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Karl Evangelista Quintet feat. Bobby Bradford and William Roper:
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Sleep Of Reason Produces Monsters, The (Rasmussen / Mitelli / Rezaei / Koenig):
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An electrifying session of genre-defying free improvisation from the international quartet of Gabriele Mitelli (trumpet & electronics), Mette Rasmussen (sax), Mariam Rezaei (turntables), and Lukas Koenig (drums & bass synth), delivering an explosive, high-energy album that blurs the lines between noise, jazz, and avant-electronic intensity with visceral spontaneity and tightly channeled chaos. ... Click to View


Akmee:
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Recorded in Oslo's Toyen Kirke, this spiritually resonant second album from the Norwegian quartet Akmee explores acoustic possibilities with lyrical counterpoint, trance-like repetition, and intuitive improvisation, as trumpeter Erik Kimestad Pedersen, pianist Kjetil Jerve, bassist Erlend Olderskog Albertsen, and drummer Andreas Wildhagen stretch melody and rhythm into expressive, otherworldly forms. ... Click to View


Ernesto Rodrigues / Guilherme Rodrigues / Maximilian Glass:
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An intimate, texturally rich trio session recorded in Berlin between Ernesto Rodrigues on viola & crackle box, Guilherme Rodrigues on cello, and Maximilian Glass on percussion, navigating misty lowercase atmospheres, glitch-box coloration, and finely balanced interactions that unveil subtle surprise and collective improvisation within a tight, exploratory sound world. ... Click to View


Sveio:
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A fascinating exploration of human-machine collaboration from UK trio Sveio — James Mainwaring on saxophone, Federico Reuben on laptop improvisation and live coding, and Emil Karlsen on drums — using AI in real-time to generate uncanny textures and forms, resulting in a spontaneously composed and constantly evolving electroacoustic sound world. ... Click to View


Kommun:
Kalpa (thanatosis produktion)

Expanding to a sextet, Swedish guitarist Finn Loxbo's Kommun deepens its exploration of cyclical time and collective improvisation, weaving acoustic steel-string guitar, piano, strings, and percussion into evolving, harmonically rich phrases that merge individual lines into fluid, slow-burning forms — meditative, intricate, and poised between structure and dissolution. ... Click to View


Various Artists:
Archipelago (Bathysphere Records)

A benefit compilation in support of marine restoration through ORAI, this diverse collection features 13 experimental and ambient works — including evocative soundscapes by Scott Solter, Cristina Cano, and others — each track a donation from artists celebrating the sea’s mystery, fragility, and power through deeply personal sonic reflections. ... Click to View


Mat Watson:
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Extracted from archival sessions at Imaginary Sound Fields in Melbourne, Australian synthesist Mat Watson assembles a limited-edition set of vivid modular compositions — ranging from library-inspired cues to exploratory electronic abstractions — capturing the tactile nuance of a Eurorack modular as he sculpts asymmetrical, colorful soundscapes that blur nostalgia, experimentation, and inner space. ... Click to View


Unredeemable (Tracy Lisk / Andrea Pensado):
Preverbal (Love Earth Music)

A dynamic, spontaneous duo collaboration by percussionist Tracy-Lisk and multi-disciplinary performer Andrea-Pensado, this LEM-347 release unfolds through drumming, cymbal washes, voice and live electronics into a fluid, improvisatory dialogue that balances rhythmic sensitivity and textural exploration within an intimate, acutely reactive sound world. ... Click to View


+DOG+:
Our Beloved..... (Love Earth Music)

A fierce and immersive set of three extended noise pieces from the six-member experimental collective of Steve Davis, Bobby Almon, Chuck Foster, Edward Giles, LOB, and Mackenzie Kourie, recorded in multiple locations, blending dense textures, static-laced improvisation, and electroacoustic intensity into a raw and unapologetically visceral listening experience. ... Click to View



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  Angelica Castello / Jerome Noetinger 
  Disturbio
  (Mikroton Recordings) 


  
   review by Dave Madden
  2019-02-28
Angelica Castello / Jerome Noetinger: Disturbio (Mikroton Recordings)

As there is so much we could discuss about these veteran players, their instruments, and the palette of Disturbio, I will give a high-level view so as to not wax on too long about / overemphasize the importance of any ingredient over another:

• Angélica Castelló: Born in Mexico, lives in Vienna, professor and electroacoustic (heavy on the acoustic) composer, electronics maven, Paetzold performance extraordinaire

• Paetzold: An instrument based on the Renaissance bass recorder. It resembles a large, wooden periscope mated with a stilt — or mutated goose neck — is capable of very low tones, and is often (boringly) employed to double clarinet an octave below. Notable performers include Castelló and Anna Petrini

• Jérôme Noetinger: One of the greatest living mystics of sound mangling. He has run the gamut in the composition and improvised performance world, and continues to tweak and get mileage out of his bag of tricks. His current set-up of crumbling feedback and crackle effects features a Revox A77 tape deck as it's keystone, the latter enabling real-time manipulation, live looping and staccato-to-elongated aural torrents

• The Revox A77 reel-to-reel player / recorder: Once relegated to "swinging bachelor pads," the A77 is referred to by audiophiles as "The Rolex Oyster of tape decks." It was a bit cheaper than some of the studio standards, but can physically endure much more than some of the less sturdy counterparts. I don't think any of that has any bearing on this music, but you can read more here if you are so inclined.

Anyway, the electroacoustic / post Cage / free improvisation domains usually adhere to one or all five of the following: Construction, destruction, a combination of the previous two, dissection, and / or observation. In the case of Disturbio, the field is already laid to waste; we're stepping in after an unresolved coda where whatever sudden catastrophe caused the collapse lingers and continues to impede renovation; but there is a sub-dermal environment squirming under the debris, attempting communications that are squashed before reaching the surface or a first responder.

Okay... Remember the robotic mice from Ray Bradbury's There Will Come Soft Brains? Their job was to prepare food and clean up after any mess in the this-is-the-automated-future-per-1950s-predictions home; they continued to do so despite the disintegration of their masters, even pressing on while losing bolts and limbs to the house crumbled on top of them. They continued to wiggle. That's the telepathic mental image of the sonic world Castelló and Noetinger navigate and deform.

A blend of broken, distant television and radio broadcasts mingling with grumbles, fried circuits, twitching held notes, gravelly footfalls, staccato exhales, whistles, tape spinning and winding, and otherwise percussion guides this narrative. Would you prefer pink noise, gentle rumbles, and the synthetic clone of someone massaging a balloon? Gradually pour in hissy bird call recordings that surf on some type of Doppler effect and patiently move into an intricate, complex chord, a combination of AC hum, shimmering squeals, ocean noise — like a Buddha Machine designed for bigger, advanced brains. Can the foreground sometimes emphasize the broadcast voices, or popular songs, or opera snippets, or Spanish exorcism prayers? Could you add some subtle idiosyncratic reminders that the recorder that eats clarinets and bassoons for breakfast is also participating (i.e. wheezy humming, wooden grinding and sawing)? Cloudy feedback loops and the players real-time sample each other too?

Tangled, right? Not really. There is a lot of disparate elements firing on Disturbio, but a thoughtful progression and micro placement keeps the works hypnotic, slightly adhesive, mysterious, playful, not physical engulfment and desensitization into boredom.



Angelica Castello / Jerome Noetinger: Disturbio
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