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previous record label: gonzo circus		there are 17 titles on grob in stock. they are listed below.		next record label: ground fault

$15.12

back in stock as of
january 25th, 2008

first in stock on
august 9th, 2006

threads:
electro-acoustic-improvisation

grob (germany) #grob 656 cd

gene coleman / franz hautzinger / sachiko m / otomo yoshihide “concert in st. louis” compact disc

1_51:33”
2_09:19”

grob press release...

gene coleman: bass clarinet
franz hautzinger: quarter tone trumpet
sachiko m: sine waves and contact microphone on objects
otomo yoshihide: guitar and turntables

gene coleman/franz hautzinger/sachiko m/otomo yoshihide - concert in st. louis

in the last four or five years there has been a clear set trend towards stillness in improvised music. the classical parameters – the forming of energy states, the spontaneous, dense communication – are not relevant to this music, but rather the empty spaces, the disparate, non-dynamic, the recessed. stillness.

this trend is not without its detractors, and from various positions (musicians, theoreticians) it is feared that too much of the former tilled field is being forfeited. there is polemic: improvised music tends to attach itself to trends in new music, after they have long become passé. like the trend of the non-gestural stillness.

gene coleman, bass clarinetist, long-standing protagonist of chicago’s most varying experimental and avant-garde scene (he can be heard, among others, on the albums of gastr del sol), a festival organizer and curator on the go, lives mostly from his compositions. he does not have to hang onto any trend, he does not feel any need to innovate and does not see himself exposed to any scene pressure. gene coleman plays and acts autonomously.

for a tour in the autumn of 2002 he put together a quartet out of musicians with whom he has worked together before. franz hautzinger (quarter-tone trumpet, grob 211, grob 313/4, grob 425, grob 435, grob 544), sachiko m (sinus generator, contact microphones, grob 432, 435), otomo yoshihide (guitar, turntables, grob 432) are all world renowned musicians and improvisers who have mastered the use of musical stillness.

so these are the best prerequisites not to reproduce the “cliché of stillness,” but rather to initiate a restful as well as very open and highly flexible improvising process. stillness is not assumed here, is not a result and an purpose worth aspiring for, but rather it is a means to form. the strong rustling improvisation does not deplete itself, but rather brings forth new constellation of their playing together (also next to each other)

it is slow, peaceful, very relaxed flowing music. but whoever listens closely will hear the tension and the exertion, the wrestling to create expression.

next year grob will release a cd that will present some of his current compositions.

$15.12

back in stock as of
january 25th, 2008

first in stock on
august 9th, 2006

grob (germany) #grob 654 cd

konk pack “off leash” compact disc

off leash (43:21)

grob press release...

konk pack - off leash

off leash is the third release of the delicate high-energy trio konk pack – founded in 1998 and made up of thomas lehn on ems-synthesizer, roger turner on drums and tim hodgkinson on la-top steel guitar and clarinet.

big deep (1999, grob 102) was a selection of their first concerts: warp out (2001, grob 323) was the first studio recording. off leash is a live recording again, from a concert in utrecht in 2001 that was made under most favorable conditions conceivable. the sound is superb, the details of the live performance can be heard in the cd’s tonal image, the instruments are present and clear. if you close your eyes, you can easily imagine sitting directly in a stirring concert. but what are the best recording conditions worth with the music cannot keep with them?

off leash bears up to the musicians’ critical ears. for the first time they are so convinced of their own concert that they found it valuable to release it in its entirety on a cd. (this, by the way, is why the cd is only being released now: they listened to the music again and again, checked it, compared it to other recordings, and then it was mastered by thomas lehn in the end.) for the first time, off leash offers the opportunity of following an entire konk pack improvisation in real time, without any post production dramaturgy and cosmetics. the extremely powerful passages, their legendary free punk, is in a perfectly balanced proportion to the peaceful, sometimes fragile, passages that nearly crumble apart.

the music is both: it is consistent, like of a cast, like from a group that had played far more than 100 concerts (which is seldom in the world of improvised music); the music, however, is also eruptive, often surprising, fragmentary and heterogeneous. the music from konk pack is the contradiction made productive: finely engraved tonal work and hard free punk are not placed non-reconcilably next to each other; in fact, they determine each other

an essential reason for this is the radically horizontal improvisational method of the musicians. all three constantly play with each other. there is no fore or background, no soloists and no accompaniment; in general no solo and no “feature” of one individual. the system “konk pack” means that each has to constantly keep the other two in his ear. their music is and remains consequently collective. off leash, the utrecht concert, is currently the best live recording of their holy palaver.

the cover art work is from tim hodgkinson and roger turner.

$15.12

back in stock as of
january 25th, 2008

first in stock on
august 9th, 2006

grob (germany) #grob 649 cd

günter müller / norbert möslang “boom_box” compact disc

jogger_jump 10’21”
freelance_frontier 4’03”
overtime_ozonizer 17’05”
respire_resume 13’38”

grob press release...

müller_möslang - boom_box

günter müller: selected percussion, md’s, ipod, electronics
norbert möslang: cracked everyday-electronics

boom box is one of the first recordings of norbert möslang after the break up of voice crack, his legendary duo with andi gühl which lasted a good 30 years. it was performed in october 2001 in cologne’s loft with günter müller.

back then voice crack still existed, and möslang’s gig with müller would seem to be something frivolous. would it work? to perform in another duo? without the trusty colleague? obviously norbert möslang and günter müller didn’t care much about these questions. boom-box is not about how much or how little it sounds like voice crack. not only, because günter müller – drummer, percussionist and live electronics performer in the last ten years – brought along a complete instrumentarium (with this in mind, one could just as easily ask how much or little this recordings has from müller’s other recordings?). the focus has shifted – with voice crack we did not only hear improvisation, but rather the sound of manipulated, half-kaput, destroyed or decoded electronic devises from everyday life. on boom-box, möslang also plays his cracked everyday-electronics, but their tonal surroundings is a different one. it is a wide, ethereal tonal ambience, the structures are lucid, the music is transparent. again and again there are foregrounds and backgrounds, individual tonal configurations stand out clearly and distinctly, specific sounds are repeated, thus creating a scaffold through which other sounds are elegantly woven.since the early 90’s, müller and möslang have played with all the greats of electro-acoustic improvisation: with otomo yoshihide, jim o’rourke, borbetomagus, jérome noetinger, lionel marchetti, keith rowe, erik m., toshimaru nakemura. the two count as (voluntary/non-voluntary) co-founder of this scene. in the presence of these impressive musical biographies, boom_box is not a summary, it’s not a ”concentration on the essential,” but rather something new, a next step and a very elegant one at that.

$15.12

back in stock as of
january 25th, 2008

first in stock on
august 9th, 2006

grob (germany) #grob 648 cd

keith rowe / oren ambarchi / robbie avenaim “honey pie” compact disc

honey pie (39:46)

grob press release...

keith rowe/oren ambarchi/robbie avenaim - honey pie

keith rowe: tabletop guitar, electronics
oren mabarchi: guitar, electronics
robbie avenaim: percussion, electronics

honey pie, recorded live in france in may 2001, is the second part of our three-part series with recordings documenting the cooperation of keith rowe and oren ambarchi. part 1 was the cd thumb (grob 432, recently re-released, rowe/ambarchi/avenaim in a quintet with oren ambarchi/sachiko m and otomo yoshihide); part 3, which will be released in nine months, will document the first real-time duo gig of ambarchi and rowe.

if thumb was about something like ”absence in presence,” about, well, the artsy trick of improvising like a quintet and sounding simply like a duo, then honey pie is a dynamic, powerful 40-minute recording. the static intimated at the beginning and lasting for four or five minutes is cautiously preserved by the musicians – rowe and ambarchi on guitars, avenaim on percussion, all three on live electronics – and this static is transformed in a constantly changing process. on thumb, the tension was produced using static (via an endless extension of a ”something”) and therefore ”disappointed,” we hear on honey pie tension sans phrase. at first there is no drone, no great sound, upon which the musicians can comfortably retire (the great sound, which then originates in the process of the improvisation is rich and complex in itself). they improvise without flourish, develop small structures of a nearly motive-like character. thanks to this, the stringency, too, of rowe’s flatness is questioned, albeit softly. honey pie thus leaves the impression of a near playful, loose session. listen to it loudly!

$15.12

back in stock as of
january 25th, 2008

first in stock on
august 9th, 2006

grob (germany) #grob 546 cd

weasel walter / kevin drumm / fred lonberg-holm “eruption” compact disc

lost weasel/kevin/fred trio freakout !!!

0. prologue

i. blood

2>>begin with a dribble end with a very strong downbeat cue
3>>exploding artery
4>>eruption
5>>erupting with pus
6>>eruption of pus
7>>eruption of non compliant pus in the plague of mediocrity
8>>saliva sprinkler
9>>raging torrent
10>>non compliant raging torrent
11>>please chop off your penis (now)
12>>fluid-filled lung sack
13>>unexpected death
14>>it would be way too predictible if we mentioned 'death' again

ii excrement

15>>crank up the 'bullshil' knob to 10
16>>why can't i shit?
17>>feel/smell/taste/hear/touch the shit
18>>it's shit!
19>>eat shit...and live!

iii mania

20>>"i take my hangovers like a real man"
21>>i just whaled on a music critic with a baseball bat
22>>take me seriously or i'll start crying
23>>"if you keep saying things like that no one will like you"
24>>the pat boone of "improvised music" walks among us
25>>"your problem is that you only play fast all of the time"
26>>we're funny and if you don't agree you're stupid
27>>another incredible display of physical exertion
28>>serious music with sardonic song tilles
29>>pretending to wreck my musical equipment makes me feel tough
3o>>give that guy some more press coverage! quick!
31>>the more you frown the more i smile
32>>"how does it feel when someone does that to you?"
33>>i made a phony 1ribute album" to make fun of self-righteous know-it-alls (and it worked!)
34>>"you aren't being avantgarde in the correct way"
35>>your unlistenable musical masturbations aren't quite as interesting as mine
36>>i released 78.032 dinerent compact discs of improvised music last week (and sold 14)
37>>"why must you always say such shocking things?"
38>>"in 20 years i'll probably like your music but right now i think you're a total dick"
39>>quit shrieking in my ear
40>>surprise ending

click the play button to hear an excerpt of "i take my hangovers like a real man"

“great” 2002 studio freakout from the trio of weasel walter, kevin drumm, and fred lonberg-holm. could be seen as the “follow-up” to the o’rourke/walter/lonberg-holm takayanagi tribute... or not.

current generations have much to learn re: the art of self-deprecating song title(s) from this release...

grob press release...

weasel walter/kevin drumm/fred lonberg-holm - eruption

weasel walter: drumming.
kevin drumm: electric tr, tapes, mics, pedals, synthesizer.
fred lonberg-holm: cello.

this recording was made one fine afternoon during the summer of 2002.
we have lorgotten the actual date.

the recording engineers were robert j. wllkus and todd albert rittman.
the final mix and mastering was executed by weasel waiter in december 2002

titles published by sedilion dog music (bmi) and jllmar music (bmi),
copyright 2003 by waiter, drumm and lonberg-holm.

contact weaselw@junl,com for booking intormations or inquiries.
cover by weasel waiter, finished art by sandra renz

three years ago we released the weasel walter’s recording tribute to masayuki takayanagi (grob 208). in addition to walter (drums, guitar, mix, artwork) and fred lonberg-holm (cello), jim o’rourke (guitar) also participated in the sessions. this secured the recording a certain popularity and provoked furious reactions. since tribute to masayuki takayanagi certainly does not stand for the finely engraved music that has made o’rourke popular worldwide. the recording was free improvised death metal, a committed transformation of the early noise music of takayanagi (this first japanese noise guitarist had his important phase in the 70’s) into the present. more than a few critics saw this as disrespectful towards takayanagi. weasel walter, earlier in chicago, now in california, is, however, a master of, if you will, meta-disrespectfullness. what would happen if the energy and impact of takayanagi could only be mediated today by overdoing it? honoring a great role model means kicking him in the shins.

the (journalistic) rejection could really only lead to making a further tribute to masayuki takayanagi album and to work out even more concretely the presumed disrespectfullness. the first album was indeed one session, the trio walter/lonberg-holm/o’rourke existed only as long as the recording; the second album was supposed to be a worked-out studio production. walter grabbed lonberg-holm and his ideal guitarist kevin drumm, brought them in a chicago recording studio in the summer of 2002 – and went a step further: he broke free of the takayanagi paradigm and played an improvised music that synthesized his free jazz socialization with the no-wave grind core of this band the flying luttenbachers (which happens here, perhaps, for the first time).

eruption pushes the process of reflection – reflections upon improvised music, the contemporary character of free jazz, the energy of speed metal, and of course the reflections upon takayanagi – even further towards independence. one hour of music, 40 tracks (the liner notes, an attack upon a saturated and self-righteous free jazz scene, are in code in the track titles). excessive concentration, the most concentrated excesses. walter weasel (still: drums, power-electronics, mix, cover art) is at the height of his abilities. he is brilliantly supported/supplemented/spurred on once again by fred lonberg-holm, the most versatile cellist of the improvisation scene, and kevin drumm, one of the avant-garde heroes of the last seven, eight years, who here is able to express his death metal obsessions.

$15.12

back in stock as of
january 25th, 2008

first in stock on
august 9th, 2006

threads:
electro-acoustic-improvisation

file under:
free-improv

grob (germany) #grob 543 cd

the bsc “good” compact disc

good

grob press release...

the bsc - good

in vienna, berlin and tokyo musicians are working on stillness, reduction, non-expressivity and micro-differentiation. in cologne, london, new york, chicago, paris, warsaw, this music is performed and written about. but up to now the most exciting of this scene has been happening outside these large cities. for example, in boston. that this city possesses a young and rather large improv scene including labels and venues is well known. there are even a few ”superstars” like the saxophonist bhob rainey and the trumpeter greg kelley, two musicians who have easily liberated themselves from established improvisation patterns. what has been missing till now is a recording that clearly exemplifies the sound of boston. such a thing can hardly be forced, it always seems to happen casually, e.g. when one listens to a concert recording again and again and then suddenly discovers how definitive it is!

such a stroke of luck has arrived with the bsc – good. the bsc is a chamber orchestra from boston led by bhob rainey. joining him are greg kelley (of course), james coleman (theremin), howard stelzer (tapes), liz tonne (voice), vic rawlings (cello, electronics), mike bullock (bass), and chris cooper (prepared guitar), with guests axel dörner (trumpet) and andrea neumann (inside piano).

good is a 37-minute, improvisation process recorded live, which creatively draws on the resources from the reduced parameters of this new improvised music. despite all the stillness, the music is also surprisingly dense and tightly woven together. the music captivates via a noisiness radical maintained throughout the whole piece, and in spite of this (or because of it?), it is lyrical and surreal. the melody of metallic shimmering tonal colors can be heard from the very beginning.

$15.12

back in stock as of
january 25th, 2008

first in stock on
august 9th, 2006

threads:
electro-acoustic-improvisation

file under:
free-improv

grob (germany) #grob 540 cd

alessandro bosetti / annette krebs “(06.2003)” compact disc

(07.27)
(09.50)
(09.02)
(05.53)
(08.28)
(05.05)

grob press release...

alessandro bosetti/ annette krebs (06.2003)

in the summer of 2001 we got a recording from alessandro bosetti, saxophone player, improviser, composer of musique concrète and at that time having lived in berlin for less than a year. the recording has pieces that he had just recorded with the guitarist annette krebs. the decision to release this recordings was made quickly, and in the summer of 2002 it should have appeared. due to an unlucky chain of events, the recording is appearing only now, nine months later. but nothing has changed about its radical nature, its unconditional modernity.

krebs and bosetti are among some of the most exciting musicians from berlin, both have long been well-known in international circles. annette krebs, who plays an electro-acoustically prepared classical guitar, belongs on an equal basis with improvisers (and composers) such as andrea neumann, taku sugimoto, toshimaru nakemura or axel dörner, with whom she has worked with, she belongs in a category of those musicians who have expanded the concept of improvisation beyond free jazz, post-serialism or the "english school" in the last few years. stillness, minimalism, noise (but the later is not meant in the sense of a racket, but as a kind of unmediated sound), rustling, consciousness of structure and spontaneity, all of these experience a new value through these musicians - above all through annette krebs' way of playing the guitar.

the saxophone player alessandro bosetti has also devoted himself to a radical noise-like way of playing, and yet one always senses how strongly he has been influenced by steve lacy and modern jazz of the 60's and 70's. in their duets, they do not, however, simply extend their work on noise. the music is formed by a pronounced sense of structure. they work on short units, with many pauses and stillness - but never for the sake of a pause (or stillness). each pause has it exactly defined place in the dynamics of the music. bosetti and krebs savor monochrome tonal colors, research the gray behind the gray - and nonetheless this music is not monumental, not simply noise, not a hermetic block. it is a very exact, reflected music that never becomes overbearing or stiff. it has something casual, in the best sense of the word, it's non-ambitious. although one really senses the work involved in it and necessary for it, the music remains unstrained, completely nonchalant and cool.

the artwork is from the musicians, made after a model from franz hautzinger.

alessandro bosetti
annette krebs

$15.12

back in stock as of
january 25th, 2008

first in stock on
august 9th, 2006

threads:
electro-acoustic-improvisation

file under:
kunst-ton
free-improv

grob (germany) #grob 538 cd

blank / raymond pettibon “blank meets pettibon” compact disc

i don't go nowhere without my microphone (rehearsal for your pleasure) (02.44)
be careful what you pay for/yo! bum rush the show (02.21)
put your damn hands up! (02.59)
boo hoo
i'll tell my baby on you (05.43)
we're an american band (04.53)
we all did what we could do (02.06)

grob press release...

blank (oliver augst, rüdiger carl, christoph korn) feat. raymond pettibon (02.2003)

the frankfurt trio blank encounters classic improvisation with the sure-footed and subversive gesture of contemporary anarchism. they work on small forms; out of songs, elements of pop music, noise and theatrics (in the true sense of the word) they cut out strange miniatures of free improvisation. clarinetist and multi-instrumentalist rüdiger carl, fmp veteran from the very beginning, has already proven this "coolness" in various groups of his own (with cowws, in duo with red krayola mastermind mayo thompson, with the artists albert and markus oehlen). that he met the frankfurt text, theory and stage worker oliver augst (electronics, voice) and christoph korn (electric guitar) five years ago was only logical. all three curate the already legendary pol festival in the frankfurt mouson-turm and, above all, have released an excellent cd on fmp in 2000.

their music is direct, dynamic, expressive, without thereby perpetuating once again the dead history that is inherent in the adapted cliches. they not only get the form into their music, but they re-liquefy it; they do not understand the citation as citation, but as material.

in the fall of 2001, they met the american art star raymond pettibon in cologne's philharmonic concert hall. (to punks pettibon is no unknown. he drew the black flag and minutemen covers in the 80's.). pettibon was awarded the wolfgang hahn prize from the friends and supporters of the ludwig museum. museum director kaspar könig wanted an appropriate music accompaniment and invited blank. they, in turn, grabbed pettibon and worked with the otherwise so introverted artist on a group performance. and of course, everything ended up in a wild improvisation in which pettibon played the animator and inspirer. this cd is really a full quartet recording! pettibon did the cover work, and in addition, his notes and text fragments are printed.

blank meets pettibon is a gripping hardcore-improvisation (that even gives us a smash hit, "we're an american band!") and documents the highly controversial complete performance in the cologne philharmonic concert hall-after 20 minutes everything was over. every wish had been fulfilled.

oliver augst
rüdiger carl
christoph korn
raymond pettibon

$15.12

back in stock as of
january 25th, 2008

first in stock on
january 6th, 2003

threads:
electro-acoustic-improvisation
guitar-themed
minimalism-drones

grob (germany) #grob 432 cd

keith rowe / oren ambarchi / sachiko m / otomo yoshihide / robbie avenaim “thumb” compact disc

thumb (30:35)

i had a chat with oren a few months back about this blinding gig he'd played at the forum... err... instants chavires with the aforementioned lot and that, most unfortunately, it wasn't recorded as it was one of the most stimulating gigs of his young career. well... turns out it was recorded and here it is c/o felix klopotek's improv powerhouse grob. very good for us... 1 track, 30 minutes, 35 seconds. questionable fidelity, especially given the nature of the music, but that's never stopped anyone in the past... a slice of real life. in a vacuum.

grob press release...

oren ambarchi/robbie avenaim/keith rowe + otomo yoshihide + sachiko m - thumb (10.2002)

the moment before a rock band steps on stage: the amplifiers have been hooked up and are humming, the glaring flood lights are buzzing, a roadie is fiddling round with a drum set, pushes it a few centimeters until it is at the perfect place. above all the atmosphere is electrified.

this is the atmosphere the music on thumb conveys. of course a rock band will never step on stage, of course, the musicians make music the entire time (even when you don't believe it, because you don't think you can hear it! here stand, or rather sit, five musicians on stage).

this cd is the result of a recording or stage situation, happening so suddenly, that happened on may 29, 2001 in the legendary paris club, instants chavires. the trio ambarchi/avenaim/rowe (two prepared guitars, a little electronics and percussion) were on tour at the time in france (their first tour) and met the duo otomo/sachiko (guitar, turntables and sine wave generator), who are well-established and have proven themselves through uncountable recordings.

[do we have to introduce the musicians? hardly. ambarchi, rowe, yoshihide and m have strongly influenced the new improvised music of the 90's on numerous records and leave no doubt that they are playing the music of the moment in the new decade. avenaim, the percussionist, or roadie who pushes the drum set around, is a bit less well-known. he is the closest musical friend of ambarchi, both went to the same school and together worked through free jazz 15 years ago. up to today the have been playing together. his musical contribution is not a decibel less important than his friend's.]

the result of this meeting is not a hectic-unconcentrated jam session, not a labored search and then a timid find. what we hear is maximal concentration. and consolidation-not, however, in view of noise and energy. they condense their music activity into two or three lines: tender, but played all the more resolute and direct. the five play in this moment exactly as secure as if they had played together for years. thumb features the entire performance of this quintet. although it lasted only a little longer than a half-an-hour, the overview is quickly lost. have they already finished (have they even begun?)? how long have they been playing? ten minutes? twenty? an hour? at the end, their sound actually leaves not question unanswered.

thumb is the beginning of a series of cds that will focus on the cooperation of oran ambarchi and keith rowe. in spring 2003, a cd will appear from ambarchi, rowe, and avenaim, then in summer 2003 with rowe and ambarchi as duo, recorded in real time.

oren ambarchi
robbie avenaim
keith rowe
otomo yoshihide
sachiko m

$15.12

back in stock as of
january 25th, 2008

first in stock on
january 6th, 2003

threads:
electro-acoustic-improvisation
digital-musics
live-electronic

grob (germany) #grob 427 cd

peter van bergen / gert-jan prins / fennesz “dawn” compact disc

dawn (41:41)

aquarius gave this one a pretty fierce 2/3 across the chest, we'll be a little more forgiving. alright, maybe there is, suddenly, a flood of fennesz-related-improv release-activity. maybe we'd all like him to spend a little more time in the studio cranking out those gorgeous non-realtime nugs. but dammit, in our book, he's a damn great improvisor. this trio with mid school vet peter van bergen and young upstart gert-jan prins is great to listen to. no surprises there...

grob press release...

prins/ van bergen/ fennesz - dawn (03.2002)

dawn is a classical improvisation record, everything but post modern. it was recorded at the legendary total music meeting of free music production in november 2000. dawn is a composition played off the cuff of nearly 42 minutes. all the highs and lows of a longer composition are on this recording: searching and finding, restrained groping and violent erupting....

the decisive factor, however, is that this music is played by people who have nothing or very little to do with this attitude, by gert-jan prins (see his solo record prins live, grob210), by the saxophone player and composer peter van bergen (ensemble loos but also projects with georg graewe or wolfgang fuchs) and by christian fennesz, one of the superstars of the electronica jet set (see his current mego cd endless summer; he can also be heard on the grob cd (also on mimeo-electric chair + table). via their strictly "electronic thinking" (one hears a saxophone, of course, but the appearance deceives), these musicians break away from the approach on musical material developed within free improvisation in the last 40 years. on the other hand, this thinking does not lead to a "clicks 'n' cuts" aesthetic, but rather to a musical process that has been worked hard for, provisional, not completed, but gripping at every moment: what will happen next? what is coming? what breaks off and grows anew afterwards? hybrid music.

peter van bergen: windinstruments, ewi, sampling, computer.
gert-jan prins: electronics, fm modulations.
christian fennesz: computer.

dawn is part of violence & precision, a special project by studio loos.
recorded on november 2, 2000 during the "total music meeting" at the "podewil", berlin.

$15.12

back in stock as of
january 25th, 2008

first in stock on
january 6th, 2003

threads:
experimental-instruments
electro-acoustic-improvisation

file under:
free-improv

grob (germany) #grob 324 cd

hugh davies “warming up the iceman” compact disc

music for a single spring version 1
porcupine
lunar day
shozyg sequence no. 3
shozyg 1
solar night
music for a single spring version 2

ok... first off we've been enamored with all things hugh davies since being lucky enough to score a copy of his catalogue internationale de musique electroacoustique from the mit press bookstore. turns out... hugh was assistant to none other than karlheinz stockhausen himself during the 50s. he's had a few recording of his own music, including the titanic shozyg on fmp, all focusing on his home-brew/invented instrumental systems/language. this is only the most recent chapter...

grob press release...

hugh davies - warming up with the iceman (11.2001)

the former musical biography of hugh davies is worthy of a legend: the 58 year-old from london was an assistant of karl-heinz stockhausen for a long time in the 60's. he was the successor of the famous stockhausen dissident cornelius cardew. when he returned to england at the end of the 60's, he jumped into the eye of the typhoon. in europe the improvised music emancipated itself from new music and from free jazz. from 1968 to 1971 hugh davies played with the group that most resolutely represented the non-idiomatic, "instrumental" music of the british: the music improvisation company. his comrades-in-arms were derek bailey, evan parker and jamie muir. peter brötzmann grabbed davies in his trio with han bennink and fred van hove for a short period of time. they even gave a legendary concert with don cherry. the quartet, however, was not recorded at the time. for jost gebers, organizer of the concert and producer of fmp, this concert was a good reason to record him. hugh davies' first solo record appeared then on fmp. that was in 1981. warming up with the iceman is his second.

in the meantime, davies has continued to work as an improviser (among others with the instrument inventor hans-karsten raecke and in a trio with roger turner and john russell), as a composer, music specialist and historian. why then is davies and his music both so sought after and so exotic? it's his instruments. davies develops and constructs them himself. they are not based on defamiliarizations of present types, but rather they are completely autonomous creations: my spring collection, porcupine, shozyg and multishozyg. in fact, they are small, very small wonders of electro acoustics. and they correspond to a way of playing that also goes its own way, with commitment, and stands unique in both new as well as improvised music.

warming up with the iceman was recorded in cologne in the summer of 2001 by joseph suchy and also mastered by him. the cd presents compositions never recorded before as well as extensive liner notes by the composer/musician.

the history of (improvised) electronic music does not have to be written, but it is far too easy now to simply pass by

hugh davies.

$15.12

back in stock as of
january 25th, 2008

first in stock on
august 9th, 2006

threads:
electro-acoustic-improvisation
playback-music

file under:
free-improv

grob (germany) #grob 322 cd

jim denley / martin ng “vergency” compact disc

blindsight (01.37)
vergency (12.06)
flexure (03.40)
interferon (03.23)
async_ology (03.26)
nodes (03.30)
fireface (04.37)
ismismiq (02.49)
counterclockwise (02.15)
virion kabbala [f/f reprise] (04.09)
gyzym (08.21)

grob press release...

martin ng / jim denley - vergency (07.2001)

wild, confused, fissured and fuddled, and always dashing forward-this is how the music of jim denley and martin ng blows against a listener. denley and ng have been a constant presence in sydney's small but fine improvisation scene for years. alto saxophonist, flautist and flute deconstructor, denley has been working (for over ten years) with 'machine for making sense,' in duo with stevie wishart or with the international group 'lines' (with marcio mattos, phil wachsmann, axel dörner and martin blume). as posited by evan parker 30 years ago, denley has always worked hard on splintering his instrument's sound, following a sound-immanent paradigm. like every good improviser, denley has broken away from his immediate role models and handicaps and has his own superior approach: abrupt, harsh, sudden, attacking and always proximate to the actions of his musical colleagues.

martin ng, an excellent music expert, but a cardiologist by profession, uses turntables and cd players on this recording. here too, one thinks of the masters of this instrument, christian marclay or rick rue (with whom ng collaborates, by the way). martin ng has advanced to become a cut-up virtuoso, as this duo demonstrates. citations of other musics do not appear in the recording as memory fragments of historicity, but rather are immediate components of improvisation.

even in the wildest turmoil he is able to create a continuity, a connection at the highest level. this is perhaps because he has recorded an extremely quiet and introverted cd with oren ambarchie (reconnaissance, staubgold 2000). or because his duo with denley can look back upon a long productive phase of cooperation, whereas the foundation of trust rests in the constancy of permanent surprise.

...

martin ng (aka kevorkian)

electronic musician with an interest in the dj console and hard disk as de(compositional engines and means for nano-sonic recombinations. current projects include:

a) a duo with guitarist oren ambarchi (better known for his recent touch release 'insulation' and as one half of the guitar-drums duo with robbie avenaim). a record (entitled 'reconnaissance') has been completed and is due to be released in the near future.

b) a dj <-> dsp duo with hiaz gmachl (member of austrian electronic quartet farmer's manual). a live session recorded in melbourne is due to be releases on the mego label's online interest fals.ch.

previous collaborators have included robbie aveniam, chris abrahams (the necks) and paul miller aka dj spooky.

...

jim denley

sonic warpings of timespace and the body using: flutes, sax, voices / breath gestures / music systems / noise / amplification / multi-mics / throat mic / multi-channel projections / digital+analog manipulations / spontaneous+pre-produced composition

jim resonates vocal/breath-gestures through instruments, exploring spacetime with complex noise. he is increasingly developing skills with computer editing, multilayering and performing with pre-recorded sonic events. he aims to go beyond instrumentalism to develop 'the meta instrument'.

he sees no clear distinctions between his roles as instrumentalist, improviser and composer.

member of the collective machine for making sense.

he has worked in numerous add hoc ensembles throughout austrialia, europe and the us with musicians such as derek bailey, john butcher, roger turner, stsuki okamura, martin klapper, ikue mori, chris abrahams and shelley hirsch.

$15.12

back in stock as of
january 25th, 2008

first in stock on
august 9th, 2006

threads:
electro-acoustic-improvisation
digital-musics

file under:
free-improv

grob (germany) #grob 319 cd

werner dafeldecker / boris d. hegenbart “eis9” compact disc

ei (8:08)
is (4:42)
si (9:18)
es (6:34)
ie (2:15)
se (7:54)
9 (5:54)

grob press release...

werner dafeldecker / boris d hegenbart - eis 9 (06.2001)

two years ago, the german pop music magazine spex (a bit like option in german) called the viennese werner dafeldecker "a jim o'rourke from the alps." the comparison strikes one as quite distorted but is based on a few things in common. both represent an extended idea of improvisation that does not rest upon parameters like "interaction," "dynamics," or "energy," but rather that appears airy, looser, more comprehensive: (sound in) space becomes more important, the occasion plays a bigger (more existential) role in the foreground. indeed this occasion is not only another situation to improvise together, but rather an expression of a state that one should adjust his/her sensors completely anew. the influence of new music (the new york school and beyond) never seems apparent, but as it were, subcutaneously. just like the improvisations of o'rourke in the 90's, dafeldecker's music is characterized by the logical but constantly surprising intervention that breaks the peaceful current of the music and continues it at the same time.

eis-9 [ice cream 9] is a summer record, no hermetic structures, no gloomy sounds, no wallowing in stagnation and hardening (= cold). ice cream melts.

dafeldecker demonstrates here once more how he dissociates his strict instrumentalism (dealing with the instrument as essential sound material) from his original instrument, the contra bass, and transfers it to others: guitar, percussion, found objects, powerbook. just as gropingly as definite.

eis-9 is above all the product of an intensive cooperation with the berlin/viennese electronic musician boris d. hegenbart. coming out of nowhere, he published the cd hikuito in 1998, music developed in hand made paper that came to fragile melodies once peeling away its (apparent) influences (carl stone, oval).

the groping and the definite flowed into the eis-9 cooperation. improvised music as symbiosis, as something that does not only come into being in the instant, but rather that grows. eis-9 also means "ice cream" is not an unambiguous fixed construction, but one that dissolves in various forms, structures, and, well, states.

werner dafeldecker
boris d hegenbart

$15.12

back in stock as of
january 25th, 2008

first in stock on
august 9th, 2006

threads:
electro-acoustic-improvisation

file under:
free-improv

grob (germany) #grob 212 cd

ticklish “ticklish” compact disc

demersal (9:44)
tapers (5:02)
constance (5:13)
mezmer's suggestion (4:07)
coober peedy (8:03)
swizzle nils (4:01)
shadow
hoop and girl (5:08)
fat craftwork (10:23)

grob press release...

ticklish (10.2000)

micro-macro. electronic music between grooves and non-idiomatics. ticklich consists of the distinguished london improviser kev hopper (among others, stereolab, high llamas, cooperation with charles hayward), richard sanderson (cooperation with steve beresford/anna homler, simon fisher turner, peter cusack, kaffe matthews, blixa bargeld), phil durrant (cooperation with john butcher, john russell, thomas lehn, radu malfatti, the music in movement electronic orchestra), and the video artist rob flint.

their music occupies an vacant space. they take the best models of danceable, cool catchy electronic music into something free and pulsing. and visa-versa: from the abstract heights of improvised music, as they are scaled only in england, ticklish come across the clicks and cuts of post techno.

their music is groove without the dictate of the beat, cool without betting on the superficiality of a hook. and improvisation without "plink plonk."

this cd is their debut. the cover art is from rob flint.

phil durrant
rob flint
kev hopper
richard sanderson

$15.12

back in stock as of
january 25th, 2008

first in stock on
august 9th, 2006

threads:
harsh-noise

file under:
free-improv

grob (germany) #grob 208 cd

weasel walter / fred lonberg-holm / jim o’rourke “tribute to masayuki takayanagi” compact disc

for jojo/freebasing styrofoam (31.17)
endless corridor of roasted babies (10.52)
slitted tit (03.56)
give me head 'til you're dead (15.15)
triumph of death (12.10)

click the play button to hear an excerpt of "endless corridor of roasted babies"

assorted 1996-2000 blow-outs from assorted combinations of weasel walter (solo on two of the tracks), fred lonberg-holm, and jim o’rourke; assembled in deference/defiance of masayuki “jojo” takayanagi’s “new direction unit” (more on him/them shortly...)

i remember being really amped about this when it came out, but thinking it was almost too “metal” - how times have changed... in fact through the use of huge, cavernous reverb on everything this echoes recent “black metal” sides (especially walter’s 12+ minute “triumph of death” outro...)

a pretty essential link from the free-improv gauntlet of the mid-90s through the short-lived “brutal prog” gambit, clean on through to the current free-metal fascination...

grob press release...

fred lonberg-holm/ jim o'rourke/ weasel walter - tribute to masayuki takayanagi (08.2000)

weasel walter, drums, 12-string guitar
fred lonberg-holm, cello
jim o'rourke, electric guitar, apparition guitar

asides from keith rowe and fully independent of him, masayuki takayanagi was the first guitarist to use the table-top guitar, thereby instigating a purely incomprehensible noise. the japanese priest of noise, keiji haino, otomo yoshihide and merzbow all went to his "school."

for weasel walter, drummer and mastermind of the flying luttenbachers, this was cause enough to dedicate an entire cd to him.

no, one doesn't have to say much about this. this is highly dynamic no-compromise noise, packed in an aesthetic that ostensibly plays with clichés of violence and has o'rourke as "lycanthrovampyr." it rocks, uncontrolled and still on the dot. weasel walter's bottomless black calculation proves right.

we also need not mince words about o'rourke, the todd rundgren of our epoche, or about fred longberg-holm, the inspired cellist, who has played with everyone, from peter brötzmann to anthony coleman.

what else? the cd presents two sessions, one from 1996, one from 2000; there are a few overdubs (on the session from 2000) and o'rourke plays kevin drumms' guitar (on the session from 1996). the cover art, the liner notes and the mix are from weasel walter. and don't get the idea to bother the group with interview inquiries.

fred lonberg-holm
jim o'rourke
weasel walter

$15.12

back in stock as of
january 25th, 2008

first in stock on
august 9th, 2006

threads:
electro-acoustic-improvisation
analogue-synth

file under:
free-improv

grob (germany) #grob 205 cd

chadlehn “c inside” compact disc

crossroads 1 (12.59)
crossroads 2 (06.34)
crossroads 3 (07.13)
crossroads 4 (11.09)
crossroads 5 (08.20)
intersection (01.42)
line out (02.42)

grob press release...

chadlehn - c inside (05.2000)

eugene chadbourne, deering goodtimes banjo, modified guild slim jim acoustic electric guitar, various objects
thomas lehn, ems synthi 'a' analogue synthesizer

the virtuous string player eugene chadbourne and the ingenious synthesizer player thomas lehn met in the summer of 1999 to celebrate an impossible event: the confrontation of a banjo with an analogue ems-synthesizer... both know well, as if dreaming, how to move between material extension and its demolition in the best tradition of european improvised music and country songs, as only chadbourne can recite them. as if they had never done anything else...

it doesn't matter if they weave dense interactions and lump them into great noise or consciously go separate ways and seem to play without the other-their exchange is always direct, constantly the other knows the right answer. spontaneous improvisation in full completion: c inside actually documents the first meeting of these master musicians.

thomas lehn
eugene chadbourne

$15.12

back in stock as of
january 25th, 2008

first in stock on
january 1st, 2003

threads:
electro-acoustic-improvisation
guitar-themed
modern-psych

file under:
free-improv

grob (germany) #grob 103 cd

joseph suchy “smi²le” compact disc

smi²le

the debut album of koln-based guitarist-improviser, theoretically begun in 1978 and finished/executed in 1999. intense noisy passages of bleeding-heart guitar eulogies, smattered with feedback and all manner of effects & devices. truly revolutionary...

grob press release...

joseph suchy - smi2le (01.2000)

announced in 1978: the debut album of the guitarist and producer joseph suchy. the guitar virtuoso focuses here completely on brute and highly dynamic sound eruptions, whose subtlety appears in sudden breaks and surprising empty spaces. only with his guitar and a multi-tracking devise, he constructs complex improvised music. the effect of the music is aimed directly at the body: it is perceived via the stomach: the music's physical presence takes one's breath away in the truest sense of the word.

smile does not solely consist of material from 1978. in the last 20 years, suchy has made many attempts at a solo album, and each time threw out completely formed designs. he worked on smile for over a year.

joseph suchy has played with, among others, fx randomiz and jan st. werner (mouse on mars) in the group four square logos as well as in the freecore group metall assemblague. along with randomiz and werner, he also produces for the label gefriem. next to his solo performances, he is currently working as a studio musician for, among others, bernd friedmann and schlammpeitziger. he designs sound installations at the institute for media arts cologne and appears in a duo with fx randomiz or in the freecore collective koro.

josef suchy

“the index points are provided for convenience and do not indicate divisions in the work” [joseph suchy, guitar. recorded in cologne, 1999]

previous record label:
gonzo circus

...and that's everything on grob in stock.
(why not take a look at the previous and next labels?)

next record label:
ground fault

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