The Squid's Ear Magazine


Thomas / Lash / Orrell: Lifeline (Discus)

Breaking away from their acoustic trio Bleyschool, the long-standing partnership of Pat Thomas, Dominic Lash, and Tony Orrell reconfigure as Lifeline, trading piano, bass, and drums for keyboards, electroacoustic percussion, and electric guitar in a spontaneous studio performance that channels noise, dance, and rock energy into electrified free improv brimming with risk, tension, and surprise.
 

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product information:

Personnel:



Pat Thomas-keyboard, electronics

Dominic Lash-electric guitar

Tony Orrell-electric drums, cymbals


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UPC: 5051078019925

Label: Discus
Catalog ID: 198CD
Squidco Product Code: 36730

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2025
Country: UK
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold 3 Panels
Recorded in Oxford, UK, August 29th, 2023, by Bruno Guastalla.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"What makes a band a band? The most obvious answer is surely "its members". If that were the whole story then the music on this album would be by Bleyschool - the name that Pat Thomas, Tony Orrell, and Dominic Lash usually appear under when performing as a classic piano trio (piano, drums, double bass), with two albums to date on 577 Records.As Lifeline, the same three musicians are as determinedly electric as Bleyschool is resolutely acoustic: keyboards/electronics, electroacoustic percussion and electronics, electric guitar.The musicians have many years' familiarity with one another, but here they eschew the stability of a familiar instrumentation.This spontaneous performance draws on other musics: noise, dance, rock. Balancing form and disform.A lifeline can be defined as "a means of escape from a difficult situation". The same yet different: an ideal situation for both improviser and, it is hoped, listener."-Discus

"In their latest release under the name Lifeline, the trio of Pat Thomas, Dominic Lash, and Tony Orrell break free from the acoustic roots of their well-established project Bleyschool and plunge into a dynamic, electronic frontier. This spontaneous performance captures the raw energy and evolving language of improvisation, where complex textures bounce around the stereo field with both finesse and volatility.

Gone are the familiar contours of the piano trio. In their place: a bristling palette of keyboards, electroacoustic percussion, and electric guitar-an entirely reimagined soundscape that channels the spirit of free jazz through the unpredictable lenses of noise, dance, and rock.

From the very first moments of Lifeline 1, the group makes their intentions clear. This is not background music or ambient drift; this is full-contact sound art. Pat Thomas, a master of keyboard manipulation, pushes electronic tones into swirling, glitching constellations. Dominic Lash, usually heard on double bass, wields an electric guitar with a sharp, sculptural instinct-layering harmonic abrasion, delay trails, and feedback swells into each unfolding moment. Meanwhile, Tony Orrell's approach to electric drums and cymbals fuses rhythm and texture, often dismantling the concept of a steady beat in favor of something far more expressive.

"What makes a band a band?" the liner notes ask-a question that reverberates throughout this recording. If musical identity were defined solely by personnel, Lifeline would be interchangeable with Bleyschool. But this record proves the opposite: while the players remain the same, the sound world-and perhaps the underlying philosophy-has shifted dramatically. The name change is no gimmick; it's a signal of intent.

As Lifeline, Thomas, Lash, and Orrell engage in sonic risk-taking that feels both immediate and expansive. There's no fallback on familiar motifs, no predictable arc. Each track — "Lifeline 1" through "Lifeline 6" — unfolds as a unique ecosystem of sound, with the trio leaning into surprise, tension, and the unknown. Despite the instrumental change-up, their years of collaboration shine through. This is music born from trust and telepathy, even as it explodes with chaos and dissonance.

Each track is a snapshot of improvisational chemistry-moments where circuit-bent textures, skittering beats, and fractured melodies coalesce into something entirely their own.

Lifeline is a bold, electrified document from three seasoned improvisers who refuse to sit still. In shedding the acoustic skin of Bleyschool and stepping into the charged atmosphere of electronic improvisation, Pat Thomas, Dominic Lash, and Tony Orrell have not only expanded their sonic vocabulary-they've reminded us that true collaboration isn't bound by instrumentation. It's bound by intention, curiosity, and the willingness to leap into the unknown.

This is not music that asks for passive listening. It demands engagement, and rewards it in full."-JAZZ CHILL


Artist Biographies

"Born 27 July 1960; Piano, electronics. Pat Thomas started playing at the age of 8 and studied classical music and played reggae. He began playing jazz at sixteen after seeing Oscar Peterson on television then listened to snatches of jazz on the radio before, in 1979, playing his first serious improvised gigs. From 1986 he played with Ghosts which was Pete McPhail and Matt Lewis.

In addition to programming his keyboards, Pat Thomas also utilises prerecorded tapes. He told Chris Blackford (1991), 'As far as the tapes are concerned I'll probably just sit in front of the TV and tape whatever's going on and so some editing afterward to decide what might be useful. ...But I don't actually put a label on each tape saying what's on there, so when I come to use them I don't know what I'm going to be playing. That obviously prevents me from setting things up. I pick them at random and see what happens. So I'm just as surprised as anybody else at what comes out'.

In 1988 he was awarded an Arts Council Jazz Bursary to write three new electroacoustic compositions for his ten-piece ensemble, Monads: Roger Turner and Matt Lewis, percussion; Pete McPhail, WX7 wind synthesizer; Neil Palmer, turntables; Phil Minton, voice; Phil Durrant, violin; Marcio Mattos, bass; Jon Corbett, trumpet; Geoff Searle, drum machines. The intention was to feature different aspects of electronics using improvisation so, for example, one piece - Dialogue - featured Pete McPhail and Neil Palmer, another concentrated on the interaction of percussionists and drum machines, and a third piece had Phil Minton and Jon Corbett improvising with a computer. The pieces were performed at the Crawley Outside-In Festival of new music in 1989.

Pat Thomas was invited by Derek Bailey to play in Company Week in 1990 and 1991 and he also took part in the Ist International Symposium for Free Improvisation in Bremen with the guitarist. He has been a member of the Tony Oxley Quartet (documented on Incus CD 15) and played in Oxley's Angular Apron along with Larry Stabbins, Manfred Schoof and Sirone at the 8th Ruhr Jazz Meeting and in the percussionist's Celebration Orchestra. He plays with Lol Coxhill in a range of combinations from duo to being a member of 'Before my time', is a member of Mike Cooper's Continental Drift, and he has a well established duo with percussionist Mark Sanders and a trio with Steve Beresford and Francine Luce. In 1992 Pat Thomas formed the quartet Scatter with Phil Minton, Roger Turner and Dave Tucker; funded by the Arts Council they toured the UK in 1993 and again at the beginning of 1997.

On the 'Festival circuit', Pat Thomas has appeared at: the Young Improvisors Festival at the Korzo Theatre, Den Haag (with Jim O'Rourke, Mats Gustafsson and Alexander Frangenheim); Angelica 95 in Bologna, Italy; the Stuttgart 5th Festival of Improvised Music 96 (with Fred Frith, Shelly Hirsch, Carlos Zingaro and others); and the 3rd International Festival 96 in Budapest (with Evan Parker, Phil Minton, John Russell and Roger Turner).

-EFI (http://www.efi.group.shef.ac.uk/mthomas.html)
9/10/2025

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

"Born Cambridge, England, in January 1980; played bass guitar since 1994; studied with Hugh Boyd and Pascha Milner and at Basstech (London) with Rob Burns, Terry Gregory and others. Played double bass since 2001; basically self taught, with grateful thanks to Simon H. Fell. First class BA in English Literature from Oxford University (2002). Received MA Composition from Oxford Brookes University in 2003, having studied with Paul Whitty, Ray Lee and others. Received PhD from Brunel University in 2010, having studied the work of Derek Bailey, Helmut Lachenmann and JH Prynne and been supervised by Richard Barrett and John Croft."

-Dominic Lash Website (http://dominiclash.blogspot.com/p/dominic-lash_5.html)
9/10/2025

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

UK drummer Tony Orrell is a long-time collaborator with saxophonist Paul Dunmall, having played together in the 70's band Spirit Level in Bristol. They have continue to play together over the years. Orrell is also known for the band The Jellilalas.

-Squidco 9/10/2025

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


Track Listing:



1. Lifeline 1 2:56

2. Lifeline 2 5:38

3. Lifeline 3 9:45

4. Lifeline 4 4:26

5. Lifeline 5 11:26

6. Lifeline 6 6:44

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Free Improvisation
Electro-Acoustic
Electro-Acoustic Improv
London & UK Improv & Related Scenes
Trio Recordings
New in Improvised Music
Recent Releases and Best Sellers

Search for other titles on the label:
Discus.


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