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Recently @ Squidco:

AMM (Prevost / Tilbury):
Aura (Matchless)

Recorded in Turkey in 2016, this extended improvisation features a core duo from later AMM configurations — percussionist Eddie Prévost and pianist John Tilbury, who also performs on harpsichord — captured in the exceptional acoustics of The Sibelius Museum concert hall where the intimate setting elicits profound, beautifully recorded dialogue between these two masterful performers. ... Click to View


Kanngiesser / Prevost / Wright:
Splendid Nettle (High Laver Levitations Volume 3) (Matchless)

The third volume in the High Laver Levitations series that started with the duo of John Butcher and Eddie Prévost, continued with Silvan Schmid, Tom Wheatley & Prévost, now presents Ute Kanngiesser on cello, Seymour Wright on alto sax, and Eddie Prévost on drum kit, recording two extended improvisations that explore the resonant acoustics of All Saints Church in High Laver, Essex. ... Click to View


Axel Dorner / Oliver Schwerdt / Julian Sartorius:
Jul Fuel (Euphorium)

The title refers to the dynamic addition of drummer and percussionist Julian Sartorius, whose energy injects 'jet fuel' into this bassless, windless trio's live 2021 performance at naTo in Leipzig, Germany, with Euphorium label leader Oliver Schwerdt igniting the grand piano and Axel Dörner's thrillingly unconventional slide trumpet playing adding to the burn & mdash; exceptional! ... Click to View


Peter Evans / Petter Eldh / Jim Black:
Extra (We Jazz)

An exhilarating trio with bassist Petter Eldh and drummer Jim Black, recorded in Lisbon in 2023, capturing inventive synergy across eight original compositions by Peter Evans, ranging from the fiery intensity of "Freaks" and "Boom" to the surprising twists of "The Lighthouse", as their close-knit rapport fuels rhythmic depth and jaw-dropping improvisation. ... Click to View


Dougie Bowne:
The Stars Are Indispensable (Tzadik)

A formidable sonic duo of guitar, bass, electronics, prepared bass, and drums, featuring Downtown NY pioneer Dougie Bowne and Brooklyn-based experimental rock bassist Matt Nelson (tUnE-yArDs, Weasel Walter Large Ensemble), delivering twelve intense and startlingly inventive improvisations, using every inch of their instruments to create a heavy, captivating set of soundscapes. ... Click to View


Phill Niblock / Anna Clementi / Thomas Stern:
Zound Delta 2 (KARLRECORDS)

A posthumous realization of Phill Niblock's 2022 composition, this dense, resonant work of drone and sonic intensity, written for Italian vocalist Anna Clementi and shaped and developed with guitarist and bassist Thomas Stern of Einstürzende Neubauten and Crime & the City Solution, is presented in two monumental, haunting longform versions. ... Click to View


John Zorn:
Hannigan Sings Zorn Volume Two - Archival Series (Tzadik)

The second volume of John Zorn's vocal compositions, performed by virtuoso Barbara Hannigan alongside returning pianist Stephen Gosling, expands with orchestration for string quartet, a dynamic work for voice, cello, vibes, electronics, and drums, a lively piece for voice, piano, and rhythm, and Zorn's unique interpretation of the classic 'Pandora's Box. ... Click to View


Musicworks Magazine:
#149 Fall 2024 [MAGAZINE + CD] (Musicworks)

The Fall 2024 issue of Canada's premiere music magazine: On The Cover Brendan Grey and the Evolving Ethos of Super Duty Tough Work; avant-garde sound murals of Filipino composer José Maceda; Montreal-based composer and improviser Allison Burik; Kurt Gottschalk interviews Rita Ueda; Windsor-based post-classical guitarist Bilal Nasser; plus reviews and a CD of artists covered in this issue. ... Click to View


John Zorn (Roeder / Wollesen / Zorn / Lage):
New Masada Quartet, Volume Three (Tzadik)

The third volume in John Zorn's New Masada Quartet — Zorn on alto sax, Jorge Roeder on bass, Kenny Wollesen on drums, and Julian Lage on guitar — captures a packed 2024 concert at Roulette in Brooklyn, where fervent interplay and exceptional soloing bring six Zorn compositions to life in a single, seamlessly indexed track before an enthusiastic audience. ... Click to View


Parker / Costa / Ernstring:
Pulsar (NoBusiness)

Rotterdam-based collaborators, alto saxophonist Hugo Costa and drummer Philipp Ernsting, invite legendary bassist William Parker to join them in a Netherlands studio for threeimprovisations that emphasize emotional spontaneity and raw intensity, creating music that finds beauty in exploration and a transformative journey through expressive conversation. ... Click to View


Elephant9 with Terje Rypdal:
Catching Fire (Rune Grammofon)

Recorded live in Oslo, the Norwegian jazz-rock trio Elephant9 of Torstein Lofthus (drums), Nikolai Haengsle (bass) and Stale Storlokken (keys) join with legendary guitarist Terje Rypdal, channeling the intensity of bands like King Crimson and Mahavishnu Orchestra as they blend and evolve layered psychedelia with angular improvisation for a raw, electric fusion experience. ... Click to View


Elephant9 with Terje Rypdal:
Catching Fire [VINYL 2 LPs] (Rune Grammofon)

Recorded live in Oslo, the Norwegian jazz-rock trio Elephant9 of Torstein Lofthus (drums), Nikolai Haengsle (bass) and Stale Storlokken (keys) join with legendary guitarist Terje Rypdal, channeling the intensity of bands like King Crimson and Mahavishnu Orchestra as they blend and evolve layered psychedelia with angular improvisation for a raw, electric fusion experience. ... Click to View


Rodrigues / Sa / Rocha / Rodrigues / Silva / Varela / Goncalves / Flak / Trindade:
Mimesis (Creative Sources)

Primarily an acoustic ensemble of nine improvisers led by Ernesto Rodrigues on viola — including saxophonist Joana Sá, percussionist Monsieur Trindade, guitarist Flak, and pianist Luisa Gonçalves — performs a live, extended improvisation of tightly controlled, deeply detailed conversation as part of the 2024 Creative Sources Cycle in Lisbon. ... Click to View


Hunter Underwater (Rodrigues / Rodrigues / Kohn / Lin):
Archipelago (Creative Sources)

In their second release, the Hunter Underwater quartet of four cellists — Guilherme Rodrigues (Portugal), Gábor Hartyáni (Budapest), Guido Kohn (Buenos Aires), and Hui-Chun Lin (Taiwan) — record at Berlin's Zentrifuge, creating sound sculptures and landscapes with layered harmonics and dynamic interplay through composition and improvisation. ... Click to View


Nandor Nevai:
Book 1: FULK [BOOK + 4 CDs] (Psykomanteum)

Each volume of Nandor Nevai's musikbook series merges four CDs of genre-focused music — folk, industrial, jazz, or hard rock — with autobiographical text and vibrant images, creating a multi-sensory journey through evolving sub-genres, as Nevai's narration and Alex Theoret's mastering bring pristine studio works and raw recordings into a cohesive, powerful experience. ... Click to View


Nandor Nevai:
Book 2: MARTIAL [BOOK + 4 CDs] (Psykomanteum)

Each volume of Nandor Nevai's musikbook series merges four CDs of genre-focused music — folk, industrial, jazz, or hard rock — with autobiographical text and vibrant images, creating a multi-sensory journey through evolving sub-genres, as Nevai's narration and Alex Theoret's mastering bring pristine studio works and raw recordings into a cohesive, powerful experience. ... Click to View


Nandor Nevai:
Book 3: JASSOM [BOOK + 4 CDs] (Psykomanteum)

Each volume of Nandor Nevai's musikbook series merges four CDs of genre-focused music — folk, industrial, jazz, or hard rock — with autobiographical text and vibrant images, creating a multi-sensory journey through evolving sub-genres, as Nevai's narration and Alex Theoret's mastering bring pristine studio works and raw recordings into a cohesive, powerful experience. ... Click to View


Nandor Nevai:
Book 4: HARD-WON [BOOK + 4 CDs] (Psykomanteum)

Each volume of Nandor Nevai's musikbook series merges four CDs of genre-focused music — folk, industrial, jazz, or hard rock — with autobiographical text and vibrant images, creating a multi-sensory journey through evolving sub-genres, as Nevai's narration and Alex Theoret's mastering bring pristine studio works and raw recordings into a cohesive, powerful experience. ... Click to View


Brian Marsella's iMAGiNARiUM:
Medietas [3 CDs] (Tzadik)

Led by pianist Brian Marsella, the sonic theater supergroup iMAGiNARiUM unites a remarkable cast from the Downtown NY scene for a wildly creative 3-CD set that blends jazz, fusion, psych, experimental, and contemporary forms with a sense of awe, humor, and effortless ingenuity, resulting in a captivating journey filled with wonder and, yes, imagination. ... Click to View


Ackley / Chen / Centazzo / DeGruttola / Kaiser / Manring:
Two Views Of Steve Lacys The Wire (Don Giovanni Records)

Saxophonist Bruce Ackley, percussionist Andrea Centazzo, pianist Tania Chen, cellist Danielle DeGruttola, and bassists Henry Kaiser and Michael Manring present a tribute to soprano saxophonist & composer Steve Lacy's 1977 album The Wire, replicating the instrumentation of that album but electrifying the bass, as they reflect twice on Lacy's incredible contribution to creative jazz. ... Click to View


Rob Mazurek & Exploding Star Orchestra:
Live at Adler Planetarium (International Anthem)

Drawing from the 2023 studio album Lightning Dreamers, trumpeter and bandleader Rob Mazurek assembles a stellar lineup — including electric pianists Angelica Sanchez and Craig Taborn, cellist Tomeka Reid, flutist Nicole Mitchell, bassist Ingebrigt Haker-Flaten, drummers Chad Taylor and Gerald Cleaver, and vocalist Damon Locks — for a psychedelic improvisational journey recorded under the dome of Chicago's Adler Planetarium. ... Click to View


Rob Mazurek & Exploding Star Orchestra:
Live at Adler Planetarium [VINYL] (International Anthem)

Drawing from the 2023 studio album Lightning Dreamers, trumpeter and bandleader Rob Mazurek assembles a stellar lineup — including electric pianists Angelica Sanchez and Craig Taborn, cellist Tomeka Reid, flutist Nicole Mitchell, bassist Ingebrigt Haker-Flaten, drummers Chad Taylor and Gerald Cleaver, and vocalist Damon Locks — for a psychedelic improvisational journey recorded under the dome of Chicago's Adler Planetarium. ... Click to View


The Necks:
Bleed (Northern Spy)

The ever-chameleonic Australian trio The Necks — featuring Chris Abrahams on piano and keyboards, Tony Buck on drums & guitar, and Lloyd Swanton on bass — explore electronic stillness in this 42-minute, single-track composition, evolving from a meditative opening through rich textures and sonic spaces to a beautifully structured conclusion, offering a rewarding and captivating journey. ... Click to View


The Necks:
Bleed [VINYL BLACK] (Northern Spy)

The ever-chameleonic Australian trio The Necks — featuring Chris Abrahams on piano and keyboards, Tony Buck on drums & guitar, and Lloyd Swanton on bass — explore electronic stillness in this 42-minute, single-track composition, evolving from a meditative opening through rich textures and sonic spaces to a beautifully structured conclusion, offering a rewarding and captivating journey. ... Click to View


The Necks:
Bleed [VINYL GREEN + DOWNLOAD] (Northern Spy)

The ever-chameleonic Australian trio The Necks — featuring Chris Abrahams on piano and keyboards, Tony Buck on drums & guitar, and Lloyd Swanton on bass — explore electronic stillness in this 42-minute, single-track composition, evolving from a meditative opening through rich textures and sonic spaces to a beautifully structured conclusion, offering a rewarding and captivating journey. ... Click to View


Miguel Garcia A. / Fernando Carvalho:
Siamese (Creative Sources)

Developed as part of the 2024 artist-in-residence program at Azkuna Zentroa in Bilbao, this series of nine electroacoustic compositions by Miguel A. García and Fernando Carvalho blends rhythms, synthesizers, and Carvalho's field recordings, all manipulated and transformed by García into distinct sonic worlds, each unveiling or making curious mysteriously fascinating sources. ... Click to View


John Zorn:
The Hermetic Organ Volume 13 - Biennale Musica Venezia (Tzadik)

Performing at the 17th century Palazzo Pisano during the 2023 Venice Biennale, John Zorn improvises on two small antique organ at Conservatorio Benedetto Marcello, taking full advantage of the rich reeds, flutes, and horns of these two outstanding instruments as he moved between the two organs, bringing out unusual tonalities and intersections between both instruments. ... Click to View


The Attic / Eve Risser (Amado / Almeida / Govaert / Risser):
La Grande Crue (NoBusiness)

The title translating to The Great Flood, French Pianist Eve Risser joins the trio of Rodrigo Amado on tenor saxophone, Goncalo Almeida on double bass, Onno Govaert on drums, aka The Attic, for a collective interpretation in four parts of a vividly descriptive prose piece titled "ANGLE" by Portuguese essayist, poet, writer, novelist Nuno Júdice (1949-2024). ... Click to View


Arthur Blythe Quartet (Blythe / Booth / Abdullah / Reid):
Rivbea Live! Series, Volume 2 (NoBusiness)

One of alto saxophonist and composer Arthur Blythe's earliest recordings as a leader, this 1976 session at Sam & Bea Rivers' Studio Rivbea in New York City features four Blythe compositions performed by an exemplary quartet: Steve Reid on drums, frequent Blythe collaborator Muhammad Abdullah on congas, and long-time Sun Ra bassist Juini Booth. ... Click to View


Joel Futterman:
Innervoice (NoBusiness)

Joel Futterman delivers a coherent and expansive studio performance presented in three parts, seamlessly weaving beautiful melodic passages, rapid harmonic and rhythmic development, and a profound sense of jazz history that evokes the finest players while remaining distinctly and unmistakably his own — an absolutely masterful achievement. ... Click to View



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  Maria Bertel 
  Monophonic  
  (Relative Pitch) 


  
   review by Jeph Jerman
  2024-11-04
Maria Bertel: Monophonic (Relative Pitch)

Monophonic, as in one voice. Bertel plays trombone, amplified to uncover the hidden aspects of the horn's sound in slow, drone-like dreams of undulating sound. The buzz and rasp that set up shifting harmonics, odd clicking and popping and cyclic timbre adjustments. "Invisible Host" resembles a giant rag-dung [a large brass trumpet from Tibet] complete with sharp inhaled breaths. Tone becomes rhythm: is it a low note, or a fast beat?

"Number III" sets up a comic chatter and yelp with lots of rubbery squeaks and someone moving an ancient armoire on a linoleum floor. "Cognitive Dissonance" veers close to a vocal tantrum with metal bump 'n' thump for punctuation. "Winged" sounds uncannily like electric guitar interpolating a swarm of intoxicated bees. "Contradictions" sets up a simple pattern that gets encroached on by feedback and some major chewing movements.

I think this music would fit well with old gun-camera footage from WWII fighter planes, and that's a compliment. There are only the briefest of gaps between tracks here, just enough time to catch your breath before the next heavy monolith appears for your inspection. "Intangible" is my favorite, a loopy feedback and squiggle that really gets at the fidgety part of my brain and shuts off the monkey chatter. It's what I need when I need it. I will now dutifully seek other examples of Maria Bertel's work, so as to prolong the experience.

My first listening to this disc was done in my car on the way to work. I suggest you do the same. It'll set you up right for the day.



Maria Bertel: Monophonic
Is Sold at Squidco!
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Recent Selections @ Squidco:


Dougie Bowne:
The Stars
Are Indispensable
(Tzadik)



AMM (
Prevost /
Tilbury):
Aura
(Matchless)



Peter Evans /
Petter Eldh /
Jim Black:
Extra
(We Jazz)



Axel Dorner /
Oliver Schwerdt /
Julian Sartorius:
Jul Fuel
(Euphorium)



John Zorn (
Roeder /
Wollesen /
Zorn /
Lage):
New Masada Quartet,
Volume Three
(Tzadik)



Hunter Underwater (
Rodrigues /
Rodrigues /
Kohn /
Lin):
Archipelago
(Creative Sources)



Elephant9 with
Terje Rypdal:
Catching Fire
(Rune Grammofon)



Rob Mazurek &
Exploding Star Orchestra:
Live at
Adler Planetarium
(International Anthem)



Ackley /
Chen /
Centazzo /
DeGruttola /
Kaiser /
Manring:
Two Views Of
Steve Lacys
The Wire
(Don Giovanni Records)



The Necks:
Bleed
(Northern Spy)



Brian Marsella's
iMAGiNARiUM:
Medietas
[3 CDs]
(Tzadik)



Arthur Blythe
Quartet (
Blythe /
Booth /
Abdullah /
Reid):
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Volume 2
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The Attic /
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Kira Kira Live
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Matthew Shipp /
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w/ Diehl /
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