Mike Pride - I Hate Work (November 19, 2021 RareNoise Records)

Mike Pride was not a fan of legendary punk band MDC – a straight-edge hardcore devotee, you could even say he had a chip on his shoulder about this more mainstream, less disciplined form of punk – when he suddenly found himself on a tour of Europe as their drummer sometime in the early ‘00s. Twenty years later, now a longtime fan and friend of the band, Pride unexpectedly turns to the band’s raucous catalogue as a source for jazz standards on his warped new album, I Hate Work.

I Hate Work draws its material exclusively from MDC’s iconic 1982 debut album, Millions of Dead Cops. Despite his long-established passion for bringing the extremes of hardcore and heavy rock into the jazz and improvised music realm (and vice versa), Pride instead does the unexpected, transforming MDC’s pummeling punk into swinging acoustic jazz.

For the occasion he enlisted pianist Jamie Saft and bassist Bradley Christopher Jones, both master re-interpreters of a wide swath of pop and rock music, as well as special guests Mick Barr (Ocrilim, Krallice), JG Thirlwell (Foetus), Sam Mickens (The Dead Science) and MDC frontman Dave Dictor.

“I literally didn't know anybody when I moved to New York in 2000,” Pride recalls. “So to go from that to joining MDC, not realizing their history and how famous they were in certain aspects of the music world, was really eye opening. And doing 90-day tours without a day off was a serious ass kicking. In hindsight it was a great experience. I would never do it again, but it was a great experience.”

Pride quit the band in December 2004 after two years of touring and recording the album Magnus Dominus Corpus, though he’s maintained a close relationship with both vocalist Dave Dictor and guitarist/songwriter Ron Posner. Not long after, he began incorporating his experiences in the punk realm and his hardcore roots into “jazz” projects like his bands From Bacteria To Boys and Pulverize the Sound.

“Those projects really reflected my idea of the popular music I was into,” Pride explains. “I was getting to a phase of my musical output where I was trying to reflect the music that surrounds me rather than just following my id. I wanted to take tunes from my musical history and started thinking about ways to incorporate more aggressive music in the same way that certain pop tunes became jazz standards. That led me to think about trying to do something with these MDC tunes.”

The strangeness of the songs on the original Millions of Dead Cops was a product of its unusual recording, a marathon, speed-fueled session in which the entire album was recorded without a break. When he landed the gig two decades later, Pride had to transcribe every dropped beat and missed eighth note; he ended up reading from sheet music for his first year with the band, a definite curiosity in the largely untrained punk world that endeared him to his older bandmates.

That attention to detail paid off when it came time to revisit the songs for I Hate Work. “There’s a lot of meat on the bones of some of these tunes,” Pride says. “Originally I thought we could just play them really fast and blasty, which is probably what people would expect of me anyway. Then I decided it would be even cooler to slow them way down, figure out some chord progressions other than the usual I-IV-V stuff, and reimagine the melodies Dave might sing if everything wasn't happening at a breakneck tempo and he was able to really sing.”

That approach is in direct opposition to Pride’s actual tenure in the band, when the goal was to attempt the fastest possible version of each song on stage. The record came one night in Amsterdam, when this album’s title track, “I Hate Work,” clocked in at a blistering 24 seconds, nearly half the previous record. For its album-closing rendition on the present recording, the song is stretched into an 8-minute nightclub crooner, with Dictor bizarrely channeling his inner Sinatra (albeit Ol’ Blue Eyes in his present condition, disinterred and martini thrust into his decomposed clutches).

I Hate Work opens with Pride’s chattering cymbal patterns setting the pace for a finger-snapping “Corporate Death Burger,” with Saft eloquently exploring the unearthed melody in much the same way as the eclectic pianist has songs by the likes of ZZ Top or Bob Dylan in his own projects. The serrated shredding of Mick Barr enters as the tune transitions into “Business on Parade,” where the guitarist plays like a death metal Sonny Sharrock.

Barr’s presence on the album was a must, as the guitarist, along with Mr. Bungle bassist Trevor Dunn, was integral in encouraging Pride to join MDC in the first place. He returns for the funhouse mirror cabaret take on “Greedy and Pathetic,” featuring Pride’s frequent collaborator Sam Mickens on vocals. The drummer played with and served as musical director for the ex-Dead Silence singer’s Ecstatic Showband and Revue.

Foetus mastermind JG Thirlwell contributes his rasping purr to “America’s So Straight,” sounding like a showtune for a musical not only off Broadway but deep below it, in some subterranean lair. Saft switches to a calliope-like mellotron for the lilting “Dick for Brains,” trading buoyantly with Pride in the solo section. “Dead Cops” begins with a precision intro before settling into a lurching swing, with Saft essaying another dazzling turn at the keys.

In keeping with a series of threes marking the project – a 3-sided LP, a trio of guest vocalists – Pride also contributes three original compositions to the album, which take the ideas he derived from exploring and expanding the MDC songs into wholly different territory. He plays whispering brushes on the dirge-like “And So You Know,” and propels “Annie Olivia,” named for his young daughter,” with a methodical rumble. Jones’ vehement bowed bass and Saft’s droning mellotron combine in the ominous melody of “She Wants a Partner With a Lust for Life,” dedicated to Pride’s wife.

Family is central to Pride’s philosophy, perhaps helped by his tenure in MDC. I Hate Work is dedicated to bassist Mikey Donaldson, who died of an overdose at the age of 46. “It’s important to me that my family isn’t subjected to a terrible home life because their dad is a musician,” he says. “So I try to always give them some love on the albums.”

As Dictor’s memorable vocal turn implies, the members of MDC have given the project their blessing, which also was important to Pride. “They're very excited about it,” says the drummer, whose nickname during his time in the band was Baby Mongo. “With the generational divide, they definitely feel like proud uncles in some way. I hope it comes off respectful and sheds some light on their music, which is much more interesting than I ever would have assumed previous to joining the band.” 

1. Corporate Death Burger

2. Business On Parade (feat. Mick Barr)

3. America's So Straight (feat. JG Thirlwell)

4. And So You Know

5. Dick For Brains

6. Greedy And Pathetic (feat. Sam Mickens and Mick Barr)

7. Annie Olivia

8. Dead Cops

9. She Wants A Partner With A Lust For Life

10. I Hate Work (feat. Dave Dictor)

Mike Pride – drums, percussion & keyboards

Jamie Saft – piano, mellotron

Brad Jones – double bass

w.

JG Thirlwell – vocals on 3

Sam Mickens – vocals on 6

Dave Dictor – vocals on 10

Mick Barr – electric guitar on 2, electric 12 string banjo on 6

Music composed by Mike Pride

Music Published by RareNoisePublishing (PRS)

Songs 1,2,3,5,6,8,10 are loosely based on the mdc songs originally written by Ron Power (1,2,3,6,8,10), Dave Dictor (2,5,10) and Al Schultz (10), used with permission.

Recommended Supplemental listening MDC – Millions of Dead Cops

Recorded and mixed by Jamie Saft at Potterville International Sound

JG Thirlwell recorded at Self Immolation Studios Brooklyn, engineered by JG Thirlwell

Dave Dictor recorded by Mike Lastra at Lastra Studios

Sam Mickens recorded by Sam Mickens

Mastered by Christian Castagno

Design by Scarecrowoven

Photography & Painting by Mike Pride

Produced by Mike Pride

PREORDER

Red Kite - Apophenian Bliss (November 19, 2021 RareNoise Records)

Distilling order from a crushing whirlwind of chaos has been the stock in trade for Red Kite since the Norwegian jazz-rock supergroup joined forces in 2014. Apophenian Bliss, the much-anticipated follow-up to the quartet’s powerhouse 2019 self-titled debut references the tendency in the human brain to find patterns and connections even when none actually exist. While it may be a stretch to call Red Kite’s blistering alchemy of surging psychedelia, steamroller rock and fringe-dwelling jazz “benign,” it’s at least a far less harmful application of the term than the conspiracy theories warping minds across the globe.

Still, corralling the heady pandemonium of heavy prog, free jazz, combustible fusion and avant-metal into a cohesive sound is one thing; bringing that music to life in the face of the real-world chaos of a global pandemic is something else entirely.

“I guess the story for us, as for everybody, is the pandemic,” explains drummer Torstein Lofthus. “We left to go on our first proper tour on the 11th of March, 2020. We only managed to play the show that night, and then the country shut down the very next day. So: change of plan!”

Once the quartet – Lofthus, guitarist Even Helte Hermansen, bassist Trond Frønes and keyboardist Bernt André Moen – managed to regroup from the unexpected disruption heard round the world, they decided to regroup in a recording studio in Halden, Norway and vent their frustrations the best way they knew how: by generating a throttling, visceral collection of new sounds. Hermansen set to writing a collection of new material fit to spark the combustible alchemy that the band had achieved on their acclaimed RareNoise debut.

Covid conditions meant that the band couldn’t workshop material live as they had in the past. But given their combined experience – Red Kite brings together members of some of Norway’s best-known prog outfits, including Elephant9, Shining, Bushman’s Revenge and Grand General – and the chemistry they’ve forged together over the last seven years, they were able to conjure their adrenalized collective energy even under these less than ideal conditions.

“I started writing, trying to come up with stuff the others wouldn't think sucked too much,” describes Hermansen of the process. “We managed to rehearse briefly, when it was possible, and got rid of some of the stuff that did. It was just one or two get-togethers in early autumn, share a few war stories, a few laughs, settle on a couple of grooves, and that was that. It was still touch and go whether we all would be able to go into the studio until the last moment, corona-wise, but we made it to Halden for two days, just.”

“Luckily we have a strong chemistry both on a personal and musical level,” adds Lofthus. “Red Kite’s music leans heavily on improvisation and the band fuses our individual voices into a larger whole.”

While the band is quick to disavow any over-arching theme to their music (“Naming any kind of music without lyrics is kind of absurd in itself,” insists Hermansen), the title of Apophenian Bliss at least reflects the worrying prevalence of conspiracies and misinformation in modern social and political discourse. Hermansen merely drew the phrase from a list of words and phrases he steadily compiles for just such purposes, but the addition of “bliss” certainly suggests that other woefully blissful state of humanity: ignorance.

“People seem to see patterns everywhere,” the guitarist says. “Some might see the patterns they want to see. In a hostile world, who can blame them? Two people might even see the same thing as evidence of the exact opposite. Now, I don't subscribe to many conspiracies myself, but I'm kind of envious of those who do. It must be nice to feel confident that you know how the world really works, and make sense of it all.”

The album explodes into existence with Lofthus’ pummeling intro to “Astrology (The One True Science),” which proceeds with reckless abandon and an angular groove propelled by Hermansen’s paint-peeling guitar pyrotechnics. Frønes’ muscular bass slithers at a determined, menacing pace on “This Immortal Coil,” a seductive blend of doom metal and electric Miles cool cloaked in Moen’s soulful Rhodes. The bliss is implied on “Apophenia,” a mesmerizing, free-floating piece of psych atmospherics.

Lofthus again seizes the reins to hurl the listener into the vertiginous “Red Kite Flight,” followed by the album’s sole non-original, “Morrasol” (which translates to “Morning Sun”). This absorbing rush of psych-jazz, marinated in the third-eye spiritualism of Pharoah Sanders and Alice Coltrane, was borrowed from saxophonist/composer Gisle Johansen, a friend of Hermansen’s who the guitarist says, “loves death metal and Coltrane at the same time, just like us.” The album draws to an ethereal close with the spacious “Sleep Tight,” with Hermansen and Frønes weaving unison lines over Moen’s coronal drones and Lofthus’ pointillist interjections.

Red Kite’s music bristles with the collision of disparate extreme musics, making it tempting to find a kind of mission statement in the title of Apophenian Bliss. Music, after all, is an abstraction – could it be the most sublime example of our search for pattern and meaning in the background noise of existence?

“I'm not sure that it does,” Hermansen shrugs, “but I think it's interesting none the less. Apophenia means seeing patterns that aren't really there - a kind of delusion. Our brains are programmed to look for patterns, but that doesn't necessarily mean that there always are any. Whereas music is all about patterns, maths, and laws of nature - things that can be measured. At the same time music is also human emotions. We all have our individual musical experiences, but all are equally valid and true. That's the beauty of music: it can be observed objectively, and at the same time it can't.” 

1. Astrology (The One True Science)

2. This Immortal Coil

3. Apophenia

4. Red Kite Flight

5. Morrasol

6. Sleep Tight

7. Feet Don't Fail Me Now (Bonus Track)

Even Helte Hermansen – Baritone guitar

Trond Frønes - Bass

Bernt André Moen – Rhodes

Torstein Lofthus – Drums and percussion

All compositions by Even Helte Hermansen (Tono), except Morrasol by Gisle Johansen (Tono)

Recorded and mixed by Dag Erik Johansen at Athletic Sound, Halden, Norway

Mastered by Espen Høydalsvik at Oslo Fuzz, Norway

Artwork and design by Per Spjøtvold

Supported by Sørnorsk Jazzcenter

Produced by Red Kite

Executive Producer for RareNoiseRecords: Giacomo Bruzzo

PREORDER

Anguish - Anguish (RareNoise Records 2018)

The dark, impossibly intense dirges, industrial noise onslaughts and banshee-like free jazz wailing heard throughout Anguish could be an imposing soundtrack for a dystopian, post-apocalyptic future. This powerhouse, inter-generational offering and RareNoise Records debut brings together an unlikely gathering of members of the New Jersey-based experimental hip-hop group Dälek (electronic musician and vocalist Will Brooks with guitarist-keyboardist Mike Mare), the Swedish free jazz group Fire! Orchestra (tenor saxophonist Mats Gustafsson, drummer Andreas Werliin) and the classic ‘70s German krautrock band Faust (keyboardist and 68-year-old founding member Hans Joachim Irmler). 

Recorded in just three days during the summer of 2018 at Faust’s Scheer Studios, located in a former factory perched on the banks of the Danube in Swabia, Germany, near the Swiss border, Anguish stands as a hard-hitting manifesto for the next evolution in the hip-hop legacy. 

From the droning opener, “Vibrations,” fueled by ambient loops and sparked by Gustafsson’s cathartic, blast furnace intensity on tenor, to the slamming, industrial-tinged closer, “Wümme,” Anguish is an iron fist upside the head of complacency. “Cyclical Physical” is the sound of rage with an in-your-face rap from Brooks while the moody title track features a jazzy backdrop that has Gustafsson nimbly shadowing Brooks’ pointed spoken word rap. “Gut Feeling” is a hard-edged noise rock / metal romp with Brooks shouting the combative refrain: “Fuck your frail feelings!” 

The instrumental interlude “Brushes for Leah” is a dark, imposing soundtrack underscored by drummer Werliin’s subtle brushwork while Brooks spits thought-provoking verse with flowing aplomb on the ambient backdrop of “Healer’s Lament.” 

Gustafsson erupts with caustic abandon on the throbbing instrumental “DEW” then blows sinuous lines around Brooks’ vitriolic rap on the low-end industrial groover “A Maze of Decay.” Werliin's thunderous backbeat drives the kinetic closer “Wümme,” a krautrock flavored instrumental named for the rural German town where Faust formed in 1971. 

Will Brooks (dälek) - vocals, SAMPLR, Eventide/Elektron effect pedals, 1 note on MOOG rogue, 3 notes on grand piano

Mats Gustafsson - tenor saxophone,

live - electronics, 3 notes on grand piano

Hans Joachim Irmler - synthesizers, vocals

Mike Mare - guitar, electronics, synthesizer

Andreas Werliin - drums, percussion

Tracklisting:

Vibrations

Cyclical/Physical

Anguish

Gut Feeling

Brushes for Leah

Healer’s Lament

DEW

A Maze of Decay 

Wümme 

Recorded and mixed by Johannes Buff

Assistant Engineer: Jan Wagner

Recorded at Faust Studios

Scheer, Germany July 14 - 19, 2018

Mixed at END NOTE

Bayonne, Basque Country July 23 - 27, 2018

Spiritual counsel - LENNI

Mastered by Michael Fossenkemper

Mastered at Turtle Tone Studios, NYC, NY

All songs composed by Will Brooks, Mats Gustafsson, Hans Joachim Irmler, Mike Mare, and Andreas Werliin

All song published by Mayan Ruins Music (SESAC), Mike Mare Music (BMI),

All lyrics by Will Brooks, Mayan Ruins Music (SESAC) except “Healer’s Lament” by Kamau Daáood.

Executive Producer for RareNoiseRecords:

Giacomo Bruzzo

Design & Layout by Paul Romano

Sculpture by Darla Jackson

Eraldo Bernocchi - Like A Fire That Consumes All Before It (RareNoise Records 2018)

RareNoiseRecords co-founder, multi-instrumentalist and composer Eraldo Bernocchi has created an evocative soundtrack for a new documentary film on American artist Cy Twombly. Imagined and produced by Michele Buongiorno, written and directed by Andrea Bettinetti, Cy Dear was presented privately at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City in the Spring of 2018 and will have its festival premiere this Fall. Bernocchi’s soundtrack is suitably atmospheric, underscoring the life and times of the American painter-sculptor-photographer, whose work influenced a generation of younger artists including Jean-Michel Basquiat, Anselm Kiefer, Francesco Clemente and Julian Schnabel. 

“I had total freedom from the director and the production,” says the Italian guitarist and electronics maestro on creating the soundtrack to Cy Dear. “We worked as a team in order to create the best film possible in total freedom. Nobody ever asked me to change anything as my ideas were reflecting in a natural way those of the director and production. Each one of us melded and worked as if we had known each other forever. The end results are an incredible documentary and this record.” 

While the atmospheric soundtrack to Cy Dear may recall Bernocchi’s previous ambient recording on RareNoise, 2005’s Winter Garden, his very personal statement on Like a Fire That Consumes All Before It casts its own compelling spell on listeners. “This work bears my signature,” he says. “It’s a side of me that’s always been there. Note after note, take after take, I became part of this story. I brought my memories.” 

Though 80% of the sounds heard on Like a Fire That Consumes All Before It were generated by guitars, Bernocchi’s main instrument, they are adroitly disguised by the composer through deft use of echo, delay and reverb. “I used guitars mainly as a tool and when I really wanted to ‘sing’ a theme,” he says. “I had this guitar theme that was ringing in my ears and I started to sing harmonies that were dragging the piece deeper and deeper into the memory waters, where everything starts to blur and only emotions are floating. So I approached the guitars like an orchestra, layering part after part, singing aloud what I was hearing in my head and heart. And when the music was emotionally taking over, I chose and selected those parts pushing on the edge of feelings.”

He cites the track “Like I Wasn’t There” as an example of using his sound processing techniques in the studio to create evocative feelings in the listener. “This is one of the most touching pieces of the soundtrack,” Bernocchi explains. “It’s about the whole relationship between father and son, the absence, the omnipresent art, the emptiness of rooms and palaces, the memories that slowly creep one after another until they build a story that is true but its communication form has been shaped by time and events.” 

Bernocchi adds that none of the tracks on Like a Fire That Consumes All Before It were named for individual Twombly paintings. “The titles are related to moments in the film, to my personal experience/story, to people that were important for Cy Twombly and to words or phrases they said in the movie. This work had actually started as a soundtrack but in the end it became a story — his story, their story, my story. There are a lot of personal things in the music, mostly private. There’s a deep sense of memory in the documentary, a sense of time gone, brief meetings. Scene after scene, I realized there was a lot of my personal path too.” 

As for the album title, the composer says, “It’s such a strong and meaningful phrase, perfectly describing my approach to life since I was a kid — the passion, the flame that in the end often consumes everything around yourself. Twombly painted it as part of the Iliad series but when I saw the paintings and the words I immediately thought it was perfect for the record.” 

The final track on the collection, “Near By Distance,” is the only one that generates a steady, highly charged rhythmic pulse. “It’s dedicated to my friend (Swiss-born Italian trance music producer and DJ) Robert Miles, who passed away last year,” says Bernocchi. “The pulse just happened by chance. I liked it and I kept it. The piano theme reminded me of Robert’s melodies. I often think that I’d love to play it for him.” 

Bernocchi’s created his soundtrack over a four-month span of intensive creativity. “I was inspired by the amazing and immortal story of this art giant,” he says of Twombly. “I was also inspired by his incredible paintings, by my memories, and also by the life he lived with Nicola dal Roscio, the adventures they surfed together. And in certain moments on this project I asked myself what Ennio Morricone, my favourite composer ever, would have done on specific tracks. He very likely would have reduced the number of instruments and layers to concentrate on themes and emotions. This is what I did on tracks where you can clearly ear a theme.” 

Being self taught, Bernocchi has evolved his own vocabulary in the studio. It’s an approach based more on emotion than notation. “I know how I want to feel when I listen to a track and the emotions I’d like to live,” he says. “And the challenge on a project like this, where I played all the instruments myself, was to temper all the ideas I was planning to use. I hate overproduced music. Super-layered tracks make me nervous. I trust one note, one single note, a riff. That riff can say more than a whole orchestra. So, I had to keep the ‘other me’ at bay sometimes and be absolutely merciless. Because in the end, Cy Twombly was the protagonist in this story, not me.” 

Eraldo Bernocchi: Guitars, Treated Guitars, Electronics

01 - Meet me where you know

02 - To make things float

03 - From a distance

04 - White

05 - The silver laugh

06 -A child and a pencil

07 - The gold house

08 - Like I wasn’t there

09 - A letter and a place

10 - The never ending pier

11 - 1-10” of happiness

12 - Swirling colours

13 - We had a good time

14 - A crack in time

15 - The space between

16 - Out in the blue

17 - Like I wasn’t there (reprise)

18 - Near by distance

Music from and inspired by the film “Cy Dear”

A documentary film about Cy Twombly

“Near by Distance” dedicated to Robert Miles

“Out in the blue” dedicated to Sally Mann

All music composed, arranged, produced and mixed by Eraldo Bernocchi

Published by RareNoisePublishing (PRS) and Antiphona (SACEM)

Recorded at Transmutations Studios, London

Mastered at Turtletone Studios (NYC) by Mike Fossenkemper

Executive Producer for RareNoiseRecords: Giacomo Bruzzo

Eraldo Bernocchi plays Nude Guitars and thanks Elektron Music Machines.

Cover image: Cy Twombly, "Fifty Days at Iliam (Part V - The Fire That Consumes All Before It)", 1978

© Cy Twombly Foundation, Courtesy of the Nicola Del Roscio Archives

Graphic Design by Petulia Mattioli

Colin Edwin and Lorenzo Feliciati - Twinscapes Vol​.​2: A Modern Approach To The Dancefloor (RareNoise Records 2018)

Bassists Colin Edwin and Lorenzo Feliciati Blend ‘80s Pop and Prog On Twinscapes Vol.2: A Modern Approach To The Dancefloor 

For their second Twinscapes collaboration, bassists Colin Edwin (of Porcupine Tree and Metallic Taste Of Blood) and Lorenzo Feliciati (Naked Truth, Berserk!) address their respective ‘80s pop roots in the context of the same ambient soundscapes, freewheeling improvisations and prog-rock flurries that graced their 2014 self-titled RareNoise Records debut. Picture Soft Cell jamming with King Crimson, Ultravox with EL&P, Depeche Mode with Gentle Giant and you’ve got an idea of what’s happening on Twinscapes Vol.2: A Modern Approach To The Dancefloor.

In exploring dance floor music on Twinscapes 2, multi-instrumentalists Edwin and Feliciati pay homage to some iconic ‘80s bands while also pushing the envelope on that idiom. “As with the first album, there was no conscious decision or discussion to sound a particular way,” says Australian-born Edwin, “but I guess it’s the case that both Lorenzo and I have a connection with having played progressive rock and also that we were both around in the ’80’s, so that shared history has kind of come out on this record. As before, we’ve simply followed our instincts and common ground.” 

The Italian-born Feliciati recalls that, contrary to popular belief, the ‘80s was indeed a fertile period for musical experimentation. “I remember buying Genesis’ Trick of the Tail, which I still love today, and the first Devo album. And I clearly remember being exposed and enjoying music from new wave bands like The Stranglers, Human League, Ultravox and Japan together with fusion bands like the Mahavishnu Orchestra and Weather Report. I saw the last tour that Jaco Pastorius did with Weather Report promoting Night Passage…the night that changed my life. And I also remember going to see Talking Heads live with the Remain in Light band featuring Adrian Belew. From my point of view, everything happening in music then was with elements of Prog, Jazz, Rock, African music. So I always disagree that the ‘80s was a poor decade for music.” 

Edwin heartily concurs. “I think there was some really quite unusual and adventurous music on the charts back in the ’80’s, Japan being a great example. They had chart success but the music was quite unique and very original. Though a little more obscure, another example would be Stump, whom I first saw playing live on prime time TV. I can’t imagine a present day equivalent getting similar exposure.” 

Edwin also remembers the ‘80s being a particularly bass-centric era for music. “I was certainly aware of Ultravox, Soft Cell and Human League, all bands who were known for using synths and adopting the nascent technology of the time. But there was also a lot of really upfront and prominent bass playing in that era, from mainstream things like Mark King with Level 42 and Pino Palladino on those Paul Young records to things like Siouxsie and the Banshees and Bauhaus, Peter Hook with Joy Division and New Order, Bruce Thomas with Elvis Costello and Kevin Hopper with Stump.” 

Edwin and Feliciati apply their own formidable bass chops to the ten potent tracks on Twinscapes Vol. 2, while Lorenzo adds on keyboards and guitars in the studio and Colin contributes rhythm design and programming. They share bass duties on all tracks, with Edwin focusing strictly on his signature singing fretless bass sound and Feliciati alternating between groove-heavy fretted bass and more lyrical fretless bass. “One of the great things about working with Lorenzo is that we don’t really need to discuss things a great deal,” says Edwin. “We often have similar ideas about how things should fit together or how to create a full sound without getting in each other’s way. We’re also a good partnership in that we share enough similar opinions and ideas to fit together without conflict, but we have enough differences to make things move in unexpected directions and push each other to try new ideas.” 

Adds Feliciati, “Twinscapes is a dual bass project but from my point of view it's a creative collaboration between two composers/multi instrumentalists/ arrangers and producers. I am sure that who bought the first album will be delighted from this new one. It's 100% Twinscapes. We are a ‘progressive’ band because we like to let the music show the direction instead of using the same formula again and again. It's been very natural, when we start to compose a song together — or exchange files — to let the music drive us instead of trying to push it in a more planned direction. It’s fun and always challenging.” 

Twinscapes Vol.2 opens with the straight-up dance floor number “Tin Can,” which is actually a nod to’70s experimental German ‘krautrock’ band Can while pieces like "Future Echo," "Precipice" and "Heat Collison" carry more of a prog-rock/fusion vibe. “We certainly have to acknowledge a certain prog-rock and fusion influence,” says Edwin, “but to me it’s all just about making the music work in an interesting and engaging way. And actually I think ‘Heat Collision’ has quite an emotional pull. For me, it has a real atmosphere.” 

The moody “Bedroom Corner” features Edwin playing the melody on fretless bass while Feliciati holds down the groove on fretted bass. “In a Haze” has Edwin exploring eBow on his fretless bass before the pieces builds to a grand bass crescendo. Edwin’s singing fretless bass is also prominent on “The (Next) Level” while the slow rolling anthem “In a Daze” builds to orchestral proportions on the strength of Feliciati’s layered distortion guitars. 

One of the more intriguing tracks on the album is “Severing Suns,” which blends rich chord voicings with Gregorian-styled choral music and prominent fretless bass playing. “This is really quite a special track,” says Edwin. “Voices and vocals in general really fascinate me, and I have a special fascination for the connection between voice and bass. It’s perhaps our most experimental track with a lot of unexpected elements: the blend of basses, vocals, electronics, and textures, but with a strong groove too.” 

The exotic “Ghost of Tangier” is a powerful showcase for Twinscapes drummer Robert Gualdi. “It’s really meant as a space for Roberto to do his thing,” says Edwin. “We often have a track in the live set where we create some textural backing for him to improvise against and this is a quite similar to a lot of those moments. Roberto is an all-around creative drummer, equally comfortable with odd times and slamming 4/4, playing structured parts and also improvising. 
He has the requisite sensitivity for the more reflective moments but he’s not afraid to let his inner hooligan out for the rockier parts too.” 

Adds Feliciati, “On that track we gave Roberto complete freedom. It’s basically a drums solo/composition where we added all the textures to boost the atmosphere that was already there with just drums. Roberto is an incredibly musical drummer, not a common thing. He is a top session man and he is one of the busiest drummers in Italy, but in Twinscapes he helps the music with a very creative approach and doing a deep research for the right sounds. And he is always groovy and in the pocket. After his contribution on the first Twinscapes album we did a lot of gigs as a trio with him and we were extremely pleased by his musicality. There is quite a lot of improvisation in our performance so Twinscapes needs a very solid drummer but one with a creative approach and with big ears. Roberto is all of that, and he is also a wonderful person to work, travel and play with.” 

Regarding the nature of their collaborative process in the studio, Edwin explains, “We tend to make decisions and work very fast, and there’s a mixture of improvisation and carefully structured elements for sure. And in fact, there are a lot of moments across various tracks where I can’t distinguish who is doing which part, or where I’ve completely forgotten who did what. So we’ll certainly have some fun when it comes to playing these tracks live.” 

While this second Twinscapes outing is a continuation of Edwin’s and Feliciati’s indelible chemistry together in the studio, they hint at even more things to come in the future. “We’re still exploring for sure,” says Edwin. “Twinscapes is much more than just an excuse to dig out my ebow and more obscure pedals and pick up the bass. I think Lorenzo and I have a really good creative partnership and we have done some really memorable gigs too. So we still have a lot more to discover and I am looking forward to playing this new material live. As with the tracks from the first album, I am sure they will be great to explore and develop in front of an audience.” 

Cuong Vu 4Tet - Change In The Air (RareNoise Records 2018)

Trumpeter Cuong Vu Rekindles Chemistry with Bill Frisell

On Second RareNoise Release, Change in the Air

As a followup to 2017’s acclaimed Ballet: The Music of Michael

Gibbs, Seattle-based trumpeter Cuong Vu joins forces once again

with guitar great Bill Frisell, bassist Luke Bergman and drummer

Ted Poor on the boundary-pushing quartet outing for RareNoise

Records, Change in the Air. With all the members of the quartet

contributing compositions, this one finds the four participants on

equal footing on ten adventurous originals. From Poor’s dreamy,

noirish opener “All That’s Left of Me Is You” and his lonesome

echo-laden waltz “Alive” to Bergman’s dynamic “Must

Concentrate,” Frisell’s delicate “Look, Listen” and his beguiling

heartland melody “Long Ago” and Vu’s angular “Round and

Round” and his edgy and electrified “March of the Owl and the

Bat,” these four stellar musicians are truly on one accord and

dealing with a rare level of nuance and depth of communication

on Change in the Air.

“It was a team effort,” said Vu. “The only real leader thing that I

did was make sure everyone had the studio dates in their

calendars, set up rehearsals, made sure they knew where the

studio was; more like secretarial work, is what I did. My only

intention was that we should all bring in tunes to make it as

collective as we could. This collection of people allowed me to let

go and trust, and I knew that we all just wanted to make the best

music that we could together.”

Poor added that the team effort developed quite naturally. “Cuong

invited us all to contribute and I'm very pleased with how the band

was able to sincerely welcome such a broad range of

compositions into the fold. We needed repertoire and I think

everyone felt comfortable and confident bringing in their own

music. At that point we had played a lot of music together and I

for one felt as though we were well on our way to developing a

clear band sound and identity.”

Vu commented on the various compositional qualities that his

three bandmates brought to the table on Change in the Air. “Bill’s

writing, like his playing, at first glance is seemingly simplistic

though always full of character. And when you patiently zoom in

you find that it’s filled with multi-layered info that is cohesively

bonded. His pieces can be played on any collection of

instruments and arranged in any way, and the truth of what he

intended will come through as the listener will find it as deeply

moving as it is beautiful. Luke’s writing is smart, clever, ironic,

funny and feels inevitable. He comes from having seriously

investigated a wide and eclectic range of music but he’s rooted in

a rock band-based type of viewpoint. I think it all comes out in the

music that he writes. And Ted is one of these guys who sounds

like the source music for whatever genre he plays, and he sounds

like a wise, experienced elder playing it. What I find impressive is

in how he’s able to get deep into whatever type of music and so

quickly absorb it. He’s like a jack-of-all-trades type of drummer

because of that ability, along with the technical freedom to

execute it all. I’m not surprised that his writing reflects all that. The

three tunes that he brought to the table are so different from each

other and they all feel extremely rooted and focused in the

specific context that each inhabits.”

Regarding his three stylistically wide-ranging compositions on

Change in the Air, Poor offered: “I liked the idea of trying to writing

something that could pose as an old standard found in an archive

somewhere, and that’s how I came up with ‘All That’s Left of Me

Is You.’ The title is a potential lyric for the final melodic phrase of

the song. While the song does not in fact have lyrics I wanted us

to play it as if we were playing an instrumental version of a

standard song like ‘Embraceable You’ or ‘If You Could See Me

Now.’ For ‘Lately’ I just had the sound of Cuong and Bill playing

the melody and chords vividly in my ears, and I wrote it in one

sitting not long before our recording session. ‘Alive’ was written

back in 2012 for a gig I had in New York with Mark Turner and

Pete Rende. I have enjoyed playing that tune with a number of

different bands but until now it hasn't been recorded. We needed

a few tunes with intensity and tempo to balance the set and ‘Alive’

felt like an obvious choice.”

Poor’s sublime brushwork is beautifully showcased on “All That's

Left of Me Is You,” “Lately” and particularly on the rubato closer

“Far From Here,” which bears the stamp of the late drumming

great and longtime Frisell collaborator Paul Motian. “Paul Motian

is a hero of mine,” said Poor. “Seeing him at the Village Vanguard

with Frisell or with his own bands is something I'll never forget.

His playing was riveting, provocative and pure music. Regarding

brushwork, he’s definitely one of my favorite drummers, along

with Andrew Cyrille, Elvin Jones and Philly Joe Jones (his brush

playing on ‘Young and Foolish’ from Everybody Digs Bill Evans

comes to mind). All of those great players are able to extract

infinitely nuanced sound and a powerful specificity of mood and

feel. Brushes are exciting for me because they allow you to create

sustain and offer such a wide range of attack, from staccato to a

legato bloom of sound that has no attack at all.”

Frisell, who moved from New York to Seattle in 1988 and

remained there for 30 years before returning to the Big Apple,

says the chemistry for this particular quartet began in the Emerald

City. “I was lucky to have first met Luke Bergman and over the

years we have been playing more and more in all kinds of

different situations together. It’s been awesome connecting with

him. Then as soon as Ted moved to Seattle we started playing a

lot together too, just getting together at his house and playing

tunes. It was the same with Cuong. As soon as he came to

Seattle we started playing together. So it was great to have

someone to be able to get together with and practice together and

just play music together. That happened with all those guys

separately and then eventually the four of us got together as a

quartet. Cuong has been such an incredible inspiration-energizer

for music in Seattle. Luke and Ted too. They all make things

happen.”

While the quartet tackled the music of composer-arranger and

Frisell's mentor Michael Gibbs on its first RareNoise record

together, they decided to stick strictly with originals on Change in

the Air. Vu’s trumpet work is brilliant throughout. Whether its his

extraordinary lyricism on Frisell’s “Look, Listen” and Poor’s

dreamy jazz ballad “All That’s Left of Me Is You,” his plaintive call

on Poor’s melancholy “Lately” or his staccato bursts and

skronking statements on his own “March of the Owl and the Bat,”

his playing is marked by bold instincts and nuanced expression.

Poor cited one possible influence on Vu’s “March of the Owl and

the Bat”: “Cuong has written a number of pieces over the years

that are based on driving, angular syncopated rhythms. We are

both huge fans of the Swedish heavy metal band Meshuggah and

their rhythmic language informs our approach significantly. We

worked off of a chart in the studio and the biggest challenge was

to internalize the rhythms and meters and make them feel good.

From there the embellishment and shaping of the tune flowed

naturally.”

Frisell offers authoritative solos and beautiful, pianistic

accompaniment to the fabric of these ten tunes on Change in the

Air. “I’m just trying to listen and do the right thing,” he said. “I’m a

huge fan of master accompanists like Hank Jones, John Lewis,

Tommy Flanagan, Richie Powell, Horace Silver…all guys that are

working from the inside out. I for sure love hearing someone play

a great solo but much more than that what really gets me off is

trying to figure out what’s going on with the whole band and how

all the pieces fit together. When I listen to Miles’ band with Herbie

Hancock, Ron Carter, Tony Williams and Wayne Shorter.…man!

Every note from all of them all the time is astounding and

essential. The magic is in how they play together.”

Vu also commented on his uncanny chemistry with Frisell, which

is especially apparent in their intimate interactions on Frisell’s

chamber-like “Look, Listen” and the sparse closer, “Far From

Here”: “It’s pretty much a necessity for me to be surrounded by

deeply empathetic listeners whose main priority is to serve the

music being created in each instance. And it takes a long time to

find the right people who’ll create the right mixture together. I

really do think that all three of us (Luke, Ted, and I) have a natural

strength in ‘empathic listening’ — making the others sound better

while stating your own opinion with an openness to all possibilities

in the immediate moments. And I do really think that we’re pretty

decent at that approach. But add Bill to the mix…that’s his

genius! He makes everybody that he’s ever played with sound

better and always puts them in a different light. It helps that I’m in

that same zone of thinking, but it’s really about Bill making it

happen.”

Frisell also commented on the the source of the quartet’s

remarkable chemistry: “You play with someone for the first time

and you feel something that makes you want to come back for

more. And I think the key to that is pretty simple. We listen. The

best things happen when everyone’s attention is focused on

everyone else around them ...away from themselves.”

Regarding the source of the album’s title, Vu pointed to the state

of world affairs today as a kind of dark undercurrent to Change in

the Air. “I’ve never felt so much anxiety about the future on so

many levels — environmentally, politically and especially with the

‘leadership’ in our country — than I do now,” he said. “In terms of

what’s going on and how we’ve gotten to this place, it feels

overwhelmingly ominous, dangerous and as if it’s only the

beginning of what will come. I’m scared but, hopefully, just

paranoid.”

Born on September 19, 1969 in Saigon, Vietnam’s largest city, Vu

moved with his family to Seattle when he was six years ago. He

picked up trumpet at age 11 and later received a scholarship to

attend the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. After

moving the New York City in 1994, he formed the group Ragged

Jack with keyboardist Jamie Saft, saxophonist Andrew D’Angelo

and drummer Jim Black in 1997. During his time in New York, Vu

worked with Laurie Anderson, David Bowie, Gerry Hemingway,

Myra Melford, Bobby Previte, Dave Douglas and more. He

appeared on Pat Metheny’s Grammy-winning albums Speaking of

Now (2002) and The Way Up (2005). Vu returned to Seattle in

2007 to teach at the University of Washington, where he is

currently a full professor.

Cuong Vu – trumpet

Bill Frisell – guitar

Luke Bergman – bass, additional guitars on track 5

Ted Poor – drums, fender rhodes on track 5

3, 9, 10 composed by Bill Frisell

6, 7, 8 composed by Cuong Vu

4 composed by Luke Bergman

1, 2, 5 composed by Ted Poor

1. All That’s Left Of Me Is You

2. Alive

3. Look, Listen

4. Must Concentrate

5. Lately

6. Round And Round

7. March Of The Owl And The Bat

8. Round And Round (Back Around)

9. Long Ago

10. Far From Here

Recorded May 14, 15, 16 2017 at London Bridge Studio, Seattle

Recorded by Julian Anderson

Mixed by Luke Bergman

Mastered by Nich Wilbur at Anacortes Mastering

Executive Producer for RareNoiseRecords : Giacomo Bruzzo

Artwork and Design by Petulia Mattioli

Sofia Jernberg / Mats Gustafsson / Kjetil Møster / Anders Hana / Greg Saunier - Svårmod Och Vemod Är Värdesinnen (RareNoise Records 2018)

When Norwegian baritone saxophonist Kjetil Møster joined forces in the studio with Swedish baritone sax burner Mats Gustafson, Norwegian noise-jazz guitarist Anders Hana (MoHa!, Ultralyd, Noxagt), versatile, powerhouse drummer Greg Saunier (of the San Francisco-based avant-rock band Deerhoof, who participated in the album, but has now been replaced by Børge Fjordheim of Cloroform) and the extraordinary Ethiopian-born experimental singer Sofia Jernberg, the resulting sonic maelstrom was so fresh and ferocious, so daring and audacious, so darkly apocalyptic that The End seemed like the only name for this band of rebels. 

Their uncompromising debut on RareNoise, Svårmod Och Vemod Är Värdesinnen (a title whose approximate translation from Swedish into English could be stated as “Dark melancholy and sadness are senses to be valued”), is delivered with sledgehammer authority by the subversive crew. 

The two-baritone onslaught of Møster and Gustafsson with the addition of Hana’s baritone guitar provides a low-end assault on Svårmod Och Vemod Är Värdesinnen that feels like a gut-punch to complacency. 

“The double baritone has lots of raw power, which is a big part of what this music is all about,” says Møster, who has previously appeared on two RareNoise Records releases, Jü Meets Møster and Reflections In Cosmo. “We try to break through to the raw senses, the expressions of energy that wants to burst but never does.” 

“We have talked about such a collaboration for many years,” adds Gustafsson, who previously appeared on RareNoise releases by Slobber Pup (Pole Axe) and in collaboration with Japanese noisemaker Merzbow (the Cuts series). “And when Giacomo of RareNoise offered us the chance we grabbed it immediately, of course. We just needed to really put together the most kickin' band ever.” 

With Jernberg , Hana, Saunier (now Fjordheim), they have put together a dream team on Svårmod Och Vemod Är Värdesinnen. “Now that we have The End as a working unit it feels extremely exciting to see where we can take the music together,” says Gustafsson. “It’s amazing for me to play alongside Mats’ boundless energy,” adds Møster. “He has revolutionized articulations of saxophone playing and has been one of my big influences ever since I heard The Thing’s self titled album from 2001.” 

Add the potent contributions of Hana and Saunier to the mix and you have a combustible crew capable of nuanced ambient expression with Jernberg’s ethereal vocals floating over the top and hellacious crescendos fueled by her intense banshee wailing. 

“Anders is one of the most creative guitar players I have ever heard,” says Gustafsson. “He stopped playing guitar seven years ago but Kjetil and me convinced him to pick it up again to join this group, which he happily agreed to. He ROCKS!” 

Møster adds “Anders and me have driven thousands of kilometres together all over Eastern and Western Europe in old tour vans playing numerous concerts with Ultralyd, which released five albums, most of them on Rune Grammofon. He’s a very unique player.” 

Hana’s chainsaw guitar work, reminiscent of Jimi Hendrix’s noise guitar explorations on “EXP” from Axis: Bold As Love, fuels the dark opener Svårmod (Troubled Mind), which also introduces The End’s muscular and imposing two-bari sound. Hanna’s repetitive guitar riff provides a catchy hook on the Captain Beefheart-like Vemod (Sad Mind), underscored by Saunier’s polyrhythmic drummer and featuring Jernberg’s freewheeling wordless vocals. 

The epic Translated Slaughter, which sees Jernberg whispering/talking Gustafsson’s lyrics at the ethereal opening, gradually builds to a frantic crescendo that has the singer wailing with cathartic abandon over the top. Jernberg repeats her riveting performance on Don’t Wait in which she once again recites/sings Gustafsson’s cryptic lyrics. 

“Text, music, art…it should all be read and listened to in open ways and manners,” says the composer. “It is not up to me to explain, really. It is up to the listener/reader to understand, or try to understand. Or at least to ask the questions to find out more. All creative art and music should point out new doors, not open them up. To open a door, you have to do it yourself. We can’t do it for you. So the lyrics pretty much speak for themselves, especially in ‘Don’t Wait.’ That message should be pretty obvious for anyone.” 

Møster’s Both Sides Out has a particularly dark, almost requiem kind of feel to it, which he acknowledges. “Requiem is a good association,” he says. “What I had in mind was actually some kind of mourning for the state of mind that the western world has entered post-Trump. In the lyrics I am Trump’s psychoanalyst, letting him pour out his inner feelings so he can stop being so tense and hard. I think the blood flow of the society is being strangled by face masks and ‘violation’ of unnecessary rights.” 

With a discography numbering over 150 records, Gustafsson explains what his latest RareNoise release represents to him: “Just sheer joy of sharing ideas and music together. We had time to rehearse and to play three gigs before jumping into the studio – that was worth a lot for us because I feel that everything really fell into the right place for us in the studio. The music we recorded is really a wet dream of favorite influences to bring together for me. And I think me and Kjetil share the most essential sources and inspirational platforms here. We wanted elements of free jazz, noise, alt rock and more to blend and create something new. And it all led to a music that, at least me, I have never heard before.” 

“We are never into creating a special mood in the music,” maintains Gustafsson, who is also member of bands The Thing, Fire! and Nu Ensemble. “That is up to the listener to create or hear. We don’t entertain, we don’t illustrate. We play music. New music. I don’t wanna analyze it too much here. Everyone should listen freely and think and act freely upon hearing it all. It should all be open.” 

Regarding the translation of the The End’s album title, Møster says: 

‘To me it says something about appreciating difficulties, that we don’t necessarily have to please each other all the time, that expressions that go against the grain and cause friction are valuable too.” 

Those renegade expressions are readily apparent on Svårmod Och Vemod Är Värdesinnen, The End’s formidable RareNoise debut.

SOFIA JERNBERG : VOICE

MATS GUSTAFSSON : BARITONE AND TENOR SAX, LIVE ELECTRONICS

KJETIL MØSTER : BARITONE AND TENOR SAX, ELECTRONICS

ANDERS HANA : BARITONE GUITAR

GREG SAUNIER : DRUMS AND VOICE

1. Svårmod

2. Vemod

3. Translated Slaughter

4. Don’t Wait

5. Rich And Poor

6. Both Sides Out

1,2 composed by Hana and Gustafsson

3 composed by The End

4 composed by Gustafsson

5,6 composed by Møster

Lyrics on 3, 4 by Gustafsson

Lyrics on 6 by Møster

Recorded jan 14/15 2018 at Duper Studios, Bergen

Sound Engineer Jørgen Træn

Mixed Feb 2018 at Duper Studios, Bergen by Jørgen Træn, Kjetil Møster, Anders Hana

Mastered Feb 2018 at Duper Studios by Jørgen Træn

Produced by TheEnd

Cover Image Svårmod Och Vemod Är Värdesinnen by Edward Jarvis.

Words by Harry Martinson, taken from the poem ‘Svårmodet’ from the poetry collection ‘Passad’ published by Bonniers (1945)

© + ℗ RareNoiseRecords 2018