Oslo) 10 - 13 January 2013

If you happen to be in Oslo in January, check out the All Ears festival!

Here is the program, and please note that Fred Frith is performing on three occasions:

Thursday 10 JANUARY >>> Ny Musikk >>> Kl. 20:00

Sheriffs of Nothingness (Kari Rønnekleiv / Ole Henrik Moe)

Joke Lanz / Shelly Hirsch

FRIDAY 11 JANUARY >>> Ny Musikk >>> Kl. 12:00

Fred Frith (Live Jukebox + konsert)

FRIDAY 11 JANUARY >>> Fabrikken >>> Kl. 20:00

Sidsel Endresen

Steve Noble / Peter Brötzmann / John Edwards

Joke Lanz / Shelly Hirsch / Lasse Marhaug / Stine Janvin Motland

Ab Baars / Wilbert deJoode / Tollef Østvang / John Dikeman

Robert Piotrovicz

SATURDAY 12 JANUARY >>> Ny Musikk >>> Kl. 15:00

Joke Lanz/ Shelly Hirsch (Concert for children)

SATURDAY 12 JANUARY >>> Fabrikken >>> Kl. 20:00

Mikolaij Traszkja / Mike Maijkovski / Onno Goevart

Heat Death

Mike Maijkovski / Inga Margrethe Aas / Christian Meaas Johanesen / Wibert deJoode

Lasse Marhaug / Helge Sten

Fred Frith

SUNDAY 13 JANUARY >>> Henie Onstad Kunstsenter >>> Kl. 14:00

Lotte Anker / Fred Frith / Hild Sofie Tafjord

GUSH (SE) Mats Gustafsson / Raymond Strid / Sten Sandell

Keep Yourself Alive

Robert Wyatt fans and collectors better watch out for the book "Keep Yourself Alive. Den galna jakten på 70-tallets rockjältar" by Petter Karlsson and Sören "Sulo" Karlsson (Lind & Co 2012). All in Swedish!

Robert Wyatt and the following "legends" are interviewed: Billy Bremner, Wilko Johnson, Tom Robinson, Mick Geggus, Paul Carrack, Steve Hackett, Dave Higgs, Spike Gray, Justin Sullivan, Dave Tregunna, Dennis Stratton and Terry Chimes.

Make a quiz for Christmas: Who were they, what bands did they play in etc.
You may also start a discussion on rock and gender of course, but let me just point out that the authors had an agreement with the one and only Suzi Quatro, but she hurt her knee (quite bad I´m afraid) and had to say no thanks.

While some of the legends are still active (Steve Hackett (soon visiting Bergen) and Robert Wyatt), others are out of the game, but with wild stories to tell.

The Robert Wyatt interview is quite nice, with Robert not wanting to make too much fuzz about his own person, modest as usual. Instead he honor other rock stars, jazz drummers and the ordinary workers who pay their taxes!

The authors are on pretty thin ice some places here. They let one of the interviewed artists (i won´t blow his cover) tell us that Robert Fripp played in Henry Cow, a sight I´m not sure I´d like to see!

On Robert Wyatt they claim he is mixing his records in the studio of the Doors´ keyboard man Ray Manzarek!! They might mean Roxy Music´s Phil Manzanera!?

Not that the damage is going to be any better or worse, but Wyatt is in a wheelchair because he fell from Lady June´s apartment in 1973 I think, not Gili "Gong" Smyth´s (as they write).

With the book you get a CD where Sulo play old hits with several of the artists interviewed. Robert Wyatt instead asked Sulo to write som lyrics to the title "Enjoy the risk", and he plays piano to Sulo´s vocals and Magic Gunnarson´s saxophone.
A nice, little (less than 2 min.) tune.

The track list:

1: 2-4-6-8 Motorway (Tom Robinson)
2: Hot swagger in the big smoke (Billy Bremner)
3: Borstal breakout (Dave Tregunna)
4: Green and grey (Justin Sullivan)
5: Roxette (Wilko Johnson)
6: How long (Paul Carrack)
7: Enjoy the risk (Robert Wyatt)
8: Teenage depression (Dave Higgs)
9: Poor, poor heart (Billy Bremner)
10: Roses and rings (Spike Gray)
11: The power and the glory (Mick Geggus)
12: 100 degrees in the shade (Terry Chimes & Anita Chellamah)
13: I saw her standing there (Dennis Stratton & Dave Edwards)
14: Keep yourself alive (Sulo & Idde Schultz)

Sacred Objects

Ape House has made a new video for Peter Blegvad and Andy Partridge´s album "Gonwards"!

This time another version of "Sacred Objects". I posted the previous one here.

Sound Art

This year´s issue of the Norwegian art journal Kunstjournalen B-post "introduces audio art, sonic art, sound art – art that makes use of sound in one form or another".
You may read it (in English!) and listen over here.

Table of contents:

Editorial

Jørgen Larsson: Sound art in 2012
Karen Skog: En samling materialer
Brandon LaBelle: On listening
Sissel Lillebostad: In conversation with Nicholas Møllerhaug and Espen Sommer Eide
Mahlet Ogbe Habte: Funeral songs
Carl Michael von Hausswolff: freq_out 8 – 4 250 cubic metres and 48 hours of sound
Finnbogi Petursson: 2hz Surface Drawing 2012
Carsten Seiffarth: About Sound Installation Art
Anne Marthe Dyvi: Qualia
Sissel Lillebostad: The Sound of a Tower
Roar Sletteland: In conversation with Anne Hilde Neset 29.8.2012
Jana Winderen: Backswimmers
Maria Andueza Olmedo: The collective sign of auditory visual imagery
Trond Lossius: Generative strategies in sound installations

In Memoriam: Trevor Watts & Veryan Weston Remember The Late Lol Coxhill

Listen to the interview with Trevor Watts and Veryan Weston, and then check out LOL! Coxhill and Hugh Metcalfe Kings Cross @ The KLINKER!

Peter Blegvad:Too Much

Listen too the fine new Peter Blegvad single from Radio Free Song Club.

They have started a YouTube channel, but all the singles are over here.

Sidsel Endresen 60 - Tribute Concert

Video streaming by Ustream
Sidsel Endresen turned 60 this summer, and a celebration party was held at Norway´s National Jazz Scene Victoria (Oslo), November 8-9, 2012.

Gubemusic uploaded a video of the second concert, a tribute concert hosted by Fiona Talkington, with Eldbjørg Raknes, Django Bates, Håkon Kornstad, Nils Petter Molvær, Stian Westerhus, Solveig Slettahjell, Bugge Wesseltoft, Live Maria Roggen, Emilie Christensen, Audun Kleive and Jan Bang (at least!).

You might also want to read John Kelman´s piece on Sidsel Endresen and the celebration in All About Jazz.

Pixel: Call Me

Norwegian jazz/rock/indie band Pixel is Ellen Andrea Wang, Harald Lassen, Jonas Kilmork Vemøy and Jon Audun Baar.

If you can take some hardcore camping life, please check out their new video for "Call me", a track on their Cuneiform album "Reminder" (2012).

Tuesday evening they are playing at PlayDate (Chagall) in Bergen.

December in Bergen

Just a short report from an old meat factory in Bergen ("Bergen Kjøtt"), that has been turned into one of the coolest (and coldest!) concert venues in town.

On Saturday 1 December, Ny Musikk Bergen (New Music Bergen) and sax man Kjetil Møster´s concert series Action Jazz, invited to a great happening.

We had minimalist, but intense Alog (Espen Sommer Eide and Dag-Are Haugan) with Bergen artist Signe Lidén, a fantastic solo set from violin/fiddle player Nils Økland, fascinating electro-pop by Japanese Hako and a quite exciting new duo with Nils Økland and Helge "Deathprod" Sten! I bet that quite few of you have seen that duo coming along.

Perhaps a bit too much in one evening for an old guy like me, but (being one who loves to pick blueberries) I have to say I´m quite happy to see the berry picker used even when it´s snowing outside!

NOT NIT NOT NIT NO NOT

NOT NIT NOT NIT NO NOT from Nika B on Vimeo.

Nika Breithaupt is probably a German performance artist, and we will just have to check back later, when her site is up and running again (nikabreithaupt.de).

What I can say, is that she has made a quite strange performance of Robert Wyatt's "Alifib" (from "Rock Bottom"), where she is singing to a video of Wyatt, recorded in 1975.

About eleven minutes into the video below, you may hear Robert Wyatt's own voice from the same piece.

Professor Tip Top: Aoum

In January I had a cosy little blog post on Professor Tip Top´s album, "Are you Empirical?" in my Norwegian blog (Google translate will get you through I hope), and now they are here again with another album called "Aoum" (Fossbakk Hansen Prod, 2012).

They call their music psykedelika/prog/jazz (Facebook), and I think I will dare to use the C-word (it´s "Canterbury"!) here too.
A bit nostalgic (in a good way), with traces of Gong and Pink Floyd, and quite a few catchy melodies too.

"Living in the past, is my future right now"
("Living in the past")

Musicians: Svein Magnar Hansen (voc), Sam Fossbakk (g, synth stuff), Mette Soele Zachau Mathiesen (dr), Sonja Otto (voc, hammond), Stein Høgseth (bass) and once again (I´m quite impressed!) Jon Irabagon (Mostly Other People Do The Killing) on sax!

Music: Sam Fossbakk.
Lyrics: Svein Magnar Hansen.
Cover: Øyvind Lothe, Reine Linjer.

If you want to check them out, downloads are available and easy to find (iTunes, eMusic). CDs and LPs exist too, but might be harder to get (try asking at their FB site).

Jimi Hendrix 70!

Let´s celebrate what would have been Jimi Hendrix´s 70th birthday, with an interview where Robert Wyatt shares his memories of the guitarist and singer.

Recorded at the Purcell Room, London 15th October 2007.

Benedicte Maurseth / Knut Hamre: Anima

How about some folk music again? I suggest you check out Benedicte Maurseth / Knut Hamre: "Anima" (Heilo 2012). What you get is a beautiful mix of traditional Norwegian folk, music by Tobias Hume and Henry Purcell (and others), and commissioned works by Nils Økland.

They play on Hardanger fiddles and violins from the 16th century, borrowed from museums and private collections.

The musicians are: Knut Hamre, Benedicte Maurseth, Nils Økland, Philippe Pierlot (viola da gamba) and Elisabeth Seitz (tympanon).

"Anima" is a further development of the album "Rosa i Botnen" (Heilo 2006), with Knut Hamre, Benedicte Maurseth, Sigbjørn Apeland and Nils Økland.
If you buy this one you will also get a quite charming (we are talking microphones dipping into the picture) DVD about the old fiddles and fiddle makers (subtitled I hope).

There are probably people who believe these old instruments belong in museums, but in my ears these albums sound just great!

The video with Benedicte Maurseth was recorded in 2009, and don´t worry, she speaks English.

St. Pussy Riot

Bergen street artist Argus salutes Pussy Riot!

Read his own comments on his blog, and if you are in Bergen, go here to find the picture.

The Cherry Thing Remixes

I have not bought my copy of Neneh Cherry & The Thing: "The Cherry Thing Remixes" (Smalltown 2012, release 12 November) yet, but the stuff on SoundCloud sound good.

Any remix experts out there, who care to share their views?

Here is a list of all the tracks, and from the top in this blog post, you may listen to track number 1,5,2,3 and 6:

01 What Reason Could I Give (Kim Hiorthøy remix)
02 Dream Baby Dream (Four Tet remix)
03 Accordion (Hortlax Cobra remix)
04 What Reason Could I Give (Carmen Villain remix)
05 Accordion (Jim O’Rourke remix)
06 Cashback (Lindstrøm & Prins Thomas remix)
07 Sudden Moment (Merzbow remix)
08 Golden Heart (Nymph remix)
09 Dirt (Kurzmann remix)
10 Golden Heart (Poole Blount Legacy Dub) (Lasse Marhaug remix)

Sculpting Sound with Maja S K Ratkje

Voice - Sculpting Sound with Maja Ratkje (footage demo) from ijb on Vimeo.

We have already had a post or two on I.J. Biermann´s film "Voice" in this blog, but here we go again, because the filmmakers need some more money to finish this portrait of Maja Ratkje.

Do you want to help? Spread the word, or run over to indiegogo with the amount of money you can spare right now!

A November Festival

- Stian Westerhus - Birmingham 2012.
- Maja S.K. Ratkje and Ikue Mori - LUFF 2012.
- Evan Parker, Peter Evans and Okkyung Lee - Unlimited, Wels 2012.
- Fred Frith, Jordan Glenn and Jason Hoopes - Berkeley Arts Fest 2012.
- The Thing - Blue Tomato 2012.
- Neneh Cherry & The Thing - Konfrontationen 2012.
- Nils Bech - Henie Onstad Kunstsenter 2012.

Cleo T

Cleo T has released an album called "Songs of Gold and Shadow" (Folkwit 2012).
The record sounds good, and I guess the description on the Bandcamp site fits well; it is a mix of folk and cabaret music. This info also interest me:

"The album, Songs of Gold and Shadow was produced by John Parish who is probably best known for his work with PJ Harvey and Robert Wyatt. In fact, Robert Wyatt wrote the lyrics of the hidden album track So Long Ago Yesterday specifically for Cleo".

John Parish best known for his work with PJ Harvey and Robert Wyatt? Is this our man Wyatt? Anyone?

Moonjune on Bandcamp

Get yourself a dead cheap 60 track sampler from Moonjune Records for a minimum of 1 $, over at their Bandcamp site (before 12 December!)

Among the artists are Soft Machine, Soft Machine Legacy, Soft Works, Phil Miller In Cahoots, Elton Dean, Hugh Hopper, Mark Hewins, Alan Holdsworth, The Wrong Object and Delta Saxophone Quartet.


Moonjune on themselves:
"MOONJUNE RECORDS came into being in 2001. The company represents the fruition of vision from entrepreneurial producer, tour manager and promoter Leonardo Pavkovic, and draws its name from Soft Machine drummer Robert Wyatt’s famous 1970 epic, “The Moon in June”.

MoonJune has already long established its' pedigree with “in-the-know” progressive music fans. The focus of MoonJune is to discover and release music by artists from a variety of international settings -- exploring the expanding boundaries of genuine, challenging, "non-over-produced music" that cannot be easily categorized into any specific format or genre."

Richard Thompson: Same Music, New Technology

Richard Thomspon on the relationship with fans on social media: "The way I get around it, I just lie".

Cooling it?

I have been posting in this blog and in Wyatting almost daily for about six years now, and have to admit I sometimes wonder what the hell I am doing with my time!

At a meeting with myself I had these points up for discussion:

1: Keep on blogging like a mad man.
2: Let´s have a pure Robert Wyatt blog (that was the intention when I started blogging; sorry for drowning Wyatt in other stuff!).
3: Cool it down a bit, and have some breaks.
4: Stop blogging.

After some serious fighting ("discussion"), number 3 won.

Suddenly it may be quiet in here for a day of five. Probably will be better for all of us!?

Expedition: If only I were R.W.

The Greek band Expedition were active only for a couple of years (2000-2001), but they were able to compose a melody dedicated to Robert Wyatt (by Giorgios Nikas).

"If only I were R.W." smells quite nice of old Wyatt/Soft Machine?

The band: Sergios Voudris-guitar/vocals,Andreas Paparousos-organ,Christos Pierros-bass,Giorgos Nikas-drums.

All info stolen over at YouTube.

John Cale in Conversation

John Cale In Conversation At Rough Trade East, London from Red Bull Music Academy on Vimeo.

John Cale at London´s Rough Trade East, with Matthew Herbert, Richard King (author of "How Soon Is Now?") and host Emma Warren.

The Wild Duck

I have to confess that theater isn´t quite my stuff, but when the Bergen International Festival upload a promo video for Henrik Ibsen´s "The Wild Duck" (1884), performed at the 2009 festival, we just have to have a blog post on it!

Now beware, this is the splatter version of Ibsen, so please don´t watch if you consider classic theater a sacred thing!

Directors: Vegard Vinge and Ida Müller.

Music by Trond Reinholdtsen and noise by Lasse Marhaug, and over at ibsen.net you will find the names of the actors (and other info).

The played this piece 6 evenings at the festival, and the first night it lasted almost eight hours, when the festival director finally had enough and stopped it!

The Social Media Tapes

Selling CDs, LPs, mp3/FLAC, or streaming? Norwegian sax player Petter Wettre seems to think that it is not possible for a musician like him to get his money back that way any longer, so he is trying something else: Like him on Facebook, or follow him on YouTube or Twitter, and you will get his new album for free!

He is hoping to get lots of followers, and to attract advertisers. I´m in doubt, but will wait and see if it´s possible for a jazz musician to get a fair amount of well deserved money that way!

Anyway, it is quite easy for you to get Petter Wettre Next Generation: "The Social Media Tapes" (Household Records 2012), a great album with four compositions by Wettre, and one each from Andrew Cyrille, Julius Hemphill, Steve Colson and Thelonious Monk. Highly recommended!

The band : Petter Wettre (saxophone), Kim Johannesen (guitar), Dag Erik Andersen (drums) and Jon Rune Strøm (bass).

For those of you who can read Norwegian, here is an interview with Petter Wettre in Ballade (Oct. 2012).

Movember

Unfortunately I have a slow growing beard, so I have to offer small blog post, instead of growing a mustache for Movember, to raise the awareness of men´s health issues.

The picture shows the mustache of Bergen´s student house, Det akademiske kvarter.

And later the same day I realized that street artist Habitus had grown several mustaches!

David Gilmour In Concert as iPhone/iPad App

You techno freaks out there, are the days of the DVD soon over too?
David Gilmour will be releasing concert videos from 2001 and 2002 as apps for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch (19 November), and an app for Android will follow.

David Gilmour played a concert at Robert Wyatt´s Meltdown in London in 2001 ( DVD of course), and "Comfortably numb" from that concert, with Wyatt singing, is on this app version too.

Looking at the Sun

Apehouse posted another video from Peter Blegvad and Andy Partridge´s new album "Gonwards".

This time we are "Looking at the sun", and you will find the other videos (all posted in the blog) right over here.

Extended Techniques - Phil Minton

New York based Extended Techniques made an almost two hour long podcast on Phil Minton. You will find the details on their site.

I have heard Phil Minton live a couple of times, the last time as part of Maja Ratkje´s curated concerts series for The International Festival of Bergen in the spring of 2012.

"Extended" vocal techniques, that´s an understatement when it comes to Minton!

Robert Wyatt - Covers and Tributes

Since you have bought all the Robert Wyatt albums now, why not go hunting for records where other people play Wyatt?
I have mentioned several of them in the blog of course, like Mop Meuchine, The Unthanks, Orchestre National de Jazz etc, so today just a mention of two albums released before my blogging days started.

All the way from Austria, Cpt. Kirk & The More Extended Versions deliver "Round About Wyatt" (1994), and various artists (led by Annie Whitehead) serve "Soupsongs Live. The Music of Robert Wyatt" (2000).

Once upon a time, I decided that shopping on eBay would not be healthy for my bank account, so I probably lack releases some of you feel I should have promoted.
Since you all have better self control (or are richer) than me, I bet you will find the records you want!

Right here is everything you need to know about Robert Wyatt covers and tributes.

Bobby Bradford et al: Kampen

Please check out this band:
Bobby Bradford - cornet
Frode Gjerstad - clarinets and alto sax
Ingebrigt Håker Flaten - bass
Paal Nilssen-Love - drums

Both the band, and each of the musicians, have visited the blog several times of course, and now they are back with a new album named "Kampen", on NoBusiness (Lithuania).

What you get is probably free jazz, but it sounds pretty straightforward too. Think Ornette Coleman, who Bobby Bradford played with.
You may have noticed that I never (seldom?) pretend to be much of a music expert, outside of being a fan ("great album" style), but here I must be allowed to at least say that the interaction between the musicians is fantastic!

The music was recorded live during Kampenjazz in Oslo, november 2010, and "Kampen" is the name of an area in Oslo (in case you wonder).

300 copies of "Kampen" were made, only on vinyl and (unfortunately) no download codes given away. I had my copy in my house in Bergen less than a week after I ordered it, and that´s impressive!

The naming of the tracks is my kind of humor:
1: This is
2: A live
3: Recording from
4: Kampen, Oslo

Cover design: Dansas Mikailionis

Let me also remind you of the album "Reknes" by the same musicians (Circulasione Totale 2009), recorded at the Reknes club at Moldejazz 2008 and "Dragon" by Bradford, Gjerstad and Nilssen-Love (PNL Records 2012). The last one was recorded at Klub Drago in Poznan (Poland) a couple of days prior to "Kampen". Buy all of them!

Robert Wyatt - Wiki Article

Wiki articles on YouTube! Here is Robert Wyatt´s.

Håkon Kornstad - Jazz vs Opera -- a Tenor Battle

Håkon Kornstad on jazz and opera in his TEDx Talk in Oslo in October 2012.

PGA - Corrections

I have mentioned Va Fongool´s first two albums (by Wolfram Trio and Ich Bin Nintendo) in this blog, and if they caught your attention, you might want to check out their third release; PGA´s album "Corrections".

PGA is Fredrik Luhr Dietrichson (b) and Jan Martin Gismervik (dr), both of them also playing in Wolfram Trio.

The first track, "Out of Tune", might be considered humorous, but most of the time it is pretty dark impro we get here (not so strange with bass and drums perhaps?), and a little spooky too. But it is sounding good!

Guest musicians: Torstein Lavik Larsen (tp) and Henrik Munkeby Nørstebø (tb).

PGA might be "Poor Guy Alone", according to some track titles.

Cover: Danny Gretsch.

They have invited both Sigbjørn Apeland and Nils Økland for some of their release concerts. Now, that would be interesting to hear!

Soft Machine Legacy with Keith Tippett

 I can not say I have listened a lot to the Soft Machine offsprings like Soft Works and Soft Machine Legacy, but here is a fresh recording for you all (26.10.2012) with Soft Machine Legacy and Keith Tippett! Tippett is on after about 30 minutes. I copy info from 43e Festival de Jazz de Francfort 2012:
John Etheridge: Gitarre/guitare - Theo Travis: Tenorsaxophon/saxophone ténor, Sopransaxophon/saxophone soprano, Flöte/flûte - Roy Babbington: E-Bass/guitare basse - John Marshall: Schlagzeug/batterie - Keith Tippett: Klavier/piano.

Maja Ratkje and HC Gilje live

Maja Ratkje and HC Gilje Live at Minoretenkirche, Krems, Kontraste 2012 from hc gilje on Vimeo.

Watch the full concert with Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje (Voice, Sampling, Live Electronics (quadrophonic setup)) and HC Gilje (Live Video (18 videowall led modules)) at the Kontraste festival 14 October 2012 (Minoretenkirche, Krems, Austria).

How great that artists upload videos like this!

Here is a post from my Norwegian blog with a not so good video from the Bergen International Festival (Festspillene) 2012.

Evan Parker x 2

JOHN TCHICAI, TONY MARSH, EVAN PARKER and LOUIS MOHOLO - Vortex Jazz Bar 2011-10-14 from PureHeart Multimedia Services on Vimeo.

EVAN PARKER and LOUIS MOHOLO - Vortex Jazz Bar 2011-10-14 from PureHeart Multimedia Services on Vimeo.

A couple of one year old videos of Evan Parker surfaced on Vimeo recently, so let´s have a Monday concert in the blog!

We first enjoy John Tchicai, Tony Marsh, Evan Parker and Louis Moholo, followed by a duo with Evan Parker and Louis Moholo, at Vortex Jazz Bar (London 2011-10-14).

(If the videos don´t run smoothly, press pause, count to 32 and try again).

Music From The Henie Onstad Kunstsenter Archives

I already mentioned the double LP "I want the Beatles to play at my art center! Music From The Henie Onstad Kunstsenter Archives 1968-2012" (Prisma 2012), but the new exhibition at Høvikodden opened today, so let´s just have another blog post too.

I have heard the album a couple of times now, and the music is exciting and varied (that´s an understatement!). The tracks are organized after year of production, from Arne Nordheim (recorded in 1969 and edited by Helge Sten) and up to Jenny Hval in 2012.

Soft Machine sounded good 27 February 1971 too. "Teeth" (from "Soft Machine 4", released 28 February this year) has been remastered by Michael King in 2012.
And you all know that the concert they played at HOK 28 February, may be found on "Live at Henie Onstad Art Centre 1971" (Reel Recordings 2009 CD and Smalltown Superjazz 2010 LP).

Let me just mention one of the other tracks on the album, that surprised me: The Spontaneous Music Ensemble with John Stevens (perc), Trevor Watts (sax), Ron Herman (bass) and Julie Driscol (vocal) doing "Norway". The music sound like it is spiced with Norwegian folk, and Julie Driscol might have been herding cattle the old way, in the mountains of Norway, singing the animals homewards.
Play this loud, and the cows will be home before supper. Guaranteed! Stunning!

Shop at HOK.

And here is Sonia Henie for you!

Remembering Lol Coxhill Part 2 at Cafe Oto

If you happen to be in London 31 October, make sure you visit Cafe Oto for "Remembering Lol Coxhill - Part 2".

The programme:
- Alex Ward (clarinet) and Orphy Robinson (steel pan)
- Dave Stephens - an amusing monologue
- Lou Glandfield - a couple of songs and a brief poem
- Tony Coe (soprano saxophone) playing Billy Strayhorn’s ‘Lotus Blossom’ and other tunes from The Melody Four’s songbook.
- Steve Beresford (piano), Guillaume Viltard (contrabass) and Roger Turner (drums)
- Veryan Weston (piano) and Sam Coxhill-Davis (guitar)
- Terry Day
- 'Murder in the Air' performed by Roger Ely & Roger Turner
- a guest performer from Lol's R&B days in London in the '60s
- A montage of Lol on film by Helen Petts and edited by Blanca Regina.
- A slide show of Lol by Martin Davidson.

I have posted Helen Petts´ video of Lol before (at least once), but so what?

'By the Paths of the Deep River' - Lol Coxhill for TAPS from Helen Petts on Vimeo.

Nils Petter Molvær Trio at Palm Jazz Festiwal 2012

It is Friday night and concert night here in Robert Wyatt and Stuff, with 80 minutes of Nils Petter Molvær Trio at Palm Jazz Festiwal in Poland (24 October 2012)!

Nils Petter Molvær (tp)
Stian Westerhus (g)
Erland Dahlen (dr)
Tord Knudsen (visuals)

Check out a video from "Jazz and the city" in Salzburg (12 October) too, for some more lights and visuals!

Dave Sinclair: Stream

If I have understood this correctly, Dave Sinclair, who played keyboard in Caravan, Matching Mole, Hatfield and The North and Camel, has already released the album "Stream" in Japan, and it just might be released elsewhere by Crescent in December.

Over at Crescent we may read that Robert Wyatt joins on two tracks.

Street Art Norway Vol. 2

Please note that the book "Street Art Norway Vol. 2" (Kontur 2012) is out there for grabs.
Lots of pictures of stencils, pasteups, stickers, drawings, writings on the wall and other stuff, from the largest Norwegian cities. Several of the pictures are taken by yours truly, who have no economic interests in this blog post! No way!

We get a couple of chapters in both Norwegian and English too, written by the editor Martin Berdahl Aamundsen and Martyn Reed.

Kontur´s other street art books are (Norwegian links) "Street Art Norway", Stencil Wars", "Eloquent Vandals" and "Graff Wars".

You may get all of them from Amazon.

Todd Terje: Inspector Norse

Kristoffer Borgli & Todd Terje´s: "Inspector Norse" was elected best Scandinavian music video at the Bergen International Film Festival (BIFF) 2012!
Sweet one!

Artist: Todd Terje
Title: Inspector Norse
Album: It's The Arps EP
Label: Full Pupp
Video: Kristoffer Borgli

Watch all the nominated videos right here:

NORWAY:
Lars Vaular og Sondre Lerche - Øynene Lukket (Regi: Andrew Amorim)
Todd Terje - Inspector Norse (Regi: Kristoffer Borgli)
Mikhael Paskalev - I Spy (Regi: André Chocron)
John Olav Nilsen og gjengen - Eurosport (Regi: Kim Hiorthøy)
Casiokids - Det haster! (Regi: Kristoffer Borgli)

SWEDEN:
Saint Lou Lou - Maybe You (Regi: Philippe Tempelman)
The Sound of Arrows - Wonders (Regi: Mattias Johansson og Oskar Gullstrand)
Miike Snow - The Wave (Regi: Andreas Nilsson)
Korallreven - Sa Sa Samoa (Regi: Filip Nilsson)
First Aid Kit - The Lion's Roar (Regi: Mats Udd)

DENMARK:
Karin Park - Fryngies (Regi: Tore Frandsen)
Sleep Party People - A Dark God Heart (Regi: Marie Limkilde)
Tomas Barfod - Broken Glass (Regi: Martin Garde)
Trentemøller - Sycamore Feeling (Regi: Diana Tørsløv)
When Saints Go Machine - Parix (Regi: Daniel Kragh-Jacobsen)

Ete (Eat)

Just a photo-report for you today, from an art project.
I visited performance artist (and author) Kurt Johannessen´s gallery this Sunday.
He sold drawings of wild animals.
If we payed 100 NOK, we could have a drawing, but only if we ate it!

I have not eaten mammals for at least 15 years (maybe 20), so I really went for it and had a rhinoceros for lunch! It was served on a salt biscuit, and tasted OK.
The other guys there had a polar bear.

Art consumer?

I Want the Beatles to Play at My Art Center!

The exhibition "I Want the Beatles to Play at My Art Center! – Tidsbasert kunst ved HOK 1968-2011" will open at Henie Onstad Art Centre in Oslo 28 October. The exhibition will be accompanied by the releases of a DVD, a book and a double LP.

Artists on the DVD: John Cage, Kjartan Slettemark, KILLL, Arne Nordheim, Stephen O`Malley, Mauricio Kagel, MoHa!, Christopher Nielsen/Masselys, Stian Skagen & Monica Winther.

Tracks on the LP:

Side A
1. Arne Nordheim – A Forum of the Arts (1969)
2. Sigurd Berge – Excerpts from Blikk (1970)
3. Bjørn Fongaard - The Space Concerto for Piano and Tape (1971)

Side B
4. Soft Machine – Teeth (1971)
5. Spontaneous Music Ensemble – Norway (1971)
6. Paal-Helge Haugen & Kåre Kolberg – Excerpts from Requiem for Janis
Joplin (1972)
7. Svein Finnerud Trio – Olga (1974)
8. Hal Clark – The Monkey and Organ Grinder (1975)

Side C
9. The Aller Værste! - Dans til musikken (1980)
10. John Cage – Excerpts from Muoyce (1983)
11. Magne Hegdal – Music for Marcel Duchamp (1983)
12. Lasse Marhaug – Ear Era 7 (2008)
13. Jim O`Rourke - Aunt Esther (2010)

Side D
14. Deathprod - Studio (2010)
15. Håkon Kornstad – Improvisations for Karin (2011)
16. Jenny Hval – You sign your name (2012)

The Soft Machine track "Teeth" from 1971, must be the same teeth that we find on the album Soft Machine "Live at Henie Onstad Art Centre 1971" (Reel Recordings 2009 CD and Smalltown Superjazz 2010 LP).

The exhibition and the releases are curated by Lars Mørch Finborud, and you will get all the info you need over at Prisma Records.

Added 25 October: Lars Mørch Finborud added a comment on my Norwegian blog - stating that the Soft Machine track is not the same as on the Reel Rec/Smalltown release, but from the second concert they played at the art center!

This Will End In Tears

The ultimate book for melancholic people who enjoy writing lists?
Adam Brent Houghtaling has written "This will end in tears. The miserabilist guide to music" (ItBooks 2012).

Artists are presented alphabetical, with a list of their most miserable tunes, we get essays on some songs and chapters on obvious miserable themes, like divorce songs and murder ballads.

Finally the 100 saddest songs are listed!

I´m really not a list person, and I am quite cool about not finding some of "my artists" here (John Cale, Kevin Ayers, Brian Eno), but I guess any list person will disagree with a lot the selections here!

Robert Wyatt got his own chapter, and this is his miserable list:

1. "Sea Song" - Rock Bottom (1974)
2. "Five Black Notes and One White Note" - Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard (1975)
3. "Strange Fruit" - B-side, At Last I Am Free (1980)
4. "Shipbuilding" - Single (1982)
5. "Te Recuerdo Amanda" - Work In Progress EP (1984)
6. "The Sight of the Wind" - Dondestan (1991)
7. "Free Will and Testament" - Shleep (1997)
8. "Lullaby for Hamza" - Cuckooland (2003)
9. "Just As You Are" - Comicopera (2008)
10. "Laura" - ...For the Ghosts Within (2010)

Robert Wyatts "Shipbuilding" is also on the list of the saddest songs, and we all know he has done beautiful versions of "Strange Fruit" (Billie Holiday) and "Lush Life" (Billy Strayhorn), songs with their own essays in this sad book.

"The feel-bad book of the year"!"


And since Son House managed to get "Death letter" twice (!) on the list of the saddest among the sad songs, we let him end this blog post.

1982 + BJ Cole album

After several blog posts, I guess it is no secret that I´m a fan of the folk improv trio 1982 (Sigbjørn Apeland, Nils Økland, Øyvind Skarbø). Now they are joined by pedal steel man BJ Cole for their new album on Hubro.

I really liked their previous albums ("1982" and "Pintura") a lot, and it works fine with BJ Cole joining the team too! It´s still folky, with a melancholic twist, and I don´t mind that some parts even make me think of Brian Eno´s "Apollo"!
Play loud, mornings and evenings!

If you happen to be in London today, make sure you see them at Kings Place with Moskus, another Hubro label band.

Mari Kvien Brunvoll live

Regular readers may have noticed that I´m quite fond of Mari Kvien Brunvoll´s music.
She visited the blog recently, when her first solo album (Jazzland 2012) hit my turntable.

Here she is at Jazz and the City, in Salzburg 13 October.

I´m Going In A Field

Here is Ivor Cutler in the field, in a deleted (what, deleted???) scene from the Beatles movie "The Magical Mystery Tour".

"I´m Going In A Field" was released on Ivor Cutler´s album "Ludo" (1967)

Ivar Grydeland - "Bathymetric Modes"

Ivar Grydeland´s (Huntsville, Ballrogg, Dans Les Arbres) first solo album , "Bathymetric Modes" (Hubro 2012), is here.
What we get is a couple of really nice tunes based on acoustic guitar, and some beautiful ambient soundscapes, where the compact graphic synthesizer called Tendori-on (YouTube, Wikipedia) is playing a major role.

The title of the record suggests that the topic might be underwater topography, but to me this could be the soundtrack to shimmering water.
Relaxing and very, very nice music!

I often think albums and concerts are too long, but I wouldn´t mind if Grydeland stretched this one to a bit more then the half hour we get.

Comicoperando (a reposting)

Here is a reposting for new viewers!
Comicoperando in Amsterdam A tribute to the music of Robert Wyatt.

Dagmar Krause - vocals
Annie Whitehead - trombone, backing vocals
Karen Mantler - Hammond B3, vocals
Michel Delville - synth guitar
John Edwards - double bass
Chris Cutler - drums

More info on YouTube.

Other people playing Wyatt over here.

Jessica Sligter

Jessica Sligter is ready with a new album on Hubro.
I still can´t see the point with different release dates in different areas, but here is the schedule for "Fear and the Framing":

Release dates:
The Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg: 05.10.2012
Norway: 19.10.2012
UK, USA, Canada, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Japan: 03.12.2012

Please make sure you also check out Jessica Sligter´s earlier great albums as JÆ, and with Sacred Harp.

Molde in October

I usually report from Molde during the jazz festival in July, but It´s quite OK here in the autumn too.
The town isn´t exactly swinging (putting it mildly here), snow is creeping down the mountain sides and the wind is chilly, but what a place for some nice walks!
If you can´t come during the festival, Molde may still be worth a visit.

And I´m not being paid by the tourist info people. Just saying.

Worse on the Way

I´m still waiting for "Gonwards", the new Peter Blegvad and Andy Partridge album on Ape House, but at least they keep feeding us videos! Here is number three, "Worse on the way". You will find the other ones on Ape House´s YouTube chanell (and in this blog of course).

Film by Mitch Friedman
Lyrics and vocal by Peter Blegvad- music by Andy Partridge and Stu Rowe

Piano- Mikey Rowe
Soprano Saxophone - Frank Abrams

"Worse on the way,
a curse on the day.
Another to lay on night.
Only black rain,
an oncoming train,
more tunnel to come
at the end of the light"

John Cale: Shifty Adventures in Nookie Wood

John Cale just released his new album "Shifty Adventures in Nookie Wood" on Double Six Records.
I have just listened a couple of times, but it contains some good, classic John Cale, with dark moods and staccato melodies.

Since you might be allergic, I have to spill it, there is autotune in there too!

Listen to the opening track "I Wanna Talk 2 U" on SoundCloud below, or live on "Later with Jools" in the video above.

The Unthanks at The People Speak

The Unthanks sing "Shipbuilding" (Elvis Costello/Clive Langer AND Robert Wyatt) and "The Testimony of Patience Kershaw" (Frank Higgins) at the event to celebrate the release of the book"The People Speak".

More on Canongate Books´ YouTube chanell.

Martin Küchen: Hellstorm

Oh my, please check out the Swedish sax player Martin Küchen´s (a.o. Angles) dark and beautiful album "Hellstorm" (Mathka 2012).
The album´s subtitle is "Man erkennt langsam das Elend, dass über uns gekommen ist", a sentence Küchen´s father wrote in his war diary.

Martin Küchen writes: "Hellstorm - Man erkennt langsam das Elend, dass über uns gekommen ist" - has again THAT theme in its title. A line from my father´s unpublished war diary, penned in January 1945. And a dedication to the american author Thomas Goodrich for writing the immensely important historical book, "Hellstorm". That theme. That Temata. But only there. The music stands aside, the music does not want to have anything whatsoever to do with it, but still I am forcing the titles, like some kind of strange lyrics put to an illiteral melody, to be there. I had a need to do this record. Obviously. We went into this big Church in Lund, Sweden, me and Jakob, and it was a cold, snowy winter. And we had to work quick. Which we did. Each tune, one take".

Listen to the track "Sarajevo", watch the video, and buy this strong brew!

Martin Küchen: baritone saxophone, radio, alto saxophone, electronic tampoura, electric toothbrush