The Squid's Ear
Writing about improvised, contemporary, experimental and unusual music,
following the activities of Squidco...
  •  •  •     Join Our Mailing List!



The Squid's Ear




Heard In

Reviews of artist releases:
cd's, books, magazines, &c.


  Johannes Bauer / Thomas Lehn / Jon Rose 
  Futch
  (Jazwerkstatt) 


  
   review by Kurt Gottschalk
  2009-04-01
Johannes Bauer / Thomas Lehn / Jon Rose: Futch (Jazwerkstatt)

There are several things that seem impossible about the Fucht trio. Their mesh of instruments — Johannes Bauer's trombone, Thomas Lehn's analogue synthesizer, Rose's violin and electronics — is an unlikely amalgamation, fat in the midrange and, with neither frets nor valves, ripe with slippery indeterminacy. The players, too, are an unlikely combination: Rose is a tireless conceptualist, making music out of political borders and rewriting economics and history like a viol-centric Marco Polo. While Bauer played previously with Rose in the Slawterhouse quartet, he is better known in adventurous jazz realms, having played with Peter Brötzmann, Barry Guy, Ken Vandermark and Alan Silva. Lehn can usually be found in the hotter end of less idiomatic free improv with John Butcher, Cor Fuehler and the group Konk Pack. The name they've chosen for themselves, German for "gone" or "spoiled" suggests something about their group work, although it might just as much be misleading.

But what is most unlikely about their disc, recorded over two sessions in 2006, is how impossibly close all the sounds are. The album drills maddeningly into the brain from the first moments. There is no background here, no comping or accompaniment, no division of duties. They could almost have been a proper trio: Lehn's ever mutating pops and whistles are generally percussive; Bauer could have fallen easily into a bass register; Rose might have chosen to play the melody lead like a voice or saxophone. But that, presumably, would have been going too easy on the unsuspecting listener.

Instead they frenetically circle and burrow, creating a new sonic situation every few seconds, working, it seems, inches from the listener's ears. They are working together, constantly picking up on suggestions from each other but never falling into formation. They create musical fragments only to ignore or destroy them. Futch is restless, relentless, occasionally hilarious and always commanding of attention. The bold will use headphones.







Comments and Feedback:



More Recent Reviews, Articles, and Interviews @ The Squid's Ear...


The Squid's Ear presents
reviews about releases
sold at Squidco.com
written by
independent writers.

Squidco

Recent Selections @ Squidco:


Eldritch Priest:
Dead-Wall Reveries
(Another Timbre)



Jakob Ullmann:
Solo I/
Solo IV
(Another Timbre)



Ziv Taubenfeld
Full Sun (
Taubenfeld/
Moore/
Buis/
Ku/
Chientaroli/
Heggen/
Govaert):
Nomads
(Full Sun Records)



Jurg Frey with
ensemble]h[iatus:
Je Laisse A La Nuit
Son Poids
D'ombre
(Another Timbre)



John Zorn (
Marsella/
Smith/
Roeder):
Nocturnes
(Tzadik)



Amir ElSaffar/
New Quartet:
Live at
Pierre Boulez Saal
(Maqam Records)



Amir ElSaffar/
New Quartet:
Live at
Pierre Boulez Saal
[VINYL]
(Maqam Records)



Santiago Fischer Diez :
Songs
(Another Timbre)



Rempis/
Adasiewicz/
Corsano:
Dial Up
(Aerophonic)



Fred Frith &
The Gravity Band:
s/t
(Klanggalerie)



Elliott Sharp:
Mare Crisium
(zOaR Records)



Ivo Perelman/
Nate Wooley:
Polarity 4
(Burning Ambulance Music)



Joe McPhee:
Defiant Jazz: a Joe McPhee Taster
[VINYL]
(Corbett vs. Dempsey)



Armaroli/
Piccolo/
Sharp:
Imaginary Songbook
[2 CDs]
(Dodicilune)



Eva Novoa Trio (
w/ Daniel Carter/
Francisco Mela):
The Freedom Suite,
Vol. 2
(577 Records)



Eva Novoa Trio (
w/ Carter/
Mela):
The Freedom Suite,
Vol. 2
[VINYL]
(577 Records)



Fieldwork (
Iyer/
Lehman/
Sorey):
Thereupon
[VINYL]
(Pi Recordings)



Dan Weiss (
w/ Evans/
Okazaki/
Brennan):
Unclassified Affections
(Pi Recordings)



Dan Weiss (
w/ Evans/
Okazaki/
Brennan):
Unclassified Affections
[VINYL 2 LPs]
(Pi Recordings)



Satoko Fujii Quartet (
Fujii/
Tamura/
Yoshida/
Takeharu):
Burning Wick
(Libra)







Squidco
Click here to
advertise with
The Squid's Ear






The Squid's Ear pays its writers.
Interested in becoming a reviewer?




The Squid's Ear is the companion magazine to the online music shop Squidco !


  Copyright © Squidco. All rights reserved. Trademarks. (60886)