Jakal-Peroration; Amalgam Records, 2023

 

Fans of extended Free Improvisation, take note! Jakal, a trio consisting of woodwinds player Keefe Jackson, drummer Julian Kirshner, and cellist/guitarist/electronics man Fred Lonberg-Holm has released Peroration, and it's right in your wheel house! Consisting of two tracks, the longer Peroration and the shorter The Grand Finale, this set features a group that is mining the rich possibilities inherent within the act of musical improvisation, possibilities which each member of the trio are up to and then some. The listener is dropped immediately into the fray; there is not subtle build up or countdown as Peroration begins. One simply finds oneself surrounded by the thickets of improvised music emerging from the axes and minds of the group's players. Disaster Amnesiac has found much enjoyment from Lonberg-Holm's earthy string sounds, Blues-ey at times, Jackson's high end wind song action, and Kirshner's spacious yet simultaneously dense trap set figurations. Jakal always sound as if they're in conversational mode, even at the moments characterized by a more "let 'er rip" type of dynamic. These dudes play together exceedingly well. Top flight sounds from a great group on Peroration. I'll bet that their live shows are corkers!

Goodbye Andrew Palmer

 

Tremendous sadness has been affecting me since I heard the news about the passing of Andrew Palmer, who died on October 2nd, 2023. 

I got to know Andrew over the course of five years, 2015-20, after he contacted me out of the blue with a request to get together and make some music. Andrew's vision of "Sound Art", as he called it, was pure, and influenced by his bright sense of humor. As I've recollected our relationship over the past few days, I've recalled that the very last utterances from him to me were sarcastic jabs at one of the then current societal tropes. Keeping those to myself, though. Getting back to Andrew's wit and its influence on his musical activity, that wit never mired his production down into mere satire. Time spent within what I recall to be a deep art scene in London assured that Andrew would always take his music seriously. He stuck to his principles, always, even as he noted the elements of absurdity embedded within the pursuit. Never were his aesthetic choices not inspiring.

It must be stated that Andrew was also a tremendously devoted husband and father; the love that he showed to his daughters was humbling in its purity. It was always clear that his family was the primary focus of his attentions. 

Andrew was patient and big-hearted, even under stress. I can't imagine a kinder person than him. It is through a prism of tears that I type these words of remembrance. Godspeed and much love to you,  Andrew. This world is diminished by your leaving.

Live shot #98!

 

A Noise musician whose moniker I can't recall. Noto Motors, Menlo Park CA 1/5/19.

Seeded Plain-Badminton, The Volleys; Public Eyesore Records #155, 2023

 

It has occurred to Disaster Amnesiac more than a few times while listening to Seeded Plain's new CD, Badminton, The Volleys that it should have been put out from the eh? Records imprint. An Electro-Acoustic release with a completely bizarre cover image, recorded at temples in India by two Americans? I mean, c'mon, how eh? is that? Really, really eh? I'd say. 

Well, regardless of which of Bryan Day's labels that Badminton issues forth, this duo action with the accomplished Jay Kreimer is well worth the time spent listening, for this or any other fan of musical whatzis. Seeded Plain continue their long collaboration on Badminton with four tracks of sound art pulled from seemingly any and all manner of sources. These sources are listed as "invented instruments" on the slip case (lovely photos there, too by the way), and Disaster Amnesiac has wondered how many of these inventions were sourced locally in Hyderabad and Bangalore. I can still hear certain elements of Day's rig pretty clearly; even though it's rather sad to realize that it's been years now since I've seen him play live, it's neat to recognize certain of those pops, plinks, drags, and whorls that he coaxes from it. These sounds mesh in ways that can evoke mental images of giant robots striding across the plains of the sub-continent, or skyscrapers alternately erected and felled. One aspect of the Public Eyesore aesthetic is close mic'd techniques to capture large, overwhelming sounds from primitive sound sources, and this aspect is very much at play on Badminton. It's then up to the imaginative successes or failures of the listener as to how they're perceived. Disaster Amnesiac advises headphone listening as a means to get your mind into that successful zone. This is not to say that Badminton lacks any kind of simpler melodic track. I was pleasantly surprised by Bangalore and Hyderabad Two, both of which evince elements of said melodicism. The former by dint of the overtones of scraped metals hitting each other in just a certain way, and the latter by the addition of very resonant throat singing of a quite Himalayan feel from Trishant Shetty. These interactions give added depth, both musical and intellectually, to the proceedings. Hey, Seeded Plains dudes, more of this please, as it's a fascinating development that I feel should be pursued further.  

Badminton, The Volleys with its continuation of their established modes and new, interesting collaborative aspect, is a real winner for Seeded Plain.

So, Bryan, did you find and document any Indian musicians that are doing music similar to groups on Public Eyesore? If so, when are those releases slated for public consumption? Disaster Amnesiac hopes to be kept in the know, should those releases emerge on Public Eyesore or eh? Records.

Live shot(s) #97!

 

All shots taken at Groundworks, Tucson 10/4/23.

Below: Skin Theory (most of). Prog influences mashed together with Psych breakdown tendencies. Which will win out? 

Above: Lung, flexing with mid-tour adeptness. 20th Century Art Music details blending with Rock-ist song tendencies. Extreme precision with loop pedals! 

Below: Compersion. Full band sound achieved from Chamber Drone approach. The bass leads the way, as it should.

Gone To the Wolves; John Wray; Farrar Straus and Giroux Press, 2023

 

It was not by word of mouth that Disaster Amnesiac came across John Wray's excellent Gone To the Wolves, sadly. I'd had no idea that this book even existed. When it came to view at the Oro Valley Library, I just knew it. Knew its subject matter, in an intuitive way, knew that I'd dig it, just straight up knowledge. Those fonts on the cover said everything needed to be convinced about checking it out. Glad to have done so, too. Wray's story centers around a triangle of three young people in the time frame of the later 1980's into 1996. Kip, Kira, and Leslie are all sprouted from the murkier side of American society, and find their initial bonds forged by mutual love of Heavy Metal. Were we calling it simply "Metal" by then? Disaster Amnesiac cannot recall, even though I was aware of that scene in that time. I can safely say that I even knew a Kip, and a Kira and a Leslie. It seems safe to remark that everyone and anyone that's ever been involved in outsider scenes such as that of Metal will attest to knowing them, too. Wray's treatment of their shifting relationships and the emotional, as well as physical, impacts of them are treated with a tenderness that moved this reader many times. As stated, Disaster Amnesiac knows these people. They may have different names and faces, but in essence, they are the same. Gone To the Wolves is brilliant in that sense. The novel is also brilliant in the ways that it utilizes three distinct Heavy Metal scenes as framing devices for developing the relationships of Kip, Kira and Leslie. Florida Thrash, Los Angeles Glitter/Hair, and Norwegian Black Metal are all explored deftly by Wray. John clearly knows his stuff, and if he's not a genuine fan of the genre and its myriad offshoots, well he fooled me. Glen Benton, Lemmy at the Rainbow Bar and Grill, Oystein Aarseth, and Varg Vikernes all appear in the story, with Vikerness getting a pretty large support role during Act Three. Disaster Amnesiac couldn't help but wonder if Varg has read the Gone To the Wolves, and, if so, what his thoughts have been. Can't  say that I've seen him expound upon the subject at his Telegram channel, but then again I do not see his content that regularly.

Gone To the Wolves is a mightily compelling read. Just like good song craft, Wray's writing transcends genre with its solid story, eloquent turns of phrase, and obviously deep knowledge of the human condition. Disaster Amnesiac tried to play a role in starting a word of mouth campaign about the book at a Metal show on Friday night in Tucson. Would that action start a fire here in the Sonoran Desert? This novel certainly did so within my Heavy Metal brain waves!