Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather on which a mirror and a razor lay crossed.
Featuring improvised bass clarinet.
Starting from somewhere, and going someplace. Mislaid mariachi, mothballed in space. Is it a party? Is it a wake? Perhaps it is neither, but is simply displaced.
Featuring a mariachi band from “El Mariachi”, a virtual instrument developed by Libre Wave.
Description of Kénosis by René Muñoz Córdova:
René Muñoz Córdova delves into the confines of acousmatic and spectralism to create a work that not only breaks but transcends the parameters of the avant-garde. Far from traditional constraints, Kénosis embraces spectralism in its most radical form, breaking down sound into its purest components: frequencies, timbres, and textures that vibrate like living entities. Field recordings—perhaps fragments of resonant metal, environmental whispers, or disfigured electronic pulses—dissolve into a canvas of drones and glitches that seem to emerge from the ether. These sound layers do not seek to comfort, but to confront, inviting the listener to inhabit a space where noise is poetry and silence, an act of rebellion. The work challenges the expectations of conventional sound art by rejecting any concession to accessibility. Instead of predictable structures, Muñoz Córdova constructs an auditory universe where sounds stretch, collapse, and reappear in unpredictable configurations, evoking the fluidity of time and the dissolution of the ego. His avant-garde approach manifests in extreme digital manipulation, where each pulse or sound spark seems to question the very definition of music. The echoes of spectralism, brought to a viscerally personal terrain, resonate in the way harmonics intertwine, creating an experience that is as physical as it is metaphysical.
Kénosis is not an album to consume, but to experience. It is a challenge to conventions, a break with the complacency of the experimental genre that often falls into clichés. With a meticulous production that fuses the organic and the synthetic, Muñoz Córdova invites the bold to immerse themselves with headphones in a sound cosmos where the rules do not exist and the act of listening becomes a revolutionary gesture. This work is a testament to absolute freedom: a portal to the unknown that redefines what sound art can be.
Halfway to a thousand, rushing along – passing and weaving through the throng. Whether miles or meters, the goal isn’t near – but it is the journey that we must hold dear.
Featuring jazz quartet of piano, upright bass, drum kit, and clarinet.
An event, not quite right – but, it works. Unindicated, not unerring, simply suggestive. Follow the suggestion, and vindicate retroactively. Resonances rebound, and eventually align.
Featuring improvised piano.
Unplanned, it begins. Unstructured, it continues. Unknown, it develops. Yet as time passes, it takes shape.
Featuring string orchestra, flute, piano, french horn, trumpet, clarinet, and oboe.
Filipe Miranda from Portugal gave us an opportunity for sharing one of his album. Movimento (Movement) consists of four tracks, overall it has laid-back atmosphere.
Music and choreography improvisation session with Filipe Miranda and Joana Jardim, for the project’s first rehearsal at Viana do Castelo (Teatro Casino Afifense), in 2019. Recorded live on stage, rehearsal environment, with a Zoom H1n. Guitar by Filipe Miranda.
Something discovered – invented, considered, imagined. Set aside. Forgotten. Lost. Mourned. Wondered. Mythologized. Lionized. Reconsidered. Reinvented. Replaced?
Featuring improvised piano.
Are kiss of promised springtime you. Lonely long makes seem that the winter. Are breathless evening hush of the you. A brink lovely of on that the song trembles.
This reordering of “All The Things You Are” features a jazz quintet of alto saxophone, vibraphone, piano, upright bass, and brushed drums.
儀式 振動 招魂術
A co-release between WV Sorcerer and Yes No Wave Music.
Sundialll is a contemporary music group based in Taipei and Bandung, featuring vocalist/feedback artist Alica Han and multi-instrumentalist/electronic musician Rama Saputra. Coming from distinct musical backgrounds, they explore new sonic landscapes beyond their borders, embarking on fictional journeys through music. Their process begins with deconstructing rhyme, rhythm, and noise, drawing inspiration from their roots and folklore.
Sundialll 是一個以台北和萬隆為基地的當代音樂團體，由歌手/反饋者 Alica Han 和多樂器/電子音樂家 Rama Saputra 組成。他們來自不同的世界，通過音樂中的虛構旅程，想像一個超越邊界的新世界，從解構來自根源和民間傳說的韻律、節奏和噪音開始。
HUB is an eight-part live album built on free improvisation, centered around the fictional theme of social ritual. It is inspired by gratitude as a transition through the chaos of urban life and the organic social cohesion that emerges from improvisational language. Celebrating the convergence of diverse identities and places, Sundialll collaborates with sound improvisers Hong-Yu Chen (Xiao, Suona, Suling, Clarinet, Chinese Flute) and Dutch E Germ (Drums, Gong, Percussions), alongside dance improvisers Yu-Ting Tu, Naau Wang, and Ouro Yang. With a slow and silent gaze, we extend a welcoming gesture—“Come in, for the boundaries have been opened” (Bubuka).
《HUB》是一張包含八首即興現場表演的專輯，具有社會儀式的虛構主題。它受到感恩的啟發，作為混亂都市生活過渡的一部分，並反映了即興語言所創造的混合身份的社會凝聚力。慶祝來自不同地方和身份的人們的融合，Sundialll 邀請了兩位聲音即興表演者—陳泓宇（笛、唢呐、竹笛、單簧管、花笛）和 Dutch E Germ（鼓、鍾、打擊樂器），以及三位舞蹈即興表演者—凃于婷 、王芊涵 和 Ouro Yang。以緩慢而寧靜的目光，我們呈現出一個歡迎的姿態—「來吧，邊界已經打開」（Bubuka）
There comes a point where the easiest thing to do is simply play – and it can be joyful, sorrowful, frivolous, and dire. But while it is all of these things, there is something it is not – amelioration. I should practice.
Featuring clarinet.
Thogonal – or, how lines may independently proceed. Or, why angles vary regularly. Or, how contours crease liminal boundaries. Or, thogonal.
Featuring improvised piano.
That which ceases often returns. Withering and growth are a pair – but the form of regrowth is not bound by the original, and can contain surprises.
Featuring strings, drum kit, piano, acoustic guitar, upright bass, flute, oboe, birds, and effects.
Step on up, come one, come All! All are welcome (and required) at All’s Fair – a Fair where every tit has its tat. All’s Fair, in love and war, serves the needs of All, whether pliantly or peremptorily.
A carnival of topsy-turvy exchange, All’s Fair provides the circus – though you may pay dearly for the bread.
Featuring alto sax.
Some are keen to declare how things ought to be,
But often neglect that which they do not see.
It’s easy to care about nearby brethren,
And hard to accept that All are kin.
Featuring improvised clarinet and reverb.
Spikes and soul, they do not counteract – sometimes spikes are needed to transact. Sadly, because when one expects, they gird, to feel yet protect.
Featuring strings, drum kit, upright piano, double bass, acoustic guitar, birds, organ, and effects.
Painstakingly prepared, one by one – inevitably proceeding the preceding. The oven inducts (in a different way), to ensure each is evenly heated en route to their destination. The process balances uniqueness and uniformity, resulting in both a dietary delight and danger – cookies, by induction.
Featuring synthesizer, bell, flute, clarinet, strings, harp, drums, muted trumpet, and effects.
It takes all of a second to realise that, in terms of guitar instrumentals, Geiger Von Müller’s ‘Alien Fig Yogurt Incident’ isn’t entirely of this world. It opens with a flurry of insanely high pitched harmonics, creating more of a mood than a melody. This immediately catches the ear, but makes the listener wonder where things are actually headed. A saner guitarist might flesh out such a technique with a couple of broad chords to make things palatable, but not this guy…
Müller then adds extra texture by offering a slide note that’s more akin to a quick interjection from a swanee whistle, then drops into a semi-atonal descending melody that uses the slide to add Hawaiian influences. There’s a melody growing, but again, it’s not from your typical school of guitar based instrumentals.
(realgonerocks.com)
Official music video:
youtu.be/dGK6HoSmxco
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We have another debut on MiMi Records. Japanese artist Ryo Kawawada brings us “Paludarium”, an ambient and introspective album that blends the softness of acoustic guitar with natural sounds, creating a serene and contemplative atmosphere.
Kawawada uses the guitar delicately, creating subtle sonic layers that evoke images of peaceful landscapes, like a walk through a swamp. The album conveys a sense of calm, yet maintains a slight tension, inviting deep listening.
With a minimalist approach, “Paludarium” is a work that celebrates the connection with nature and the ability of music to create hypnotic and evocative soundscapes.
Illusive sliver lures evils:
Rules rile, lives live –
Will lies sell?
Slier, wiser, sillier,
We vise ills – use wires – view silver –
Swell, swirl, rise,
Survive.
Featuring piano layered with strings.
Wondering what will, we.
Originate our own –
Understanding, until:
Later lives, listening,
Do drought – doubt – death.
Featuring piano.
Shortcuts went on a beach holiday! They came back with an EP in their luggage, which is tellingly titled “Strand”.
It is sometimes about “lying in the sun” or “swimming in the sea”, “journey” in the literal and figurative sense is a recurring motif. But anyone who expects a kind of vacation report set to music or even concept music is thinking too short-sightedly.
There are a few things different on “Strand” than on the previous two releases. The record is not only the most electronic, but also the most guitar-heavy in the band’s history to date. The music is also much more straightforward this time, which brings the duo closer to their live sound. “Strand” is also the first Shortcuts record with completely German lyrics. Another special feature is that Jule does not play drums on any of the songs, as usual, but guitar.
The rest remains the same. On “Strand” Shortcuts again live up to their name: you can hear short, concise songs in which nothing more is said and played than necessary.
To grow, you must build on what came before. To encourage growth, you must understand what came before.
Featuring choir, orchestral strings and woodwinds, piano, harp, wind chimes, and glockenspiel.
Events occur – time passes. What happened still happened, yet enough stillness gives separation. Ideally, this detachment is partial – a boon of timely perspective, allowing appreciation of other things while retaining connection to that which was.
Featuring clarinet.
