Freely improvised and unusual collective improv from the quintet of Christian Meaas Svendsen (double bass), Andreas Wildhagen (drums), Ayumi Nataka (piano), Adrian Loseth Waade (violin) and Agness Hvizdalek (voice), an abstract yet energetic album with Hvizdalek's voice adding an exotic edge to extended techniques based in free jazz strategies.
Label: Nakama Records Catalog ID: NKM013CD Squidco Product Code: 26109
Format: CD Condition: New Released: 2017 Country: Norway Packaging: Digipack Recorded at Amann Studio, in Vienna, Austria, in May, 2017, by Christoph Amann.
"Socrates said, some 2000 years ago: "The children nowadays love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise". In the eyes of the elders, the youth is always representing a worse generation. In today's western world there still lives a total of 5 historically distinguishable generations. The track titles on Nakama's 4th album is named after them. Zooming out in both time and space and looking at the current state of the world these five generations must truly be the "Worst Generation" ever in human history. They are all part of- and have contributed to the current state of affairs. Paradoxically, new generations also bring with them a sense of hope and change. Maybe when we look back again 100 years from now this Generation turns out to be the best one?! Worst Generation is Nakama's first album with the group's new member Agnes Hvizdalek. It is also the group's first fully improvised album. The titleson the CD is in English on one side and Japanese on the other with the imprint in beautiful gloss. The LP version is in lenticular - the motif changes when viewed from a different angle! One thing is always something different and at the same time two sides of the same coin..."-Nakama Records
"This is the fourth album by the Norwegian ensemble called Nakama, led by bassist Christian Meaas Svendsen, which also includes violinist Adrian Løseth Waade, pianist Ayumi Tanaka and drummer Andreas Wildhagen, and also for the first time the new member of the ensemble, vocalist Agnes Hvizdalek. The album presents five improvised pieces, all credited to the ensemble.
The decision to move towards completely Improvised Music represents the new direction Nakama is pursuing on this album, letting go of all pre-composed elements and immersing into extreme spontaneously created avant-garde music. As a result the music on this album is even more difficult and estranged than their previous recordings, which might limit their contact with the established followers' base.
Devoid of any clear melodic / harmonic / rhythmic elements, the listener is faced with an abstract expressionist collection of sounds, free to react to those sonic stimuli completely unrestrained by any cognitive limitations. As a result this music might sound completely different to each and every listener, with varying degrees of conceptual communication. Perhaps this is the strongest asset of this music, which expands the communication between the ensemble members further towards the listeners as well.
In spite of the abstract nature of this music, it is neither chaotic nor aggressive. I had no problem to listen to the entire album from the very first time and in fact quite enjoyed it, as I might have enjoyed an exhibition of abstract painting or any other form of abstract Art. Despite the weird and eerie external, there is some internal aesthetic in these improvisations, which manages to come through and touch the listener. This is quite rare occasion when extreme avant-garde manages to personally touch my musical perception so profoundly, which of course I find quite miraculous.
Overall this is an album for a small and "brave" group of hyper-adventurous listeners, who are able to free themselves from all pre-conceptions and miss-conceptions and dive head first into the big unknown. Some of those people might even emerge with a smile on their face, like yours truly."-Adam Baruch, The Soundtrack of my Life