Jungle Debris - Jungle Debris (October 2021 Ma Records)

The music of Jungle Debris ranges from playful songs and drone minimalism, through dissonant lyricism, to dense free improvisations and intensely urgent expressions. Their compositions are interwoven with concepts of free improvisation. The building of form and structure is replaced by its subsequent deconstruction. They are making effort to go beyond the frames set by genre and instrument.

1. Mini 1 02:48

2. Mango 06:24

3. Last Yew 08:48

4. Mini 2 01:23

5. Děcka, ticho! 06:54

6. Velrybí klec 09:18

7. V bublině 05:08

8. Gdáck 03:55

9. 1511 08:09

10. I'vory 10:44

Martin Debřička - tenor saxophone

Luan Gonçalves - bass

Jakub Švejnar - drums

Guests:

Michal Wroblewski - alto saxophone (8)

Jenda Pudlák - grand piano (6), electric piano (5)

Jan Bára - electric guitar (3)

Compositions by Martin Debřička, except for 1 and 9 by Luan Gonçalves

Recorded at Divadlo 29 in Pardubice on February 23 –28 2021 as part of

the Jazzconnexion residency project.

Sound Engineer: Mirek Škop

Mental support during the recording: Michal Wroblewski

Mix: Václav Šafka at studio Rozsochanec

Master: Marek Buranovský

Cover art: Jana Nunčič

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Ondřej Galuška, Ian Mikyska, Radim Hanousek, Vojta Drnek - MiniMa Vol​.​1 (May 2021 Ma Records)

MiniMa is a new edition by Ma Records, introducing four new albums. Although the music is aesthetically diverse, we believe all the albums are linked by a common element, which we have called MiniMa. Each of the records demands a slightly different type of listening and concentration. Each of the artists approaches the flow of time differently. We strongly believe listening to the entire MiniMa edition will be a complex aesthetic experience.

Ligeticitations are first of all “citations” of recordings of works by the composer György Ligeti. Excerpts of various length are taken out of the original music and subjected to a kind of “close reading”. At the same time, a certain “licitation” is taking place: a negotiation regarding the musicality of individual elements – themes, sounds – which were not meant to appear on their own.

Strings, Water, Leaves, Air is a collection of real-time compositions, each of which was created under the influence of a different kind of tea. They are an invitation to stillness; to perceive their gentle nuances of taste and sound. By layering several steepings and instruments, a new blend is created – between improvisation and structure, time and timelessness, sound, taste, and fragrance.

Escape wass created by layering the home recordings of the participating musicians (ESCAPE I) and by mixing the Portuguese field recordings with a studio quartet of musicians responding independently of each other to different sonic materials (ESCAPE II). The result is a collage of improvised and composed music, field recordings, and electronics.

Lullabies are songs that ring out through our souls before we fall asleep. That is, when our souls are at their most open, most sensitive, most vulnerable. The short but intense EP Lullabies presents the unexplored sonic possibilities of the accordion, developed from a close connection between the player and the instrument. 

1. Ondřej Galuška - Ligeticitations 1: Intro 02:30

2. Ondřej Galuška - Ligeticitations 2: Chamber Concerto 05:43

3. Ondřej Galuška - Ligeticitations 3: Étude 2 - Corde à vide 03:00

4. Ondřej Galuška - Ligeticitations 4: 6 Bagatelles for Wind Quintet 04:44

5. Ondřej Galuška - Ligeticitations 5: String Quartet No. 1 03:48

6. Ondřej Galuška - Ligeticitations 6: Chamber Concerto: Calmo, sostenuto 05:10

7. Ondřej Galuška - Ligeticitations 7: Poème symphonique 04:29

8. Ondřej Galuška - Ligeticitations 8: Lux Aeterna 04:52

9. Ondřej Galuška - Ligeticitations 9: Outro 02:09

10. Ian Mikyska - 1. Eight-Year Liu Bao – 4. 1. 2021 05:58

11. Ian Mikyska - 2. Shui Xien Wuyi Oolong – 17. 12. 2020 06:36

12. Ian Mikyska - 3. Qilan Wuyi Oolong – 26. 12. 2020 05:02

13. Ian Mikyska - 4. Millenium Liu Bao – 18. 12. 2020 05:18

14. Ian Mikyska - 5. Lang He Shu Pu-erh – 30. 12. 2020 06:23

15. Ian Mikyska - 6. Mengku Gushu Sheng Pu-erh – 20. 12. 2020 04:02

16. Ian Mikyska - 7. Golden Tippy King Shu Pu-erh – 3. 1. 2021 08:24

17. Ian Mikyska - 8. Ali Shan Oolong – 17. 12. 2020 06:38

18. Radim Hanousek - ESCAPE I (acoustic) 09:26

19. Radim Hanousek - ESCAPE II (mix) 27:00

20. Vojta Drnek - 1. Doss Down 03:54

21. Vojta Drnek - 2. Insomnion 02:42

22. Vojta Drnek - 3. Stars Fading 04:20

23. Vojta Drnek - 4. The Lullaby Of Birdland 03:48

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Radim Hanousek - MiniMa: ESCAPE (May 2021 Ma Records)

During my study stay in Portugal, I recorded dozens of hours of field recordings in Lisbon, Peniche, and Sintra, and prepared a simple graphic score inspired by the phases of the waves of the sea in relation to wind speed. During the covid isolation time, I asked six Czech and five Portuguese musicians to interpret this score. They contributed their personalities and creativity without any idea of the whole. I processed the materials I acquired in two ways: by layering the home recordings of the participating musicians (ESCAPE I) and by mixing the Portuguese field recordings with a studio quartet of musicians responding independently of each other to different sonic materials (ESCAPE II). The result is a collage of improvised and composed music, field recordings, and electronic. -RH-

1. ESCAPE I (acoustic) 09:26

2. ESCAPE II (mix) 27:00

ESCAPE I

Helena Espvall – violoncello

Maria do Mar – violin

Anežka Nováková – marimba 

Žaneta Vítová – accordion

Jana Vondrů – voice, harmonium

Hernâni Faustino – double bass

Peter Korman – double bass

Matej Olah – guitar

Martin Opršál – marimba, marimbula, kalimba, Tibetan bowls, timpani, cymbals

Guilherme Rodrigues – violoncello

Alvaro Rosso – double bass

ESCAPE II

Jana Vondrů – voice, harmonium

Hernâni Faustino – double bass

Radim Hanousek – bass clarinet, soprano saxophone

Martin Opršál – marimba, marimbula, kalimba, Tibetan bowls, timpani, cymbals

project realised at Radim Hanousek’s home studio (12/2020 – 03/2021) with field recordings

made in Lisabon, Peniche, and Sintra (11/2020)

final mixing and mastering – Tomáš Vtípil (4/2021)

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Ondřej Galuška - MiniMa: Ligeticitations (May 2021 Ma Records)

As the title suggests, Ligeticitations are first of all “citations” of recordings of composer György Ligeti’s works. Excerpts of various length are taken out of the original music and subjected to a kind of “close reading”. At the same time, a certain “licitation” is taking place: a negotiation regarding the musicality of individual elements – themes, sounds – which were not meant to appear on their own. Is a decontextualized quotation of music still musical? Can these elements form a new composition? Do they somehow contain other possibilities of continuation and connection? To what extent is this a random process and to what extent is it limited by the possibilities of the original composition?

What is at play in these licitations, each of which employs a different strategy, are not only the compositional implications and possibilities of the elements. There is also a dialogue between the style and soundscape of the original pieces (determined by the use of classical instruments recorded at a certain time in a certain space) and the techniques of current music production. The use of studio effects in manipulating the space and time of sound, its reverb, pitch, timbre and morphology adds another layer of expression absent in the original material.

Samples in Ligeticitations are not simply rearranged, looped or juxtaposed. Rather they are layered to form a kind of “meta-composition” which compresses a longer composition into a shorter time span or many compositions into a single piece. (Prof. Jo Ellen Jacobs claims that if musical composition is the structuring of time, then the repetitiveness of popular music is literally a waste of time. Ironically, one can save even more time thanks to studio techniques used by popular music.)

Ligeticitations are mostly assembled “manually”, i.e. without the use of a tempo grid. Although the editing still takes place on a computer, the result is much more organic as is the case when working with tape and scissors. The compositions were in part created for the modern dance performance S dovolením! by the SPOLK dance troupe. The show should premiere in the Ponec theatre in Prague in July 2021. 

1. Ligeticitations 1: Intro 02:30

2. Ligeticitations 2: Chamber Concerto 05:43

3. Ligeticitations 3: Étude 2: Cordes à vide 03:00

4. Ligeticitations 4: 6 Bagatelles for Wind Quintet 04:44

5. Ligeticitations 5: String Quartet No. 1 03:48

6. Ligeticitations 6: Chamber Concerto: Calmo, sostenuto 05:10

7. Ligeticitations 7: Poème symphonique 04:29

8. Ligeticitations 8: Lux Aeterna 04:52

9. Ligeticitations 9: Outro 02:09

Author: Ondřej Galuška

Mastering: Ondřej Ježek

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Ian Mikyska - MiniMa: Strings, Water, Leaves, Air (May 2021 Ma Records)

Since its early days in Ancient China, tea – the second most consumed beverage in the world, after water – has been valued for its potential for invigoration, medicinal use, and meditation. Its link to the Taoist and Buddhist contemplative traditions is perhaps best captured by the phrase “Zen and tea – one flavour”.

Each piece on this album was created as a multi-track improvisation during a long session with multiple infusions of one kind of tea. Palimpsests; meditations; compositions in layers of time. They are homages, in a way, but also invitations – to sit, to brew a pot of tea, and to listen.

1. Eight-Year Liu Bao – 4. 1. 2021 05:58

2. Shui Xien Wuyi Oolong – 17. 12. 2020 06:36

3. Qilan Wuyi Oolong – 26. 12. 2020 05:02

4. Millenium Liu Bao – 18. 12. 2020 05:18

5. Lang He Shu Pu-erh – 30. 12. 2020 06:23

6. Mengku Gushu Sheng Pu-erh – 20. 12. 2020 04:02

7. Golden Tippy King Shu Pu-erh – 3. 1. 2021 08:24

8. Ali Shan Oolong – 17. 12. 2020 06:38

Mastering: Ladislav Železný (ldn.ferrum.name)

Music, recording, mixing: Ian Mikyska (www.ianmikyska.com)

Instruments: baritone electric guitar (1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8) | bass clarinet (2, 5, 7, 8) | classical guitar (3, 4) | guqin (1, 5) | viola da gamba (1, 4) | bass recorder (5, 6) | great bass recorder (7) | banjo with ebow (7)

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Vojta Drnek - MiniMa: Lullabies (May 2021 Ma Records)

“Lullabies are songs that ring out through our souls before we fall asleep. That is, when our souls are the most open, the most sensitive, the most vulnerable. It’s a time when our minds are resting, wandering through different dream worlds, being tired and at the same time full of unsettling creative energy, unable to stop thinking. When I went to record this music I tried to embrace this state of mind and express it in my playing.”

Short, but intense EP “Lullabies” presents the unexplored sonic possibilities of an accordion, developed from close connection of the player and the instrument. Everything you can hear was recorded live, on one take, without any overdubbing or electronic modification of the sound.

1. Doss Down 03:54

2. Insomnion 02:42

3. Stars Fading 04:20

4. The Lullaby Of Birdland 03:48

Recorded, mixed and mastered by Pavel Kunčar at recording studio of Orli street Theater, Brno, Czech Republic

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