Dark, often unsettling and rich in detail and innuendo, bassist Marc Urselli brings together this quartet with Lee Ranaldo on guitar, pedals & bells, Jim Jarmusch on guitars, pedals & synth, and Balazs Pandi on drums for their second album of sublimely tension-filled improvisation, patiently building to stealthy momentum and retreating back into night.
Format: LP Condition: New Released: 2021 Country: Austria Packaging: LP Recorded at EastSide Sound Studios, in New York, New York, in 2019, by Marc Urselli.
"Marc Urselli brings together cult film maker and musician Jim Jarmusch, Sonic Youth co-founder Lee Ranaldo with drummer Balasz Pandi for a beautiful studio session on a cold winter day in New York City.
LEE RANALDOLee Ranaldo co-founded Sonic Youth - one of the most original and influencing bands in the modern music-world, founded in 1981 - has been active on the New York music and art scene for the past 35 years as composer performer producer, also exhibiting visual art and publishing several books of journals and poetry. Ranaldo lives in New York City.
JIM JARMUSCHJim Jarmusch is a legendary independent filmmaker (cultmovies "Down by Law", "Coffee and Cigarettes", "Dead Man", "Nigth on Earth" and many more), and musician. As a founding member of the band SQÜRL, he has released five records and has scored films like "The Limits of Control", or "Only Lovers Left Alive", Jarmusch also collaborated with Jozef Van Wissem on three duo records. Born in Akron, Ohio, he lives and works in New York.
BALAZS PANDIIn his book "Life is a Rip-Off" John Olson describes Balazs Pandi as a drummer who "has all the corner chops covered from Repulsion-blast beasts to the futuristic urban free scree of the New York Art Ensemble. Starting out a metal thrash & hardcore skin pounder of local energy units, Balazs soon dove headfirst into the avant jazz world and has since jammed with Wadada Leo Smith, Arthur Doyle, Trevor Dunn, Jamie Saft, Joe Morris & Roswell Rudd. [...] Pandi has also branched into the PA-mangling world of free electronics scattered with continued live and studio recordings with the master of noise Masami Akita aka Merzow, free-sludge rockers Porn, Bill Laswell, Justin Broadrick - and jazz crossed-stream polluters Mats Gustafsson & Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore." Balazs is also a journalist of music and culture. Balazs lives and works in Budapest, Hungary.
MARC URSELLI3-time Grammy Award winning engineer, producer, mixer, sound designer Marc Urselli has worked with ,many big names in the current pop, jazz, metal and rock scene (Foo Fighters, Lou Reed, Keith Richards, Nick Cave, Joss Stone, Mike Patton, Laurie Anderson) and recorded more than 100 records with John Zorn alone. Marc was born in Switzerland and lives and works between London and New York City."-Trost
"2019's self-titled debut by this unusual quartet was such an understated and solid recording, I was worried that it would be a one-off. These concerns were allayed last week with the announcement of a sophomore effort, Churning of the Ocean, to be released June 11 on TROST Records. I use the word "unusual" because of the group members' disparate backgrounds. Ranaldo is well known for his key role in Sonic Youth, Jarmusch is a musician and filmmaker, Urselli a producer and confidant of John Zorn, and Pandi one of the most versatile drummers of his generation. The music is rather unconventional as well.
The album sounds as if four long-time friends got together on a rainy afternoon for a joyous yet melancholy jam session. Like its predecessor, Churning of the Ocean was recorded live in the studio without overdubs. Some of these pieces venture off into free improvisation, while others maintain a loose structure. The dual guitar approach of Ranaldo and Jarmusch is in no hurry to get anywhere and takes plenty of diversions. Often, one of these two is generating textures and soundscapes while the other plays chords and brief solos, manipulates feedback, or provides further texture. The rhythm section is deliberate without being plodding, kept active by Pandi's relentless explorations. Urselli's bass contributions are subdued, while his laptop effects merge well with the group's noisemaking.
That all said, Churning of the Ocean is simply an enjoyable listen, from start to finish. Kudos to Ranaldo, Jarmusch, Urselli, and Pandi for making a great follow-up to a great album."-Mike, Avant Music News