The Squid's Ear Magazine


Das Rad (Archer / Robinson / Dinsdale): Das Rad (Discus)

Influenced by progressive rock, kosmiche, and fusion forms, the UK trio Das Rad of Nick Robinson on guitars & electronics, Martin Archer on sax, reeds, winds, keys and electronics, Steve Dinsdale on drums and percussion, and Julie Archer on voice, bringing 70s sounds to modern sensibilities and superb creative playing, a great achievement.
 

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product information:

Personnel:



Nick Robinson-electric guitar, acoustic guitar, loops, electronics

Martin Archer-saxophones, clarinets, flutes, recorders, melodica, keyboards, electronics, synth bass

Steve Dinsdale-electric drums, acoustic percussion, synth

Julie Archer-voice


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UPC: 5051078965123

Label: Discus
Catalog ID: 075CD
Squidco Product Code: 26736

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2018
Country: UK
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold 3 Panels
No recording data listed.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"We formed Das Rad as a place where we could collectively compose driving motorik music and mix that up alongside some more developed arrangements without excluding some of the freer, textural and improvisatory material with which we began the group a couple of years ago. We wanted this release to be tell an involving story within a concise frame. Alongside the core guitar / sax / drums trio which was our starting point, all three of us use electronics as part of our setup, and this enabled us to work collectively to expand these pieces into the fully developed final sound you're hearing now. We think of this as a European record by European musicians, and we've reflected this within the song titles, our own small protest against the political insanity which coincides with the release of this work."-Discus



This album has been reviewed on our magazine:

The Squid
The Squid's Ear!

Artist Biographies

Nick Robinson: "I'm a looping guitarist living in Sheffield, England. I have been performing for 45+ years in a variety of professional bands and latterly, as a solo artist / collaborator.

Repetition and Intuition are the key factors behind my music, which places dynamics & timbre high up the list. I see the guitar as an organic sound source that uses looping technology and laptop treatment to build moods & soundscapes. My pieces are born, evolve and die away."

-Nick Robinson Website (http://looping.me.uk/)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Martin Archer was born in Sheffield, England, in 1957. He started playing saxophone at age 15 and first got active on the Sheffield improvisational scene in 1973. In the early '80s, he recorded an LP with Bass Tone Trap, his first group. In 1983 he formed the saxophone quartet Hornweb, which, in ten years of existence, released three albums. It is during that time that Archer released his first solo album, Wild Pathway Favourites (1988) and founded the Discus label on which he since releases all his music.

In 1993, he disbanded Hornweb and turned to synthesizers and sequencers while shifting his activities from stage to studio. He developed a compositional approach in which he records improvisers soloing, then manipulates this raw material, combining it with electronics and structuring it into a whole new piece. This technique is illustrated on Wild Pathway Favourites, Ghost Lily Cascade (1996), and Pure Water Construction (with bassist Simon H. Fell, released in 1999). Later works such as Winter Pilgrim Arriving (2000) moved toward more constructed and less abstract pieces, even making room for melodies and rhythm tracks at times.

Apart from his solo work, Archer is also involved in Ask, a duo with guitarist John Jasnoch, and Transient v Resident, an ambient electronics project with Chris Bywater."-All Music, François Couture



"Martin Archer is a composer / improviser who is equally at home on stage or in the studio. His own distinctive saxophone playing is rooted in AACM jazz. Through his use of keyboards and electronics, and as a studio producer, he extends this interest into extended song form and leftfield rock music. He is also co-director of the uncategorisably avant choir Juxtavoices.

His principle music work is the Discus Music label, the imprint for his various releases, notably by the groups described below.

His current jazz based projects include Engine Room Favourites (current a 4 drummer, 14 piece big band), Story Tellers (6 piece group including shaman instruments alongside the conventional instruments), plus various ad hoc smaller groups. All of these are strongly aligned with AACM tradition and teaching.

Archer has a long running duo with veteran vocalist Julie Tippetts. Each of their highly acclaimed CD releases deliberately explores song from a different perspective - the duo aims to be truly progressive, and takes in elements from jazz, rock, soul and pure abstraction.

Archer's main live performance vehicle is the trio Inclusion Principle with Herve Perez and Peter Fairclough. The group operates in a space between electronics, nu-jazz, contemporary electroacoustic music and free improvisation. In performance you will hear pure jazz skill, electronic beats and areas of texture and abstraction all seamlessly woven into a fascinating and constantly shifting tapestry of sound.

The sprawling Orchestra Of The Upper Atmosphere was formed by Archer as an improvising rock group with shades of Terry Riley, Magma, Alice Coltrane and Sun Ra, very much in the progressive / krautrock tradition, and noted for its large scale string, horn and vocal arrangements.

Also in rock music, Archer is a member of the USA based heavier than plutonium prog / sludge / zeuhl group Combat Astronomy under the direction of Jamie Huggett.

Surprising, delighting and occasionally alarming audiences for a number of years now, Juxtavoices is a 30 piece choir for mainly untrained voices co directed by Archer with Alan Halsey which has racked up dozens of performances and issued three CDs.

This eclectic combination of sources and highly individual applications makes Archer a unique inhabitant of the school of English maverick composer / improvisers. "-Discus

-All Music, Discus Records (http://www.allmusic.com/artist/martin-archer-mn0000146946)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Steve Dinsdale plays keyboards and drums in the leading British electronic trio Radio Massacre International, who have released a plethora of albums over the last 20 years and played concerts in both Europe and America. He is also a member of Orchestra of the Upper Atmosphere and Engine Room Favourites, and has several solo albums to his name."

-Bishop's House (http://www.bishopshouse.org.uk/index.php/events/315-das-rad-robinson-archer-dinsdale)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



1. Whatever You Want 4:04

2. Heisse Rader 2:54

3. Canterbury Steps 4:45

4. Boom 5:06

5. Fernweh 1 1:04

6. Return To Schriesheim 5:39

7. Sehnsucht 5:47

8. Porto Steps 15:06

9. Ohrwurm 3:35

10. Fernweh 2 1:26

11. Tenser 6:32

12. London Steps 10:54

Related Categories of Interest:


Rock and Related
Progressive Rock
Improvised Rock
Improvised Music
London & UK Improv & Related Scenes
Quartet Recordings
Staff Picks & Recommended Items
New in Rock Forms

Search for other titles on the label:
Discus.


Recommended & Related Releases:
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