After years of touring and many albums, the free improvising Phicus trio of Ferran Fages on electric guitar, Alex Reviriego on double bass and Vasco Trilla on drums & percussion release their first composition-based work, recording in the natural resonance of the Convent de Sant Agusti in Barcelona following Reviriego's 2-part work leveraging the trio's natural vocabulary.
Out of Stock
Quantity in Basket: None
Log In to use our Wish List
Shipping Weight: 3.00 units
Sample The Album:
Ferran Fages-electric guitar
Alex Reviriego-double bass
Vasco Trilla-drums, percussion
Click an artist name above to see in-stock items for that artist.
Label: Tripticks Tapes
Catalog ID: TTT 041
Squidco Product Code: 34238
Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2023
Country: USA
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold
Recorded at Convent de Sant Agusti, by Pablo Miranda.
"I always considered Phicus mainly a "live band". I don't mean it in the "they tour non-stop" way, but in relation to the way the language and aesthetic of the band is developed. All of the previous albums represent some sort of attempt to fixate the kind of music we were doing live at that particular time, and a chance to explore deeper those materials and vocabulary.
Plom was an attempt to recreate in the studio the specific style of group improvisation we've been doing for more than a year in our rehearsals and live sets. Both K(n)ot and Spumpflegende were the result of our playing live with Ilia and Martin. We started to go for a much noisier and "doomy" sounding live sets, so there originated the idea of Solid. And after performing live several times in huge resonating spaces (and with no drum set or amplification) it just felt natural to book a studio and record what ended up being Liquid.
The genesis of Ni seems to be the absolute reversal. After the pandemic just paralyzed our activities, other projects occupied much of our headspace and our lives made it difficult to keep with our regular rehearsal routine (that we kept at least weekly for years), Phicus lost much of its raison d'etre. Then came the offer of recording a new album live at Convent de Sant Agusti (one of our favorite rooms in our hometown) with Pablo Miranda (one of our favorite engineers, and a close friend), with a relatively short time to prepare for it. So, instead of figuring out how to book a small tour in order to prepare for the session or do some intensive rehearsal routine, we just decided to take the opposite route.
For the first time, I wrote a composition for Phicus (a band that never before had any fixed material) trying to recontextualize and develop further the vocabulary explored in our Liquid album, and we just used the very limited time we had for rehearsal to fix all the little details and try to make it our own.
The massive reverb of the space, Ferran's amp dying during soundcheck, myself getting hurt in the arm the day before unloading from another gig, Vasco carrying his huge bell set to the Convent... it was amazing, and incredibly fun, and I honestly think the music is great.""-Alex Reviriego
Artist Biographies
• Show Bio for Ferran Fages "Ferran Fages (1974, Barcelona, Catalunya) Ferran Fages is an improviser and composer, and an international reference in the sphere of electroacoustic improvisation. Since the end of the 1990s, he has published over fifty discographic references on national and international labels. He has undertaken tours, performed concerts and led workshops around Europe and South America as well as in Canada and Japan. He plays guitar, resonant objects, acoustic turntable and electronics: "feedback mixing board", pick-ups and oscillators. From 1999 until 2006 he was a member of the IBA col·lectiu d'improvisació, with whom he organised over one hundred concerts as well as the festivals Improvisa (2000-2003) and the Experimental Music Week at Metrònom (2005), among others. Besides his projects, he has shared a stage and made collaborations with musicians such as Christine Abdelnour, Sophie Agnel, Núria Andorrà, Derek Bailey, Pascal Battus, Tom Chant, David Chiesa, Albert Cirera, Sébastien Cirotteau, Angharad Davies, Rhodri Davies, Michel Doneda, Axel Dörner, Lluïsa Espigolé, Agustí Fernández, Jean-Philippe Gross, Will Guthrie, Robin Hayward, Barbara Held, Jason Kahn, Martin Küchen,Eduard Márquez, Wade Matthews, Mattin, Manuel Mota, Ivan Palacky, Ramon Prats, Eddie Prévost, Pablo Rega, Àlex Reviriego, Ernesto Rodrigues, Alejandro Rojas-Marcos, Ivo Sans, Joan Saura, Pilar Subirà, Vasco Trilla, Birgit Ulher, Taku Unami, Nikos Velliotis, Dafne Vicente-Sandoval, Mark Wastell, Christopher Williams and Ingar Zach among others. He has also worked with the choreographers and companies of Olga Mesa (1999), Lanónima Imperial (2003-2004), Carme Torrent (1999-2005), Ktonycia (2007), Constanza Brncic (2008-2009) and Merce Cunningham Dance Company (2009). He has performed the following pieces of contemporary music: Guitar two, for four, by Phill Niblock (2004); Cobra, by John Zorn (2006); Meditations for Orchestra, by Pauline Oliveiros (2007); Guitar Trio, by Rysh Chatham (2007); Trio I from Trios WHITE ON WHITE, by Robert Ashley (2008); Poem 1960, by La Monte Young (2008); Diferencias familiares sobre las cuerdas, by Christopher Williams (2009); Little by Little, by Sam Sfirri (2011), and Cartridge Music, by John Cage (2012)." ^ Hide Bio for Ferran Fages • Show Bio for Alex Reviriego Alex Reviriego is a Spanish double bassist known for the groups Memoria Uno with Agusti Fernandez, Phicus, Pindio, Völga, and Alguns Homes Bons. ^ Hide Bio for Alex Reviriego • Show Bio for Vasco Trilla "Born in Barcelona, Vasco Trilla started playing drums at the age of nineteen. His first influences were progressive rock and metal, but gradually he developed an interest in a variety of different genres such as jazz, Indian music, African music, klezmer, free improvisation, etc. Since then he has collaborated, toured and recorded with many different bands and projects such as Boi Akih (an ethno-jazz band from the Netherlands), Planeta Imaginario (progressive jazz-rock) October Equus (avant-rock), The Oddvisers (pop-avant), Fine! (indie pop-rock), Mundo Flotante (ethno-jazz-rock), Kaulakau/Cobla Sant Jordi (an ethno-jazz Catalan orchestra), Filthy Habits Ensemble (a jazz octet playing Zappa's and Stravinsky's repertoire), Cows On Trees (a jazz-improv quartet with Susana Santos Silva and Kaja Draksler), Balimonster (an impro-ethno duo with Angel Ontalva), Yedo Gibson-Vasco Trilla duo (an improv sax & drums duo), Outerzone (jazz-core), Reptilian Mambo (mambo free rock), Liba's Traum, etc. In the last years he has been playing and experimenting on the free-improv scene, applying extended techniques to the kit and treating it as a textural-melodic instrument. Blowing, bowing, scratching, playing with hands and all kinds of objects, all is valid to expand the vocabulary of this innovative percussionist. He played with improvisers, such as: Lotte Anker, Marshall Allen, Yedo Gibson, Susana Santos Silva, Kaja Draksler, Jasper Stadhouders, Mikloaj Trzaska, Martin Kuchen, Richard Barrett, Jorma Tapio, Christher Bothen, Marc Stucki, Luc Ex. etc... He has released around 30 CDs in labels such as Cuneiform Records (USA), Altrock Records (Italy), Leo Records (UK) Discordian Records (Barcelona, Spain), Audition Records (Mexico), El Negocito Records (Belgium), Jacc Records (Portugal), Fmr Records (UK)." ^ Hide Bio for Vasco Trilla
1/17/2025
Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.
Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.
1/17/2025
Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.
Track Listing:
1. Ni 36:22
2. Ni2 02:49
Improvised Music
Free Improvisation
European Improvisation, Composition and Experimental Forms
Trio Recordings
Recordings Utilizing the Natural Resonance of a Space
Search for other titles on the label:
Tripticks Tapes.