This compilation is notable in both its consistency and lack thereof. Its 12 tracks, spanning about 75 minutes, each involve some form of gritty drone, many with shimming or lilting looped structures. But these efforts have their own unique identities that make them all part of a greater whole. Contributors include Grey Frequency, Mario Lino Stancati, JARL, Eraldo Bernocchi, HLER, Hector M. Reis, Lars Bröndum, Joel Gilardini, vÄäristymä, Mombi Yuleman, and Tarme Til Alle.

Each piece was influenced in some fashion by the writings of science fiction author J.G. Ballard. Somewhat ahead of his time, Ballard is labeled with the word "dystopian", as his stories from 50+ years ago broached subjects that have only recently lost most of their taboo nature. He famously wrote, "The advanced societies of the future will not be governed by reason. They will be driven by irrationality, by competing systems of psychopathology." Look around and tell me that has not already happened.

In any event, the music is enjoyable in its subtle quietness, though punctuated by rumblings and spacey themes. There is a solidly retro feel to this set, with the use of field recordings as well as analog buzz and hiss. While the majority of these undertakings might be lumped into the experimental dark ambient bucket, the pair of sound collages from Lars Bröndum stand out as having more in common with the works of Tod Dockstader for example. Other tracks fall at various places on the spectrum between ambient and musique concrete.

Once again, a stellar collection of the weird and unexpected from Zero K, an Unexplained Sounds Group label.

Had the great fortune of seeing Gordon Grdina's Nomad Trio last night at Constellation in Chicago.  This was a wonderful set of a fusion of Tim Berne-like musical adventures with a large dose of Middle Eastern melodies thanks to the Oud's heavy presence. Excellent stuff!

Gordon, who I never heard before is a fantastic guitarist with a full, meaty sound that spends a lot of time on "the low notes" to drive the music forward (until he lets loose and solos with the white-hot intensity of a Bob Fripp circa "Islands" Sailors Tale period). His Oud playing was a very cool addition hurtling the (too short) set into unexpected directions.

Initially, drummer Jim Black was the big draw for me. During this performance he was incredibly powerful, loose and in the pocket all at the same time. He is no stranger to playing in ensembles that have a "Middle Eastern flare".  I'm specifically thinking of Pachora here although that had more of a Horn presence.

Matt Mitchell on piano rounded out the trio adding an additional layer of top-end madness to this incendiary trio. While mostly staying in "manic mode" he did occasionally bring it down a few thousand notches with some beautiful (improved?) introductions.  The alchemy of acoustic Piano within this lineup of electric Guitar and Oud (with no Bass) yielded a very dense, but at the same time, a very open feel to the sounds. If you can catch them in your part of the world, do so!!!

In addition to the Nomad Trio, the evening's headliner was Harriet Tubman and, like their Big Ears set I left the show with somewhat mixed feelings.

The sound at Constellation was excellent and that made a big difference in things. I don't know if it was a function of the (in my opinion), the poor acoustic properties of the venue they played at BE's or, a live sound guy who had a love affair with subsonic noise but, at least tonight there were none of those overdriven standing bass waves smothering everything within sight. If I wanted to see that, I would just go see Sunn O))).

Melvin Gibb's playing was still loud, intense and at times fuzz heavy (make no mistake…that is a feature, not a bug) but at least it didn't obliterate Brandon Ross's guitar playing. The mix last night was pretty much perfect.

As far as the music…well, I still think that their tunes meandered a little too much, sometimes without a hint of direction or resolution…as if the music was searching for something but never finding it, but instead, just ending and me thinking to myself…"well, ok…is that it?"

But, on the other hand, because of the much-improved sound I was able to better appreciate their overall spiritual power jazz trio vibe that was smashed down into a muddy mess at Big Ears. I love Brandon Ross's playing and last night I finally got to actually hear him. He was playing some truly beautiful melodies.  This might go without saying, but please check out Henry Threadgill's 1993 album "To Much Sugar for a Dime" to hear Brandon just slam-dunkin it!!

Gibb's bass playing was devastating (as expected) but he pulled out some great solos using a lot of chording and double stops along the way.  J.T. Lewis is a no-nonsense drummer but very tasteful in the context of the music. I guess it's only fair to say that after seeing Jim Black's octopus-like display, a mainly "in the pocket" type drummer would seem "no-nonsense". Regardless, he held it down quite well!

Their last piece was a rousing, Gospel-infused vocal workout. Brandon has a great, soulful voice that succeeded in uplifting the energy quotient (band and audience) and was a very fitting way to end another great night of much-missed live music in Chicago.  Keep it coming!

(Once again, thanks to Larry Blatecky for photos!)

Mike Eisenberg
meisenberg@hotmail.com
Twitter: @bigaudio999

Here is where I post, at a frequency of about once a week, a list of the new music that has caught my attention that week. All of the releases listed below I've heard for the first time this week and come recommended.

Amirtha Kidambi & Luke Stewart – Zenith/Nadir (2022)
Odd Circus – DEUS (2022)
Doolhof – Doolhof (2020)
Den Sorte Død – Undergangen (2019)
Korekyojinn – Mesopotamia (2021)
Joanna Mattrey – Veiled (2020)

Source: Cafe OTO.

FRIDAY 1 JULY 2022, 7PM
GET DOWN, GET IN… A TRIBUTE TO PETER REHBERG:
OREN AMBARCHI / JULIA REIDY (DUO) + THE TRANSCENDENCE ORCHESTRA + POWELL [W/ MICHAEL AMSTAD + MARTE EKNÆS] + SIMON FISHER TURNER – 100% DAVID BOWIE DJ SET

SATURDAY 2 JULY 2022, 7PM
GET DOWN, GET IN… A TRIBUTE TO PETER REHBERG:
KLARA LEWIS & NIK COLK VOID (DUO) + BRUCE GILBERT + MARK FELL & JIM O'ROURKE (REMOTE) + ANA QUIROGA + CONCRETE FENCE (DJ)

SUNDAY 3 JULY 2022, 7PM
GET DOWN, GET IN… A TRIBUTE TO PETER REHBERG:
CM VON HAUSSWOLFF + FARMERS MANUAL + GENERAL MAGIC & TINA FRANK + FINLAY SHAKESPEARE + RUSSELL HASWELL (DJ)

MONDAY 4 JULY 2022, 8PM
LIVING SCORES – WITH ANGHARAD DAVIES + JULIET FRASER + LUKE NICKEL + CASSANDRA MILLER

TUESDAY 5 JULY 2022, 8PM
ALEX WARD ITEMS 6 & 7 – WITH CHARLOTTE KEEFFE / OTTO WILLBERG / ANDREW LISLE / BENEDICT TAYLOR / HANNAH MARSHALL / SARAH GAIL BRAND / RACHEL MUSSON / CATH ROBERTS

6–7 JULY 2022
MORITZ VON OSWALD TRIO (FEAT. HEINRICH KÖBBERLING & LAUREL HALO) – TWO-DAY RESIDENCY

FRIDAY 8 JULY 2022, 8PM
BABA YAGA'S HUT:
BUÑUEL + MXLX

SATURDAY 9 JULY 2022, 8PM
BRIGHT NOWHERE – EDDIE PRÉVOST AT 80:
'MEETING WITH REMARKABLE SAXOPHONISTS' – JASON YARDE, HARRISON SMITH, ALAN WILKINSON, SEYMOUR WRIGHT, RACHEL MUSSON, SUE LYNCH, NAT CATCHPOLE, TOM CHANT PLUS NATHAN MOORE, VERYAN WESTON, MARCIO MATTOS, EDDIE PREVOST

SUNDAY 10 JULY 2022, 2PM
MATINEE:
RUBBISH MUSIC + TOM WHITE

SUNDAY 10 JULY 2022, 8PM
A COLOURFUL STORM AND JOLLY DISCS PRESENTS:
THOMAS BUSH + PRINCESS DIANA OF WALES + ENCHANTE

MONDAY 11 JULY 2022, 8PM
UPSET THE RHYTHM PRESENTS:
RACHEL AGGS + ELECTRIC FIRE

TUESDAY 12 JULY 2022, 8PM
ROSSO POLARE + TERESA COS / LIA MAZZARI (DUO)

WEDNESDAY 13 JULY 2022, 8PM
DISCREPANT & KEROXEN PRESENT:
MUQATA'A + LAGOSS + ONDNESS

14–15 JULY 2022
THE SCORPIOS – TWO-DAY RESIDENCY

SATURDAY 16 JULY 2022, 8PM
BRIGHT NOWHERE – EDDIE PRÉVOST AT 80:
'SOUNDS OF ASSEMBLY' – JENNIFER ALLUM / JOHN BUTCHER / MARJOLAINE CHARBIN / UTE KANNGEISSER / EDDIE PRÉVOST

SUNDAY 17 JULY 2022, 8PM
THE NOISY WOMEN PRESENT

MONDAY 18 JULY 2022, 8PM
STS UCL PRESENTS:
MUSIC FUTURES/SONIC PASTS: IMAGINED INSTRUMENTS, IMAGINED MUSIC

TUESDAY 19 JULY 2022, 8PM
THE WIRE 40: THE TAO OF AMM X THE ESSENCE OF SME

WEDNESDAY 20 JULY 2022, 8PM
THE WIRE 40: APARTMENT HOUSE PLAY AND MUSIC

THURSDAY 21 JULY 2022, 8PM
THE WIRE 40 X BLACK TOP 10: STRINGS, HORNS & VOICES

FRIDAY 22 JULY 2022, 8PM
KATE MOLLESON 'SOUND WITHIN SOUND' BOOK LAUNCH – W/ PEGGY SEEGER (LIVE) + SIWAN RHYS PLAYS GALINA USTVOLSKAYA

SATURDAY 23 JULY 2022, 2PM
MATINEE:
STEVE GUNN

SATURDAY 23 JULY 2022, 8PM
BRIGHT NOWHERE – EDDIE PRÉVOST AT 80:
'WORKSHOP CONCERT'

SUNDAY 24 JULY 2022, 2PM
MATINEE:
RUSSELL WALKER + ASH REID & JACKSON BURTON + IAN MURPHY

SUNDAY 24 JULY 2022, 8PM
BALLADESTE + DINA AMRO BINT MBAREH

MONDAY 25 JULY 2022, 8PM
DISTRACTFOLD

TUESDAY 26 JULY 2022, 8PM
SAFA + MARIAM REZAEI & ALYA AL-SULTANI + YAMEN MEKDAD

WEDNESDAY 27 JULY 2022, 8PM
HEADWAY EAST LONDON + CAFE OTO PRESENT:
PAT THOMAS / SAMI FITZ / HEADWAY EAST LONDON – PERFORMANCE & OPEN WORKSHOP

THURSDAY 28 JULY 2022, 8PM
KATZ MULK + HANNAH ELLUL / REBECCA WILCOX (DUO) + OTTO WILLBERG (SOLO)

SATURDAY 30 JULY 2022, 8PM
BRIGHT NOWHERE – EDDIE PRÉVOST AT 80:
AMM WITH KEITH ROWE, JOHN TILBURY AND EDDIE PRÉVOST

SUNDAY 31 JULY 2022, 8PM
FIELDNOTES:
SLOW COMPRESSION

Source: Gapplegate.

The Living Earth Show and Danny Clay, Music for Hard Times

Pathos Trio, When Dark Sounds Collide, New Music for Percussion and Piano

The Sonic Arts Ensemble, Live from the Multiverse, Collective Improvisations in A Modern Classical Zone

Source: Jazz Album Reviews.

Anthropods
Anthropods

Keyboard Studies
Terry Riley

The Steps That Resonate
Martin Küchen, Agustí Fernandez, Zlatko Kaučič

Source: Now Is.

Monday, June 27

Beat Kitchen
2100 W Belmont
773.281.4444
8:00PM
Extraordinary Popular Delusions : Jim Baker, Ed Wilkerson, Brian Sandstrom, Steve Hunt

Tuesday, June 28

Museum of Contemporary Art
220 E Chicago
312.280.2660
5:30PM-8:00PM
Tuesdays on the Terrace
Mike Reed's People, Places & Things

Wednesday, June 29

Constellation
3111 N Western
8:30PM
Natural Information Society : Joshua Abrams, Lisa Alvarado, Mikel Patrick Avery, Josh Berman, Ari Brown, Hamid Drake, Ben Lamar Gay, Nick Mazzarella, Jason Stein, Mai Sugimoto

Thursday, June 30

Comfort Station
2579 N Milwaukee
7:00PM-9:00PM
Comfort Music Presents
Jakob Heinemann Quartet with Ishmael Ali, Molly Jones, Jeff Kimmel
Fieldmates

Constellation
3111 N Western
8:30PM
Chicago Film Archives Media Mixer 2022
Kishino Takagishi, Daniel Knox
Tempestt Hazel, Azita Youssefi
Janelle Dowell, Sen Morimoto

Elastic
3429 W Diversey, #208
773.772.3616
8:30PM-11:30PM
Gerrit Hatcher, Peter Maunu, Julian Kirshner
Ed Wilkerson, Mabel Kwan, Jason Roebke, Marcus Evans

Hard Rubber Orchestra is an 18-piece big band that has been around for over 30 years, and Iguana is their first release since 2014. Consisting of five drummers / percussionists, bass, guitar, pianos, synth, cello, violin, voice, and a large horn section, the group produces a thick, dense sound with layered complexity.

The most striking piece on this album is the opener, Source Code. Composer / arranger Harry Stafylakis stated, "This piece is perhaps one of my most explicit attempts at writing contemporary progressive metal music for a non-metal ensemble." Indeed, the heavy guitar riffs and intricate rhythms are compelling enough, but when combined with contrapuntal lines from the horn and string sections, Stafylakis takes it over the top. And, the track manages to avoid cliches of sounding like metal influences mere grafted on another style – the heaviness here is deeply integrated and a fundamental part of the composition.

Taking things in a different direction, James O'Callaghan's a bilateral, a symmetry appears to be a pastiche of samples from a subset of the musicians. The result comes across as a blending of musique concrete and techno, with strong beats and rapid jump cuts. In further contrast, we have Peggy Lee's Dissolver, which begins with an intense and mildly chaotic staccato horn pattern accompanied by a strained electric guitar theme. This evolves into a more conventional set of horn-driven structures.

The final three pieces are from group leader John Korsrud. The title track is a bouncy effort that is actually a reworking of a tune from 1992, with ascending melodic patterns and multiple percussionists. Eventually, its playful nature is somewhat tempered by an intense guitar / horn crescendo. From the Earth is best categorized as chamber music with a pastoral and wistful tone, played on just piano and horns. Rounding things out is Force Majeure, Korsrud's first composition after the beginning of the pandemic. It is a tension-filled offering, again with multiple percussionists but also thick lines that merge and split apart into controlled disorder.

Source: JazzTrail.

WILL BERNARD – POND LIFE

MASAYO KOKETSU – FUKIYA

MATTHEW SHIPP TRIO – WORLD CONSTRUCT

Source: A Closer Listen.

Ukrainian Field Notes VIII

k. burwash ~ Holding Air

Conrad Praetzel ~ Adventures Into Somethingness

Hatis Noit ~ Aura

Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch ~ Ravage