firefriend - incêndio na paisagem

.:: A nice band from Brazil very influenced by the great Sonic Youth…


download: firefriend - incêndio na paisagem

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clutch - live at the googolplex

.:: They’re a little punk? Well, yes, but there again…they’ve a hint of metal? True. However, don’t they also have a touch of the stoner about them? Sure. And while we’re at it, let’s not forget the southern rock influence. Come on, you know what that means. Clutch are genuine individuals, icons for musical excellence who confound the modern desire for putting everything into neat boxes. They’re a classic rock band with an ultra modern sweep.

In the virtual two decades, since they first came to everyone’s attention, the Maryland marvels have constantly evolved and revised their music, never standing still long enough for anyone to put a critical saddle onto their thoroughbred ideals – this bronco ain’t ever been broken in, nor broken down. clutch


.:: By kicking off with "Who Wants To Rock?" and "Pure Rock Fury," it's clear that Clutch's agenda is to rock, sans qualifiers and with a boatload of conviction. Neil Fallon's darkly menacing vocals and the band's psychedelic-influenced power rock is reminiscent of Fu Manchu and Monster Magnet, or, to a lesser degree, Danzig.

While a live album isn't likely to earn Clutch its well-deserved fame, the 15 cuts here provide a fine overview for fans and an ideal intro for the uninitiated. Smooth, funky, gut-punching bass and smart, sly songs set Clutch apart. From the aggro jam in "Careful With That Mic" to the edgy "Pure Rock Fury" to the Henry Rollins-like "Impetus," Live at the Googolplex captures Clutch at its peak. While this potent band's is best experienced in concert, a live recording is the next best thing. --Katherine Turman


download: clutch - live at the googolplex

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best albums of 2007

.:: 2007 is almost gone and there were many many great albums, bands, artists who made our lives happier or sadder, depending on what we like to listen... As many people do it, i'm trying to list the best albums of 2007. I'd like to know your point of view before December 15th. So please drop me a line and tell me what are the best album of 2007 (artist - album)

.:: El 2007 está por terminar y nos ha dejado mucha música. Mucha de ella, mala, buena, mediocre y excelente. Pero, cuáles son los mejores discos que nos ha dejado este año?. Deja tu comentario incluyendo artista y álbum antes del 15 de Diciembre. Gracias !!!

.:: O ano esta acabando e gostaríamos de saber, qual o melhor álbum que foi lançado este ano? Faremos uma votação que irá começar dia 15 e durar até o dia 31 de Dezembro, cadastre os álbuns que você acha que seriam os melhores concorrentes até o dia 15 de Dezembro! Para cadastrar é só colocar o nome do álbum e da banda nos comentários deste post. Obrigado!

to what end? - history repeats itself 7"

.:: Brutal Swedish hc crust with melodic elements and dual vocals. Members from Wolfbrigade (male vocals), Burning Kitchen (female vocals), Sunday Morning Einsteins & more.

download: to what end? - history repeats itself 7"

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sleepytime gorilla museum - of natural history

||| Once again, this is one of my favorite bands… EVER !!! |||

.:: Of Natural History is the second album by avant-rock group Sleepytime Gorilla Museum. It was recorded and mixed at Polymorph Recording in Oakland, California during the years 2003 and 2004. Whereas on the first album, Grand Opening and Closing, Dan Rathbun handled the mastering (in addition to producing, recording, and mixing), on Of Natural History the mastering duties are handled by Justin Weis, who mastered the album at Trakworx, San Francisco.

All the tracks on this album were produced by Rathbun & the other members of the band, except for "Phthisis", which was produced by Scott Humphrey, and recorded at the Chop Shop, Hollywood in May 2004; Chris Baseford engineered the recording sessions, while Garry Raposo and Vincent Piette assisted in engineering.

Interestingly, like with the first album, this album again marks the transition from one drummer to another: Frank Grau, who replaced David Shamrock after the first album, left after this album, and Matthias Bossi took the drummer's position and has held it since then (Bossi plays different instruments on the tracks "Phthisis", "FC: The Freedom Club" and "Gunday's Child").


.:: Of Natural History continues on the same diverse and eclectic musical lines as its predecessor, with even more new elements, like dance music ("Bring Back the Apocalypse") and funk and jazz ("Gunday's Child"). Also notable is the incorporation of a plethora of field recordings[2] and samples into the songs and interludes.

Of Natural History has a continuity in the sense that all the songs sequence into each other, thus holding the narrative element(s) of the album better together along the album. The continuity and the coherent feel make Of Natural History very close to a concept album.

While the lyrics themselves differ much from song to song, the underlying imposing mood is concerned with the apocalyptic implications caused by human presence on earth; to offer different viewpoints on this, SGM create their own characters and stories (tracks 1 & 2, both of which are a continuation of a story created already on the first album that was non-musical) and borrow from Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Unabomber, Muriel Rukeyser and Kenneth Patchen (tracks 3, 5, 6, and 9, respectively) in addition to own lyrics.

According to the band's official website, Of Natural History is in part a "debate between two contradictory pillars of 20th C. Anti-Humanism: The Futurists versus the Unabomber." wikipedia.org

download: sleepytime gorilla museum - of natural history

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nofx - the decline

||| A punk rock master piece |||

.:: The most liberating thing about being punk as hell must be the fact that all common sense and accountability can be tossed out the window, or so NOFX seems to claim on The Decline.

Tracked out as one number, with songs running together, proves just how far NOFX will go to make its records difficult to its fans listen to as well as just how much all its songs sound the same. Running through 18 minutes’ worth of music, it’s really tough to figure out where one song starts and the next begins. Filled to overflowing with substanceless punk-lite, The Decline offers little outside of the cliché snotty, obnoxious hijinks aped from the legends surrounding Sid Vicious.

The bulk of the songs on this record recreate the two songs NOFX continually rehashes with each release: its fast, driving punk, akin to Lagwagon on cheap speed, and its bouncy pop-punk with indigestion sound, neither of which veer off of the path NOFX already beat for itself on previous albums. While in short doses these songs prove to show a bit of punk flash, after about three in a row, the band’s limited scope proves to be ultimately suffocating, even over a brief period. Between the incessantly unchanging beats, plunky bass lines and rabid guitars, listeners nearly get pushed out of the NOFX equation.

That isn’t to say the band totally confines itself to its knee-jerk East Bay punk on this EP, however. Just as the band messed around with ska on earlier efforts, it picks up the current punk flavor of the month, emo, at brief times. With slower and more dynamically oriented arrangements, NOFX lends emo some much-needed guts. Keeping solid with the punk attitude, the band’s slower jaunts prove to be the highlight on this record, possibly because of their rarity serves as a breath of fresh air, or because NOFX finds a take on emocore striking a balance between its ethos and the band’s snotty demeanor.

The bright spots on this record are few and far between, however, as the band sticks to its tried and true mixture of near-illiterate propagandizing and whiny vocals. Taking on such targets as corruption in the government, the NRA and religion, NOFX’s targets are as blatantly obvious as its approach to its music. While the band could have redeemed itself thematically, its lyrics don’t aim for anything higher than mere complaining; without novel insights or answers to the questions its raises, The Decline’s politics don’t offer much that couldn’t be found outside a barber shop filled with retired men on a Sunday afternnon.

For NOFX it has never been about pushing the envelope as much as the band would like to believe, but rather a simple matter of filling every nook and cranny of it. While not moving on in any respect, The Decline serves as a perfect epilogue to So Long and Thanks for All the Shoes (1998, Epitaph) continuing the same direction the band found with that record. www.aversion.com

.:: Nightmare! Recording this fuck was a total nightmare. Writing it was a total nightmare. I'm glad we did it but I wouldn't do it again. We went back to the studio 3 different times and added stuff and remixed and remastered 4 times. It ain't no rock opera like song remains the same or nothing. We got the idea from subhumans, not rush. Why an 18 minute song? Just to do something different. We've done enough short songs, time for a long one. Anyway, my advice, never try this song at home. NOFX

download: nofx - the decline

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six finger satellite - severe exposure

.:: Severe Exposure integrates the designs of the all-synth outing with the previous brash scissor rock, flashing a guitar band confident enough to delve heavily into disco beats and dramatic vocals. With the mood so established, plenty of panicky songs about animals, gaming and translocation are gathered in the album's full-bodied silvery mercurial radiance. "Rabies (Baby's Got The)" and "Simian Fever" are animal aggressive and messy, while sharing the synthetic digitone lusts of new wave.

.:: Like peanut butter combined with chocolate, the Rhode Island quartet Six Finger Satellite bring hard-to-laugh-at, ironic humor to the violence of their musical mission. The recipe for their new record, Paranormalized, combines equal dollops of nihilism, hate of all that is comfortable in music, and a multitude of synthetic bleeps and burps. With these tools, the band forges a sound and image that revel in the ironic rock star-isms and self-defeatism of indie rock at the same time as it waves around the flayed corpse of a scene built on sarcastic good will.

Whereas most indie rockers ironically wink at the fact that they'll probably forever have to keep their day jobs or deal with living with their parents, Six Finger Satellite put forth a joking posture of rock excess that somehow laughs at you instead of with you.


download: rsix finger satellite - severe exposure

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red sparowes - every red heart shines towards the red sun

||| GIGASIZE RE-POST |||

.:: There just might be a certain warped truth to the phrase "guilt by association." As in the case of Red Sparowes, its formal associations with such heavy, propulsive bands as Neurosis, Angel Hair and Pleasure Forever would lead you to expect that the Los Angeles quintet's debut would be a masterfully crafted epic of primal urgency.

It is.

However, Red Sparowes is epic without bombast, heavy without a single barre-chord riff and eviscerating without any clearly audible vocals. The chiming, spindly layers of effect-laden guitars and the swinging, entrancing drums on its Neurot Recordings debut At the Soundless Dawn create textures reminiscent of Goblin, Tones on Tail, Godspeed You Black Emperor and early Sonic Youth. Its attack is syrupy and serpentine; subtle but frighteningly deliberate.

Red Sparowes is comprised of Bryant Clifford Meyer on guitar (Isis), Josh Graham on guitar (Neurosis visuals and acclaimed video director), Greg Burns on bass and pedal steel (also of Temporary Residence dark chamber folk sextet Halifax Pier), Andy Arahood on bass/guitar (Angel Hair) and David Clifford on drums (The VSS, Pleasure Forever). The album was recorded with founding drummer Dana Berkowitz (The Cignal) and Isis bassist Jeff Caxide, both of whom relocated at the end of 2004. The sum total of its sound, however, stems more so from esoteric melodic guitar-surrealists of the mid-80's Blast First and Too Pure hive than the fierce realism of the aforementioned cabal of heavy-psych rock.

Although the band members are indeed tied to many other projects, Red Sparowes is not just a side-project. The band has toured the US with the Dillinger Escape Plan and label-mates Made Out of Babies, as well as a very successful headlining European/UK tour in Spring 2005. In August-September, the band embarks on a full national tour with Pelican, Big Business and Breather Resist.

While At the Soundless Dawn uses vocals as subtle instrumentation, the group plans to incorporate voices further into its sound. This stunning introduction to Red Sparowes, recorded in San Francisco by engineer Desmond Shea (who also did additional engineering on the recent Neurosis album, The Eye of Every Storm) is just the beginning for a band that promises to change the way we think about heavy music. Its family of related artists is certainly good company. But, where their common goals to experiment with epic, cathartic music meet, Red Sparowes branches far outside of the expected boundaries.

download: red sparowes - every red heart shines towards the red sun

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sleepytime gorilla museum - grand opening and closing

||| One of my favorite bands of all time |||

.:: S.G.M. are Kihlstedt on electric violin, percussion guitar, autoharp, pump organ and voice; Nils Frykdahl on guitars, Tibetan bells, autoharp and voice; Moe! Staiano on percussion, metal, pressure-cap marimba, spring, spring-nail guitar, popping turtle, food containers and tympani; Dan Rathbun on bass, slide-piano log, pedal-action wiggler, thing, autoharp, and voice; and David Shamrock on drums and piano (he has since left the band).

Frank Grau, the band's new drummer, guests here on "The Stain." Quite an assortment of instruments, many non-traditional for progressive rock, and even those that are conventional aren't conventionally played or used to make conventional sounds. Yes, I guess you could say, SGM are unconventional -- erm, isn't that what progressive rock is supposed to be? Bucking convention?

The Sleepytime Gorilla Museum was, it appears, a real thing, though not really a museum. The liner notes detail the history, and this album's title refers to the fact that the museum's grand opening on June 22, 1916 was also their closing -- a fire, staged or otherwise, cut short what was billed to be a "Free Salamander Exhibit." Because the folks behind the museum have been shrowded in mystery, and because of my own cynical nature, I can't say whether the whole "backstory concept" isn't instead just pure invention, making this a concept album within a concept album... and would we really ever know?

At any rate, the album itself is real, I have it here. The band is real, I just saw them play live... no, won't go speculating there. Yes, it is sometimes ugly, but it is also sometimes beautiful. It is the kind of album that will engender strong reactions – either you like it or you hate it. Well, that's not entirely true, as the third reaction is a mix of like/hate depending on the particular track. Where do I fall? Well, actually, I'm in the like it camp.

download: sleepytime gorilla museum - grand opening and closing


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khoma - tsunami

.:: Khoma is yet another bastard child of Umeå's raging music scene. Founded in 2002, the members have known each other for years- sharing dreams, rehearsal rooms, vans and a musical kindship that has survived the birth and death of a thousand bands.
Anything but a conventional band, Khoma is a few friends sharing a musical and political vision. Khoma is what won't fit the frame. A crashing wave of angst, desperation, anger and beautiful love.

Despite starting as a side project originally, a few months in things were beginning to take off for the band. A limited 1000-disc run of debut album Tsunami was released and quickly sold out. It was reprinted and quickly sold out again.

Without having signed a record deal, Khoma started to work on the follow-up to Tsunami. In creating their most recent music, the band have broadened their perspective and introduced new elements; most notably cello and piano.

It seems like an incompatible alliance. Members of musically divided bands such as Cult of Luna, The Perishers, Scared, Refused and Plastic Pride merge togheter in a reheasal room. Solid darkness meets melodious sadness, musical precision and the creative forces of anarchist politics.

Brutality and tender frailty surrounded by four walls – but there is a theme: Koma is a breathing space where the different styles fuse, says the band´s singer Jan Jämte. We have a vision of creating heavy music that reflects more feelings than sheer aggression. Sometimes whispering can be more powerful than screaming. The debut album from the band now known as Khoma, this is as big and brilliant as the Roadrunner follow up “Second Wave”.

download: khoma - tsunami

*** thanx mr.a ***

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robi draco rosa - el teatro de lo absurdo

.:: "Teatro del Absurdo" reminds us how wide open the playing field of sound, expression, music, and art really is. We've grown so accustomed to the same 2-dimensional, contrived, formulaic approach to songwriting and record making that we've forgotten how inspirational and life-altering a true work of art can be.

It is bold enough to scoff at the big corporate monster that the business of music has become, yet sensual and relevant enough to take us on a journey from "un beso de vino tinto" to the horrors of war and back. I dare to compare it to some of the other great albums of the last 50 years that changed the perception and consciousness of a culture.

From 'Revolver', 'Pet Sounds', 'Are You Experienced', 'What's Going On' and 'London Calling' to 'Nevermind' and now 'Teatro del absurdo'... Yes I dare, and I dare you to listen to it 5 times and disagree with me. If you're looking for fast food, I'm sure there's one around every corner. If you're looking for a 7-course meal with a fine vintage, try some 'Teatro del absurdo'.


download: robi draco rosa - el teatro de lo absurdo


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3sacchetti - bora! bora! mr. motto

.:: "3Sacchetti" comes from the will of 3 musicians to create a new concept of music, through a blend of different kinds of music: jazz, klezmer, post hc and noise.

The band was born in winter 2004, the members began with a standard jazz order, then they made an effort to change... it resulted in a strange balcanic music with wild and bizarre melodies.

The music is influenced by the different musical preferences of the three guys: it's a journey which leaves from the musical traditions of nomads people and finishes, annihilated and distorted by the grey environment in which the band is grown.

download: 3sacchetti - bora! bora! mr. motto


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elizabeth anka vajagic - stand with the stillness of this day

.:: With this debut recording, Elizabeth Anka Vajagic sets her vocals against a backdrop led by ragged guitars, moving from harrowing, dry-as-a-bone intimacy ("With Hopes Lost", "Iceland") to reverb-soaked torch-song balladry ("Around Here", "Sleep With Dried Up Tears"), and the odd explosive noise freak-out along the way ("Where You Wonder"). Vajagic's voice and lyrics are uniquely powerful, able to move across a considerable range while remaining guttural, unflinching and honest as hell.

Through much cross-pollination with the local noise/improv scene, Elizabeth has assembled a fine cast of players to add textures and arrangements to the seven tracks on this debut record, making for an intense cycle of songs peppered with skittering drums, contrebasse, cello, harmonium, piano, bowed cymbals, and oud.

Guest players include Chris Burns and Simon Fazakerly (Crackpot) on guitars, Beckie Foon (Silver Mt. Zion, Esmerine) on cello, Michel Langevin (Voivod) on drums, Fluffy Erskine (Molasses, Hrsta) on musical saw, Sam Shalabi (The Shalabi Effect, solo) on oud and Efrim (GY!BE, Silver Mt. Zion) on piano, harmonium, guitar and backing vocals. The album was recorded by Howard Bilerman at the Hotel2Tango in Montreal.

download: elizabeth anka vajagic - stand with the stillness of this day


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new host service

hey guys !!!

i'm trying a new host service (divshare) starting with minus the bear - this is what i know about being gigantic.

so, please let me know which of these host services: gigasize or divshare work better for you, ok
in the meantime, i'm gonna upload my files on these host, just for awhile.

drop me a line, tell what do you think.

minus the bear - this is what i know about being gigantic

||| RESPOSTED BY REQUEST |||

.:: Formed in Seattle, Washington in 2001, Minus the Bear was initially formed by guitarist David Knudson, bassist Cory Murchy, and drummer Erin Tate who eventually recruited keyboardist/sequencer, Matt Bayles and vocalist/guitarist Jake Snider. Once in the same room they realized they were on to something special - and the band quickly earned a rabid and rapidly growing fan base ranging from teenagers to middle-aged parents. "I know every band says they can't explain their music, but I really can't say that we sound like one specific thing," Murchy explains. "We don't follow a particular scene or genre and hopefully that shows."

Members of Northwest all-stars KILL SADIE, BOTCH and SHARKS KEEP MOVING deliver five songs with their new collaborative project MINUS THE BEAR. The perfect mix of catchy melodies, angular textures placed just right and a hearty dose of spaced out atmosphere come together with stellar arrangements to raise the bar for debut EPs. This is essential rock and roll with a twist for the now and a focus on time-honored themes of drinking and girls that smoke. And check out those song titles!

.:: Minus the Bear is singer/guitarist Jake Snider, who also does the singer/guitarist thing in his other band, Sharks Keep Moving; guitarist Dave Knudsen, who also blazes frets in metal-core heroes Botch; drummer Erin Tate, who mans the traps in Kill Sadie; Matt Bayles on keyboards and electronics (who, to the best of my knowledge, isn't in any other bands, but happens to be one of Seattle's best known recording engineers); and bassist Cory Murchy (who, at this point, doesn't appear to have membership in any other bands either. Give him time, though).

If you've heard any of the aforementioned bands, you know that, for the most part, they're really, really good. Sharks Keep Moving play mellow, jazzy, complex emo-pop. Botch plays frenetic, mathy, metal-tinged hardcore. Kill Sadie plays complicated, art-damaged indie punk. So, whaddya get when you put members of these excellent (if very diverse) bands in a new, different band? A really, really stinkin' good side-project that may just be better than any of the members' full-time projects. Due to Snider's presence on vocals and guitar, Minus the Bear sounds a lot more like Sharks Keep Moving than they resemble any of the other aforementioned bands -- but that's only because they sound nothing like Botch or Kill Sadie.

So what do they sound like? Well, kind of like your favorite emo band that doesn't suck, mixed with The Cure, with some fun electronic undercurrents running through, minus the angst that both emo bands and the Cure tend to exude in spades. The song structures are complicated, but unfailingly melodic and catchy. The lyrical concerns seem to deal more with things like the aesthetics of pretty girls rolling cigarettes ("Her hands gorgeous, rolling a cigarette, thumbs and forefingers, rolling tobacco and the paper/she licks the paper slow twice, putting it all together") and drinking with said girls ("these girls are beautiful, and they're with us/these girls can drink well") than the typical emo fare of getting one's heart broken by the aforementioned ladies. The lyrics, delivered in Snider's pleasant croon, are plain-spoken and unpretentious.

The songs are anchored by Snider's eloquent, jazzy guitar playing, Murchy's solid basslines and Tate's nimble yet rock solid drumming. On top of this, Knudsen lays down convoluted, complex, often fingertapped guitar lines, while Bayles lays back in the background, distributing ambient keyboard wash and programmed beats over the proceedings. On some songs, the live drums cut out, and are replaced by a frantic electronica beat for a few bars -- but the live drums take over again before you know what happened.

One of the most refreshing things about Minus the Bear is the fact that the band doesn't seem to take themselves terribly seriously. Considering that they are operating within contexts that could potentially be horribly pretentious (I mean, think about it -- an emo/electronica/indie hybrid supergroup?), these guys just seem to want to get together and make cool music. The song titles themselves, which are completely ridiculous ("Hey, Wanna Throw Up? Get Me Naked!", "Lemurs, Man, Lemurs" and "Pantsuit...Uggghhh", just to name a few) seem to be poking fun at the post-rock convention of making song titles as long and convoluted as possible. Unlike many post-rock ditties with silly names, however, the songs on What I Know About Being Gigantic are real songs, with catchy-as-hell choruses, interesting, unexpected breaks and very high quality writing.

One slightly annoying thing about the album is that while there are only five songs listed on the back of the CD, there are actually seven tracks. My theory is that tracks three and four, which are both relatively brief instrumentals, are the songs that didn't warrant titles. I suppose that the only time this will really be an issue is if you're putting one of these songs on a mix tape, and you really need to know whether it's "Just Kickin' It Like a Wild Donkey" or "Potato Juice and Liquid Bread". In the end, I guess you can just pick whichever title you like best, and use that for the song you like the best. The thing is, these songs will find their way onto your mix tapes, as sure as you will not be able to get this CD out of your player. With their collective talents, Minus the Bear have created a big, happy genre-fuck that, if you're anything at all like me, will push all the right buttons to make you a very happy camper. -- Jeremy Schneyer

download: minus the bear - this is what i know about being gigantic


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morphine - good

.:: The low chords sweep so deeply, the music twists around the wrists, and Morpheus, The God Of Dreams, has a gift for you....he calls it Morphine. And Morphine calls it GOOD, the debut album that was originally released on Boston's small Accurate-Distortion label, and rejected by every major label in the book. Little did they know that the following year's CURE FOR PAIN would set Morphine up as one of the more unique things to happen to indie rock in recent years.

Morphine features the unique instrumentation of Mark Sandman's voice and one-string bass (on later albums he'd get bold and add a second string), which he plays with a glass slide. The music's warm edge is provided by Dana Colley on baritone sax and the commanding drums of Jerome Deupree, Billy Conway's predecessor. The sound of Morphine is low and sensuous, joining a powerful groove with spare penetrating lyrics. A tad bluesier and more atmospheric than their followup albums, GOOD features such tunes as "You Speak My Language" that remain a high point of their live shows.

GOOD was co-produced by Paul Q. Kolderie (Buffalo Tom, Uncle Tupelo, fIREHOSE, Throwing Muses, Pixies, many more) and additional tracks were done with Tom Dube (Tin Machine, Walkers).


.:: With no guitars and a half a set of bass strings, Morphine managed to rock harder than most of their fret-bound competition while retaining the slippery nocturnal undercurrent that would become their signature sound. On this 1992 debut album, the Boston trio strips down the minor-key blues of frontman Mark Sandman's former group, Treat Her Right, and adds a host of off-kilter elements.

Sandman's slide bass and narcoleptic vocals are perfectly complemented by Dana Colley's frenetic baritone sax, which he plays like a cross between Rahsaan Roland Kirk and Van Der Graaf Generator's David Jackson. Sandman reportedly played one-string bass for this album (he'd later expand to two), and the sound quality here is murkier than on subsequent efforts. But tracks such as the infectious "You Speak My Language" and the prophetic "Do Not Go Quietly unto Your Grave" (Sandman would die onstage in 1999) are powerful indicators of Morphine's dark musical glories to come. --Bill Forman

download: morphine - good


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le ggril - avec jean derome & les poules

.:: Le GGRIL is the home big bande from Tour de Bras. It feature a dozen of Bas-Saint-Laurent musicians and worked with various guest directors. Tour de Bras is a broadcast, creation and production structure in the actual musics domain. performative arts and new intrumental and sound pratices.

Through its activities, it search to support cultural devellopement in the region, to sensitize the public to the actual art forms, to make the local creators participate in some innovating projets into meeting with provincial and international scene artits.

.:: Jean Derome: One of the most active and eclectic musicians on the Canadian creative music scene, Jean Derome has managed to earn the recognition of a larger public, a rare feat in that field. Thanks to his large-scale musique actuelle projects, his compositions, his work as an improviser, his jazz groups and his music for the screen and the stage, Derome ranks as a major creative force, in Quebec and abroad.

He is experienced and innovative on both saxophone and flute, and his unique writing style cannot be mistaken for anyone else’s. Sensitive and powerful, his music often features a funny strike that makes its complex nature more inviting.

.:: Les Poules is a trio made up of Joane Hétu, Diane Labrosse, and Danielle P. Roger. Three instrumentalist-composer-improvisers who have been working together since 1980. Their collaboration is legendary, their musical explorations always avant-garde.

They mix up synthetic and acoustic sounds, the crackling and humming of samplers, the churning and chafing of percussion, vocalization, and the mouth play and hissing of saxophones. The effect of these mixtures and soundscapes is extraordinary: they weave a fabric of sound whose instrumental threads the listener will sometimes find difficult to distinguish.

download: le ggril - avec jean derome & les poules


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ramona córdova - the boy who floated freely

.:: Ramona Córdova (Ramón Vicente Alarcón) and "The Boy Who Floated Freely" tells a story about a boy named Giver who washes ashore on an island. When Giver regains consciousness, he starts to hear music coming from a nearby village. He immediately runs after the sound with the little energy left in his body, hoping to find people.

As the music grows louder and closer he realizes that it is coming from inside a small bar within the village. Upon entering the bar, Giver is welcomed with a song played for him by a band of Gypsies. They welcome Giver, and offer him a place to stay for the night so that he may regain strength. Giver is led to his room by a very pretty young girl named Marcía who has been ordered to offer Giver a small dose of potion to help him better sleep. He accepts, only, the young girl adds a potion that makes Giver fall in love with her as well.

When Giver falls asleep, he dreams of his brother and of other things that are heavy on his mind. When he awakes though- he feels light at heart, and he and Marcía sing a song together. Giver begins to realize he's in love, but does not feel he is old enough or wise enough to be suitable for Marcía. Although the love is there, by the time Giver truly allows himself to be fully taken over by his feelings, Marcía's love has grown dull. Giver is then left alone again, light and free as a paper airplane flying high above the sea. Ramona Córdova

download: ramona córdova - the boy who floated freely


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sonic youth - syr4: goodbye 20th century

||| RESPOTED |||

.:: The fourth release on the SYR label was not designated to new material or studio improvisations, but instead a double-disc set of Sonic Youth's interpretations of various works by other composers. A truly ambitious project, it's one of their most diverse releases yet, featuring a selection of guest performers and some extremely interesting recordings -- from the seemingly random yet very calculated half-hour Cage piece "Four6" to Coco's shrill delivery of Yoko Ono's "Voice Piece For Soprano", from the torturous yet compelling "Pendulum Music" to the perplexing yet amusing 88-key destruction of "Piano Piece #13", the album offers a vast sample of Sonic Youth chasing us down musical paths we might not otherwise have ever visited.

.:: For information on the history and evolution of the record itself, look no further than head project co-ordinator William Winant's extensive notes reproduced below, originally published in Bananafish #13. To discuss the live history a bit, we need to go back to April 1st, 1999. It was a special show at the Bowery Ballroom in NYC, Sonic Youth's first attempt to perform the SYR4 material live.

To make this possible, SY brought Jim O'Rourke, William Winant, Takehisa Kosugi, and Wharton Tiers onstage to assist in the performance. The show was opened by three sonic solo events: the Thurston Moore/William Winant/Tom Surgal trio, the Kim Gordon/Ikue Mori/DJ Olive trio (who would go on to release SYR5), the Lee Ranaldo/Leah Singer duo, and UK noise terrorists Prick Decay. The set consisted of 5 pieces from the SYR4 record, including "Six For New Time" "+-" "Having Never Written a Note For Percussion" "Four6" & "Voice Piece For Soprano", the latter of which was sung by Kim (rather than Coco) in 3 parts, one scream between each piece.

A program with scores for the pieces performed that night was handed out before the show. Following this gig, only "Having Never Written a Note For Percussion" would reappear in a set list that year, at the June 13th NYC show. Less than a month later, all of the band's gear was stolen on a brief west coast tour -- but that incident is covered in the write-ups for "A Thousand Leaves" and "NYC Ghosts & Flowers".

Following the "NYC Ghosts" tours in 2000, Sonic Youth decided to take the SYR4 material on an exclusive tour in Europe in June 2001, finally getting a chance to premiere the pieces they had not yet performed live, including "Burdocks" "Six" "Treatise" and even "Piano Piece #13", which was performed 4 times and yes, that means 4 innocent pianos had to die.

The band also debuted some non-SYR4 material in the same vein as those compositions -- "Clapping Music" (another Steve Reich piece, comprised entirely of Steve and William Winant clapping their hands) and a one-time-only rendition of Konrad Boehmer's "Echelon", written specifically for Sonic Youth, and conducted live onstage by Konrad himself in Amsterdam. In addition to SYR4 material, "She Is Not Alone" "NYC Ghosts & Flowers" and "Side2Side" were performed at every show.

Two shows on the 10-date tour were "rock gigs" -- ie, standard SY set lists. They did one festival set in Barcelona, opening with a lengthy improvised version of "She is Not Alone", centering around the full half-hour performance of "Four6", and finishing with "Side2Side". At this point, Jim O'Rourke was already an official member of the band, and he performed at every show -- also along for the ride was William Winant, and the sextet was joined by various guests in every city along the way.

It was a truly unique, remarkable tour that unfortunately didn't extend to North America -- reportedly, some of the European crowds were less than enthused by what they were witnessing. Oh well... sonic youth

download: sonic youth - syr4: goodbye 20th century
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zloty dawai - dada work chant

.:: The five person improvisation group Zloty Dawai likes to live on the edge. Their albums are recorded in one take with no editing and no overdubbing. Their previous album on WM recordings received raves from Free Album Galore and from just about everyone who listened to it. Their new album Dada Work Chant is another amazing sound experience.

As with the last album, Zloty Dawai intermingles ambient soundscapes with long doses of avant-garde jazz and noise. Their effortless ability to go from dreamscapes to chaos is fascinating. There is a special empathy between the musicians. This type of music always runs the risk of sounding indulgent and meaningless.

Yet there is a clear communication of structure and meaning in this improvisatory feast. This is an experimental music album that begs for repeated listenings. There is so much going on that each listen will reveal new layers.

.:: Take your seat and have another journey into the weird accoustic world of Zloty Dawai. Is it Free Jazz? Is it Noise? The Zloties don’t give a damn.

The five guys from Cologne just recorded this one in 4 different takes directly on CD. Totally improvised - no overdubs – no censorship.


download: zloty dawai - dada work chant


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