The Squid's Ear Magazine

Zethson, Alex Ensemble

Some Of Them Were Never Unprepared [VINYL]

Zethson, Alex Ensemble: Some Of Them Were Never Unprepared [VINYL] (thanatosis produktion)

Exploring how a composition can provide a sense of weightlessness, and influenced by the music of gamelan, krautrock, Tony Conrad & Arnold Dreyblatt, composer Alex Zethson structured these works to influence the 13 performers in his ensemble into a state of intense focus and listening as they strike, bow and pluck their instruments, creating an ecstatic sense of infinite motion.
 

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product information:

Personnel:



Alex Zethson-piano

Karin Ingves-piano

Anton Toorell-guitar

Giannis Arapis-guitar

Kasper Agnas-guitar

Elsa Bergman-bass

Torbjorn Zetterberg-bass

Leo Svensson Sander-cello

My Hellgren-celli

Anna Lindal-violin, contact mic

Josefin Runsteen-violin

Andreas Hiroui Larsson-drums, gongs

Niclas Lindstrom-shaker


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Label: thanatosis produktion
Catalog ID: THTLP8
Squidco Product Code: 31752

Format: LP
Condition: New
Released: 2021
Country: Sweden
Packaging: LP
Recorded at Atlantis Metronome, in Stockholm, Sweden, on March 24th, 2021, by Niclas Lindstrom.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"Zethson imagines two lines in this music: one is horizontal, it has no defined start and it goes on forever, ad infinitum; the other one is vertical, it starts with the human flesh attached to various sound sources (plucking, bowing, striking them) and it stretches upwards, carried by the sound. The music was especially composed for, and arranged and performed by an ensemble consisting of 13 musicians, based in Sweden and Greece, who are active on the scenes of experimental jazz, contemporary classical music, folk, rock noise and various forms of improvised music. I watched a livestream of this piece and was so impressed I reached out to him and we decided to co-release, he is doing the LP and I'm doing the CD."-Relative Pitch



"As a musician, I've been curious for many years of how collective musical practices can provide a sense of weightlessness, as well as how a focused interplay can blur the lines between musicians and sound sources and create reconfigurations of the relations between the two. I have also tried to explore these observations in depth in some of my composed music: during 2015-2017 I experimented with ways to surprise and destabilise myself in the solo format within the compositional framework of pole of inaccessibility (released as THT1, 2016), by way of using an unprepared piano and a Korg MS20 synthesizer. In the piece featured on this release - Some Of Them Were Never Unprepared - I wanted to explore similar processes but in the context of an ensemble. Influenced by, e.g., gamelan, krautrock, and the music of Tony Conrad and Arnold Dreyblatt, I wrote the piece during 2020 and 2021 and it premiered at the Stockholm festival Svensk Musikvar in March 2021. I tried to create an environment wherein each of the performing musicians would attain a state of intense focus (on their own striking, plucking and bowing tasks). At the same time, I wanted the musicians to be somewhat forced to listen closely to the whole, and possibly to get lost in the sound of the ensemble. The compositional method that I used was to structure most of the rhythmical and tonal material in unison or in a few groups, and mainly use instruments with preparations (which in some cases would gradually move on the strings). My ambition was that this would create a difficulty for the musicians to distinguish all sound sources (not least their own ones) at all times, and that this uncertainness would establish a particular kind of concentration and collective bond that in turn would result in a sound world that would feel open and non-proclamative to a listener. The music was especially composed for, and arranged and performed by an ensemble consisting of 13 musicians, based in Sweden and Greece, who are active on the scenes of experimental jazz, contemporary classical music, folk, rock noise and various forms of improvised music. Their musicality and devotion have been crucial in order to make the piece come alive and to sound like it does; their performance and presence provide the flesh and blood that is needed. The album was recorded and mixed by Niclas Lindstrom at studio Atlantis Grammofon, and mastered by Mell Dettmer, both to whom I am very grateful. I imagine two lines in this music: one is horizontal, it has no defined start and it goes on forever, ad infinitum; the other one is vertical, it starts with the human flesh attached to various sound sources (plucking, bowing, striking them) and it stretches upwards, carried by the sound."-Alex Zethson, August 2021

Also available on CD.

Artist Biographies

"Karin Ingves is a pianist and composer with an educational background in classical music as well as improvisation and jazz. Nowadays she is mainly active in smaller constellations where she explores both open and semi-structured forms of improvisation. She regularly works in a duo with clarinetist Marcus Wärnheim (who will release his debut album in 2021) and is part of the Alex Zethson Ensemble (which will debut in October 2021). She has previously played concerts at e.g. the Swedish Music Spring festival as well as Kulturhuset and Fylkingen."

-Stockholm Jazz Festival (https://stockholmjazz.se/artist/karin-ingves/)
3/13/2024

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

Anton Toorell is a guitarist & electronics artist, known group work and music for films. He is a member of Invader Ace, Receptacles, Dammit I'm Mad, and has worked with The Ägg, Trondheim Jazz Orchestra & The MaXx, Linnea Henriksson, Carolina Wallin Perez, and Propanions.

-Anton Toorell Website (https://www.antontoorell.com/)
3/13/2024

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

"Giannis Arapis (1994) is a guitarist based in Athens, Greece who performs, composes and improvises experimental rock and jazz music. His main purpose is to help establish the electric guitar as a melodic voice in avant-garde music, thus showing how you can create chaos with melodic phrases. Some of his main influences are the first free jazz saxophonists, as well as classical composers such as Bella Bartok and Shostakovich.

He has played and recorded with Noël Akchoté, Mats Gustafsson, Eva Lindal, Johan Berthling among others.

Some of his notable groups in noise rock and free jazz are Mammock and Ramdat."

-NeuGuitars (https://neuguitars.com/2021/10/13/slow-arrow-by-giannis-arapis-vilhelm-bromander-vangelis-dimos-ramble-records-2021-on-neuguitars-blog/)
3/13/2024

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

"Born in 1992, Kasper Agnas has, over the past years, been at the helm of the new Swedish jazz scene. He has collaborated with a number of European musicians (Julia Strzalek, Susana Santos Silva, David Stackenäs, Joakim Milder, Nils Landgren...) and received critical acclaim for his group Agnas Bros., bringing together his three brothers with whom he has toured several European countries.

Kasper was the winner of the Montreux Jazz Electric Guitar Competition in 2017."

-All About Jazz (https://www.allaboutjazz.com/musicians/kasper-agnas)
3/13/2024

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

Elsa Bergman is a Stockholm, Sweden-based double bass-player working in free jazz and improvised music. She plays in the free jazz sextet "Anna Högberg Attack", who have released and album on Swedish label Omlott. She is also a member of the high-energy improv quartet "Festen" whose debut albumwas on the Portuguese label Clean Feed. She leads her own quartet "Elsas Eget Omdöme", and is a member of Fire! Orchestra, Golden Offence Orchestra, Hästköttskandalen, Motståndsorkestern Version 1.

-Squidco 3/13/2024

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

"Torbjörn Zetterberg (born 10 May 1976) is a Swedish jazz musician (double bass) and composer, known from collaborations with Jonas Kullhammar.

Zetterberg attended Södra Latin och Fridhems Folkhögskola in Svalöv but was first recognised as bassist when he studied at Kungliga Musikhögskolan in Stockholm still very young. Here he studied bass under guidance of Jan Adefelt. Soon he joined drummer Fredrik Norén's band together with the saxophonist Jonas Kullhammar. Already at this point one could sense that he would become a prominent figure in the Swedish jazz scene. Now his name is firmly rooted in the vibrant progressive selection as the new jazz generation.

He went through a personal crisis and did not record as a bandleader for more than seven years. Zetterberg was uncomfortable with his career and in 2010 he decided to leave the urban life including his bass, and moved to a Buddhist temple. There he resided for a year and still spends half of his time there in 2016. This existential crisis led to the production of the album Och Den Stora Frågan ("And the Big Question" in Swedish) in 2014. Here he collaborated with well known musicians from his earlier career, like the Portuguese trumpeter Susana Santos Silva and drummer Jon Fält, known from albums with pianist Bobo Stenson's trio. The album is "charged with joyful urgency, shiny optimism and confident flowing energy, despite the doubts and uncertainties that accompany any creative, artistic process", the reporter of All About Jazz stated in 2014."

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torbj%C3%B6rn_Zetterberg)
3/13/2024

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

"Cellist Leo Svensson Sander is a member of Erlend Viken Trio, Eter (6), Gul 3, Skog Och Dal, Skogen, Skuggorna Och Ljuset, The Tiny, Walrus"

-Discogs 3/13/2024

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

"My Hellgren lives in Göteborg, Sweden, and works as a cellist in many different contexts. She is mostly active in the scene of contemporary music and is a member of Curious chamber players, ensemble Mimitabu and the text/sound trio MonoMono.

She is occasionally working with other ensembles like Gageego! and Scenatet and as a substitute in several symphony orchestras such as GSO and the Gothenburg opera.

My likes to work close with composers and has premiered solo and chamber music pieces. She has participated in different temporary innovative projects and recieved grant and support from Konstnärsnämnden, Statens musikverk and others.

My is educated at the Royal Academy of Music in Copenhagen and at the Academy of music and drama at the university of Gothenburg."

-My Hellgren Website (https://myhellgren.com/)
3/13/2024

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

"Anna Lindal, violin, studied in Sweden and Switzerland. Lived and performed in Switzerland and France for many years, played in the string trio Trio des Lyres specialized in mixed programs with barock and classical music on original instruments as well as contemporary works. During this time the film "Livsstråk" was made which is a musical portrait of Anna Lindal.

From 1983 to 2001 concertmaster of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in Stockholm and from 2002 Professor of violin at the Royal college of Music in Stockholm.

Currently Professor in Music att Stockholm University of the Arts and free lance violinist. Engaged in artistic research on interpretation/improvisation and tradition/convention versus contemporary expressions.

Performs regularly as soloist, as chamber musician, in experimental theatre and in different groups for free improvisation. Collaborates with a large number of contemporary composers and has had many new compositions dedicated to her. Made several recordings, among others two solo records with works by John Cage and Christian Wolff together with related composers. Has also been performing instrumental Argentine Tango in the quintet Tango Libre for several years."

-Anna Lindal Website (http://annalindal.se/bio.html)
3/13/2024

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

"Josefin Runsteen: Swedish vocalist, violinist, drummer and keyboards player. In Groups: Alex Zethson Ensemble, Fire! Orchestra, Mattias Risberg's Mining, Wildhart"

-Discogs (https://www.discogs.com/artist/4022438-Josefin-Runsteen)
3/13/2024

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

"Andreas Hiroui Larsson is a Swedish aesthetician, artist, artistic researcher, and musician.

He is a researcher at Stockholm University of the Arts, as part of the artistic research project Lethe (2020-23), which explores forgetfulness as an artistic method. The project is funded by the Swedish Research Council.

Larsson conducts an interdisciplinary artistic practice, in which his method of contextualising aspects of non-idiomatic improvisation, the non-productive attitude, and pluralist aesthetics, enables the concepts and materials to play the roles and fulfil the purposes of one another. Thus in terms of ontology, his works are - be it contemporary music, experimental literature, or digital graphic music scores - as much works of music and philosophy as they are works of visual art.

His works are published by Firework Edition and Firework Edition Records (SWE), Peter Lang (DE/US), Nutida Musik (SWE), Relative Pitch Records (US), Lethe (SWE/NO), Found You Recordings (SWE), Olof Bright (SWE/AT), Thanatosis Produktion (SWE), Pink Pamphlet (US/SWE), Ermatell (RU), and FMR (GB). His works are held in the collections of The Nobel Library of the Swedish Academy (SE), Princeton University Library (US), University Library Dresden (DE), Stockholm Public Library (SE), and Sachsska Children's Hospital in Stockholm (SE).

Education

Royal Institute of Art, Stockholm, Postgraduate Studies Philosophy in the Context of Art (2016-17); Uppsala University, Undergraduate Studies Aesthetics (2016-17); Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien, Diploma Studies Performative and Textual Sculpture (2013-15); Pernby College of Art, Stockholm, Undergraduate Studies Painting and Sculpture (2011-13); Royal College of Music, Stockholm, Undergraduate and Graduate Studies Jazz and Improvised Music (2006-10, 2018-20); Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, Undergraduate Studies Generative Improvisation and Experimental Composition (2008-09)"

-Andreas Hiroui Larsson Website (https://andreashirouilarsson.weebly.com/)
3/13/2024

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

Niclas Lindstrom: "Swedish drummer born in Växjö. Studied jazz and improvisation at Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm."

-All About Jazz (https://www.allaboutjazz.com/musicians/niclas-lindstrom)
3/13/2024

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


Track Listing:



SIDE A



1. Part I 17:00

SIDE B



1. Part II 16:22

Related Categories of Interest:


Vinyl Recordings
Compositional Forms
Ambient & Minimal Music
Percussion & Drums
Stringed Instruments
Large Ensembles
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New in Compositional Music

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thanatosis produktion.


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