Dear Reader,

At a time of major major-label (or should I just call ‘em conglomerates) concern about copying off the ‘net, the major and minor independents here still put their souls into making and making available music that we feel passionate enough to buy and cherish. As 2003 ends, I again give my thanks to the musicians who’ve given me so much joy. Here are some of the most recent arrivals, including, as always, worthy back catalog items new to me.

JOSH ABRAMS. Cipher. Delmark 546, 67:45, delmark.com

Bassist Josh Abrams is joined by Jeff Parker on guitar, Axel Dörner on trumpet and slide trumpet, and Guillermo Gregorio on clarinet and sax. Dörner is probably best known from his more out recordings, often with electronics. Gregorio is now well documented on hatHut with a series of CD featuring Euro-improv with a strong compositional bent. There’s also a fascinating CD of Gregorio’s early recordings on the Atavistic Unheard Music Series.

Cipher is a solid set of improvs, some structured and some free. The texture of the bass with guitar are a special treat. Even when it moves fast, a ds on the opening track, it never seems too busy. Dörner’s guttural ratchet is striking, as is the variety of musics here, ranging from pointillistic twang and splatter to laid back guitar ballad, all of it effective. I’m especially grooving on the outside stuff, especially Dörner on the title track; bass rumble is shaking my house like the IRT is running below. Strong stuff.

AKIYAMA/ NAKAMURA/ SUGIMOTO/ WASTELL. Foldings. Confront 12, 57:32, confront.info

This is a concert of two half-hour improvisations recorded at Offsite in Tokyo, from a concert series “Meeting at Offsite, Vol. 18.” Tezuki Akiyama plays turntable and airduster, Toshimaru Nakamura a no-input mixing board, Taku Sugomoto, acoustic guitar and “preparations,” and Mark Wastell, cello and “preparations,” contact mic and an amp. It begins very low key, “lower-case sound” as the genre is called. Both pieces are mostly quiet scrapes, percussive raps and rare squeals and scrapes. It will be lost in background listening; it rewards attention. I’ve better enjoyed each of the four’s work elsewhere, but fans will enjoy this too.

GANESH ANANDAN, MALCOLM GOLDSTEIN AND RAINER WIENS. Speaking In Tongues. Ambiances Magnetiques AM 118 CD, 51:20, actuellecd.com

From the go-get this is exciting. Anandan plays an international assortment of frame and other drums in this improv trio. The opening “Twenty Fingers” could easily be more than that, the percussionist bringing memories of everything from Taj Mahal’s percussive guitar on “Eighteen Hammers” to a fantasy of Pheeroan ak Laff in New Delhi. Goldstein is a well-known violinist with way too few recordings. XI has recently released an expanded CD version of his classic Folkways LP Vermont Seasons. This is my first meeting with Rainer Wiens and his prepared guitar. He does everything, from harpstrum to Derek Bailey, and he does it well. The percussion is beautifully recorded; you can hear the air in the drums. Goldstein is wiry; his violin, that is. Actually, it is multitextured and multileveled and his playing could evoke equally Billy Bang or L. Subramanian. He shines, glows, really, in “Voyage en Train.” In “Ra Ma,” Goldstein’s ghruff violin sounds more like a horn, the sounds Bhob Rainey or Greg Kelley might make. It is magical. Saxophonist Frank Lozano joins for just one track, “Fra Ma Ga Ra,” but his half-Evan Parker half-Bismallah Khan sound fits seamlessly in the ensemble as does the piece within the whole. Highest recommendation.

FRED ANDERSON. Back At The Velvet Lounge. Delmark 549, 67:01, delmark.com

This is an album to sink your body into. Tenor saxophonist Fred Anderson is currently enjoying a wave of deserved acclaim, some of it a consequence of the veteran Chicagoan being joined by relatively younger players like Ken Vandermark and Hamid Drake. This disc continues a stream of strong releases. Anderson’s sax snakes out long lines with a tangy, almost Indian, texture. Earthy. Not quite Pharoah Sander, not quite David Murray. This is the second Delmark disc emanating from Anderson’s own Chicago club.

“Olivia,” Sun Ra-ish horn vamp, with witty and tactile interplay between a walking, loping bass and acoustic guitar strings. “Job Market Blues” Jeff Parker’s guitar is abstract at the same time as offering bossa rhythm, the bass doing the earthiest funk rhythm which is jazz-grounded, not pop. There are times time seems totally suspended, and one waits for the next breath.

“Syene” The trumpet often tag-teams the sax like a younger brother eager to imitate his sibling, charming all the way, yet being his own man.

Because of the bass/guitar mix and the trumpet/sax tease, I think I like this one even better than Anderson’s last Velvet Lounge disc On The Run (Delmark 534) with Tatsu Aoki and Hamid Drake, which is superb. Highly recommended, too, are the double-disc Chicago Chamber music (Southport 0043) and reissues Dark Days and Milwaukee Tapes, Vol. 1 (Atavistic UMS/ALP 218 and 204, respectively).

ANTIPOP CONSORTIUM vs. MATTHEW SHIPP. Thirsty Ear THI 57120.2, 42:06, thirstyear.com

Once upon a time they had what was called a Battle of The Bands where two jazz or rock outfits would compete live for best of that night. This concept was later extended to Jamaican sound-system operators with their ‘toasters’, which in and of course led to the same for their descendants: disco deejays and hip hop rappers and turntablists. The posters, handbills and eventually discs would describe these competitions with the abbrev. “vs.” and nowadays it is more often used in the world of electronics and its sibling “lite.” electronica, for artists who reprocess each others work.

So much for that. What we have here is a roster of some of the best American improvisers extant: pianist Shipp, bassist William Parker, drummer Guillermo Brown, Daniel Carter, and one of my musical pet loves, the vibist Khan Jamal. They are overlaid (or undermined, depending upon your p.o.v.) by the Antipop Consortium’s spoken word rap, synth beats and other programming. I take issue with Antipop’s lame name, acting the same as if they down with the peeps, ya know, yet sayin they anti when they act fly-hi above the lowlife on down.

“svp” has a tinkly riff which becomes a muzak-y instrumental waltz. mebbe they were listening to Carla Bley’s “3/4” that day. It’s interesting to hear the woody sonorities of Parker’s bass morph into a beat on “Coda.” Brown’s hand drums are a small treat on “Montro City,” ironic is that as a drummer I enjoy his work, yet lately he has been using a lot of electronics live and on his own releases, sometimes very well; ditto Shipp. Hit or miss with little in between. The ultimate, as in last track on the disc, irony is the title of the excellent acoustic blowout, “Real is Surreal,” which puts an echo of Daniel Carter’s fine trumpeting placing him half-way between Miles Davis and Jon Hassell.

Matthew Shipp is curator of Thirsty Ear’s Blue Series, of which release is this part, with some amazing highs and amazing lows. Shipp gives Antipop Consortium caché, both with his name and his piano, which serves and elevates their music with its riffing and splashes of free notes. Ditto the others, but instead of rising, what ya get is neither fish, fowl nor a lovable chickenfishmutt. Hate to low ya, but Emperor’s New is closed down. Needs to find a new consort, um.

LUIGI ARCHETTI and JAN SCHLIEGEL. Silent Surface. Unit UTR 4138, 53:24, unitrecords.com; luigiarchetti.com

Unit is a collective releasing discs of Swiss improv and experimental artists, with a strong track record. This record has fifteen tracks of what is often called lower case sound, although the pieces aren’t necessarily quiet. Archetti plays guitar and Schliegel bass, both with electronics. Amidst expansive soft notes, direct or extended, squiggling, gurgling or rustling, the bass notes rock the house like Jaco’s one note that defines the opening of Joni Mitchell’s “Cotton Avenue” on Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter; those with subwoofers, wow. The quiet moments of acoustic guitar are beautiful, with very soft metallic threads of electronics passing beneath. Only a few tracks have beats, but actually these are more rhythmic pulses than sequencer beats and don’t bother me. Good stuff. Appropriately, this lands on my shelf filed between Arcane Device and Irvine Arditti.

KYLE BRUCKMANN’S WRACK. Red Toucan RT 9323, 61:01, www3.sympatico.ca/cactusred

Bruckmann’s Wrack is an impeccable free improv ensemble. The five of them fill up a sound space like a large band, with rich timbres “Rather Dour” is not dour, but with its large brass sonority followed by a discrete woozy drum trapping a drunk viola, oh man, I literally goosebump from its acerbity. These eight tracks of free improvisation within a structural framework, which used to be called third stream and later euro-jazz, has here reached the total integration one finds in so many releases from labels such as between the lines and hatHut.

Bruckmann is an oboist, (I think I prefer to call them oboers, I like the sound), also adept on the English horn. His 1999 solo outing Entymology (Barely Auditable BAR0001) is one of my favorite solo discs of sound-exploration, joining such classics as Braxton’s Series F Saxophone Improvisations, Baikida Carroll’s The Unspoken Word, Evan Parker’s Conic Section and Bhob Rainey’s The Withered Grasses (Tautology 007). These are akin to Berio’s Sequenza series of instrumental works designed to showcase technique (the complete set on DG is a must-have), but whereas some of Berio’s Sequences must be called dry, all of the aforementioned improv discs are rich with spirit.

RON CARTER. EIGHT PLUS. DreyfusJazz FDN 36705, 54:30, kochentertainment.com

Prejudices first: I usually thrill to Ron Carter’s bass and especially his piccolo bass as here. I usually hate string backings. The first track, “Eight,” last eight minutes and with Steve Scott on piano with Lewis Nash on drums, add bass, percussion and a buncha strings and... hmm. The melody seems to derive from “Eight Miles High” as well as some direct quotations inside. The strings are neither elegant nor earthy, striking a useful middle ground. This becomes a solid mainstream date then, with string interjections at times in most songs.

In “A Blues For Bradley,” after the late owner of the jazz club of the same name, there is a nice pizzicato and arco interlude, palm court in origin but fitting here, as if in a Randy Newman soundtrack. The tango-inflected “El Rompe Cabeza” (The Puzzle, or Brainteaser) features strong playing, arrangements, and its percussive touches are more than just effects.

“O.K.” isn’t, with a poppish rhythm that, despite some high energy playing from Scott, doesn’t click. The only standard is Leon Russell’s “A Song For You,” which has rockabye strings like swings in a playground back and forth, or Phil Glass slowed down to 18. Carter’s playing is weak here, note-unworthy in its own right, including bizarre choices of quotes such as “That’s My Baby,” all to ill effect.

The rest of the tunes are credited to Carter, including the traditional (or is it Thomas Dorsey?) “A Closer Walk With Thee,” which could have been better, with it’s skitterish second line rhythm, if it lasted more than two minutes. Half a good disc. Clear, textured, direct to digital 1990 recording from Rudy Van Gelder’s studio here in its apparently first release.

VICTOR DE BOO TRIO. Live at the BimHuis. Trytone/BVHaast TT 559-011, 61:09, trytone.org

De Boo is a drummer and this trio features guitarist Anton Goudsmit and master trombonist Wolter Wierbos, well known from the Willem Breuker Kollektief. Although a Dutch band, remember that Dutch Masters swing as hard as any in the states. Wierbos seems to stand out here, if only because the ‘bone seems to lead. Much has that New Orleans swing as if it were a Ray Anderson trio. Nearly all the compositions, though, are by De Boo. Goudsmit wrote the opening “Pork,” a delightful number which starts as barnyard imitations but soon enough falls into Roscoe Mitchell fun territory, as does a great deal of this concert. Goudsmit’s electric guitar works both for rhythm, but equally for witty commentary and its own melodic or structural strength. The first half is absolutely fab for body and ear. Midway, the disc veers more straight ahead, compositionally, and the playing thoughtful. The end reverts to jollity and some wild blowing. The clever black and white cover photo looks like a Spike Jones joint.

EL-P feat. THE BLUE SERIES CONTINUUM. Sunrise Over Brooklyn. Thirsty Ear THI 57136.1, 10” vinyl, 10:32, thirstyear.com

This is one of the winners in the Matthew Shipp-curated Blue Series on Thirsty Ear. Although the series features a variety of styles, one of its apparent aims is the fruitful hybrid of improv/jazz with electronics. This hefty slab of one-sided vinyl begins with a piano melody by Shipp, soon joined by Roy Campbell’s trumpet, processed and echoed beautifully. Enter William Parker’s bass, Guillermo Brown, Jr.’s drums, Daniel Carters reeds, and Steve Swell’s foghorn trombone underpinning and supporting this beautiful, crescing structure with integrated electronic sounds. The concept is simple, but the results are passionate. It is a long piano-chorded walk to sunrise with the feeling of accomplishment; a victory for all. Beautiful jacket, but why is the spine blank?

JAMES FEI. for saxophone with card reed and gated amplification/ Camptown Races 1. Organized Sound Recordings 1, 3” CD, 10:57 + 1:21; jamesfei.com

Deep throated slow growl, quite attractive, sparely punctuated with percussive knocks which surprise and with the sax, grow stronger and build to a climax. The lagniappe is a very abstract take on the classic minstrel song. Fei is one of the great sax players, no hyperbole. Although the asking price for this striking miniature is nearly a full priced CD, it’s worthy. If Fei is new to you, and you like explorations of sound textures which are thought-out and rich, with no sense of the dilettante, I highly recommend starting with Fei’s solo disc on Leo Records, one of my all time favorite recordings. This is packaged in a mini jewelcase with an attractive cover and a booklet of notes.

KEN FIELD. Pictures of Motion. sFz 002, time, sfzrecordings.com

Overdubbed saxes don’t sound as if they would be impressive, but the brief opening title sounds like an accordion suspended in air, half jazz sax quartet, half French chamber. Throw in some in Krupa-like rhythm with bass for the next track and “Canned Chicken” sounds anything but canned, rather a corn(likker)fed funkstrut. The thirteen tracks alternate between these styles, and also the jazz-rock idiom best known from various Knitting Factory releases. The proof is in the details, such as Field’s percussive snacks addending Will Dowd’s appropriately martial drums on “Corteo.” Jessica Lurie and Amy Denio are westcoast notable guestsaxes on several tracks. Except for 1:14 of Bill Evans’ “Time Remembered,” all tracks are Field originals. Not as strong has his later discs; audition if any of this intrigues you.

CHRIS FORSYTH and ERNESTO DIAZ-INFANTE. (as is stated...before known). Evolving Ear EE07/Pax PR90263, 47:13, evolvingear.com, paxrecordings.com

Perhaps the best duo disc yet from these great guitar grinders, Forsyth electric and Diaz-Infante acoustic. The opener, “The Sun Is Shining,” is not the Bob Marley tune. This sun’s brilliance comes from a grated guitar drone, with skronk percussion detonations. “how little is observed...half a mile distant” features strummed guitar, abstract with a tinge of folk influence, with the electric guitar’s sparse commentary. The eleven tracks are well sequenced, varied in mood, the listener’s interest never flagging. This reminds one that music can be hypnotic without needing to trance, drone or trip. For guitar lovers who know only Frissell, Chadbourne, Bailey, Mazzacane Connors, Licht, and the Sonic Youth boys, I highly recommend this disc for a taste of some other aspects of what guitars can do. The recording by Willis Bown and mix by Jaime Fennelly is rich and visceral; one hears and feels all the texture, color and overtones. (as is stated...before known) will encourage you to seek out their other discs, my favorite perhaps being their Wires and Wooden Boxes. (Note that several of Diaz-Infante’s discs are solo piano, and sparse like the desert. One must be patient.) Both performers travel a lot, so look for them in your town

FRED FRITH, JEAN DEROME, PIERRE TANGUAY, MYLES BOISEN. all is bright but it is not day. Ambiances Magnetiques AM196CD, 61:35, actuellecd.com

Each of these masters plays too many instruments to list here and for once, four masters does not mean too many cooks. Lets simplify. Frith plays, of course, guitars, voice and stuff; Dérome things you blow, hit or twang; Tanguay most hits things, and Boisen manipulates what the others do, in realtime. Recorded in Oakland, and released by this most excellent Canadian label, we have a winner here. It starts out laughing at you, like the toy laughbox I had when i was seven. Then a guitar strum carries you over a moody iceflow with exquisite details on the way. later: Is this a guitar or a monkey cage in a zoo? The rhythms, when obvious, are soft-textured. If you like Derek Bailey, in be tween noise, or Gastr de Sol, this is your boy. Despite the battery of batterie and toy sounds, this is no kiddy arcade and no joke. Special honors to the brief track “Ornettology,” a tribute to that master as if slices, diced and performed by sideways Scottsmen. Sample this one if you need a taste before buying. Strong free improv, with compositional credits to all. It’s enclosed in AM’s usual wonderful cardboard sleeve.

SIR ROLAND HANNA. Tributaries: Reflections on Tommy Flanagan. IPO C1004, 64:54, iporecordings.com

This second IPO disc by Hanna has all the delights and varied classical piano-jazz styles of last year’s Everything I Love (IPO C 1002), which is an excellent disc in itself, although some of his loves don’t fare well through a jazz lens. Tributaries has a panache that draws you track by track with a joie-de-création that never flags, even when introspective. The songs are associated with the late pianist Flanagan, one of my favorite jazz performers, bookended by two of Flanagan’s own, “Sea Changes” and “Delarna.” Thad Jones’ “A Child Is Born” is particularly exciting. This is the kind of disc which risks falling to the background if you don’t pay attention; close listening, however, is richly rewarding.

JOHNNY GRIFFIN and HORACE PARLAN. Close Your Eyes. Minor Music MM 810085, 59:15, allegro-music.com;

The first duet is charming, and reminds you of the wonderful sound of “just” a tenor sax and piano. In “Pannonica,” though, things get sloppy; intonation and phrasing. Parlan is pleasant enough, as is Griffin, but too much sounds shaky and some even plodding. Overall, Parlan fares much better on his own Pannonica disc on Enja, and in Alvin Queen’s group, sometimes with Lockjaws Davis. Griffin’s early work is still the best, and I like to tout a lesser known disc I love, The Johnny Griffith Orchestra doing blues and spirituals, The Big Soul-Band (OJC/Riverside 485).

WILLIAM HOOKER/ ROGER MILLER/ LEE RANALDO. Monsoon. Atavistic alp146cd, 49:03, atavistic.com

Drummer Hooker has a spate of discs with duos and trios with partners such as Billy Bang, Glenn Spearman, Zeena Parkins, Elliott Sharp, DJ Olive and Thurston Moore. I own at least four with Lee Ranaldo. One cherished concert memory dates back perhaps five years with Hooker holding a series of overlapping duos with maybe ten fine improvisers, held at St. Peter’s Church in NY, Hooker himself playing only in the final section. This is one set performed by this trio, recorded live to analog, at the Knitting Factory in May 2002. The column of the clear tray is is also labeled “Out Trios, Volume One,” only the press release using a lot of palaver to avoid simply calling this a the debut volume of a series of (I assume) improv trios. Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo (many of our readers know Ranaldo but might need an explanation of Sonic Youth) plays guitar, “effects,” and small devices. I assume these devices are electronic, rather than the percussive and wind blowers often referred to as “little instruments.” Roger Miller, whom I know better through this improv electric bass than through the rock band Mission of Burma (though I love their single “That Essence Rare”), uses electronics and loops. The music is quite simple to describe: a forty minute piece, ebbing on flowing of rock-inflected noise whoosh, with Hooker’s drumming coming through as the strongest component. A minute of so of voice samples from some place called Fun World are used midway. Monsoon is enjoyable, although I wouldn’t recommend this as first introduction to each one of the three.

CHARLOTTE HUG and PAT THOMAS. Certain Questions. Unit UTR 4134, 66:16, unitrecords.com

From Unit, the Swiss cooperative label, comes a duo known to most listeners via Emanem Discs. Pat Thomas is a pianist who I’ve liked as well as an electronics dude I’ve never been able to quite get, even when with Lol Coxhill. Hug’s a superb violinist. This duo is a treat. The grinds and groans here will appeal to free improvisers without doubt, but anyone into the noise genre would do well to look here too. It’s not loud or harsh in an electronic way; it’s acoustic, both viola and inside piano, and the processing by both players is as integrated, perhaps even more so, than Morton Subotnick’s pieces with ‘ghost electronics.” A true collab and a totally, at least for me, unexpected delight. A powerful booklet cover of flaming reds and yellows, and it folds out fivefold with lots of useful notes.

JEFF KAISER OCKODEKTETT. 13 Themes For A Triskaidekaphobic. pfMENTUM CD 013, 73:13, pfmentum.com

I’ve given great praise to trumpeter Jeff Kaiser’s music before, and I’m a sucker for his unique packaging wrapped with string or twine, my previous favorite of his being Pith Balls and Inclined Planes (pfMENTUM CD005), a trumpet and fluegelhorn duo with Ernesto Diaz-Infante on guitar. With such a large ensemble, I’m not sure what to say or who to list, so I’ll refer you to the website instead. Here we have brass bands that could be UK or Carla Bley, squawking birds and flying theremin, plucked or grinding basses and flying bass. No, I’m getting away with myself.

It’s all a bit surreal as the basses do a Watusi Wiggle and I recall the first audition of this as I was entering dreamstate, listening through my DVD-to-teevee set up where the music got lost. The audio quality is higher-fi than many “loft-era” home recordings, but as this ensemble of eighteen was recorded in Ventura (CA) City Hall, a lot of detail is lost in the ether. Listening through my Martin-Logans, though, each instrument is clear, the thirteen tracks are indeed a (bitter)sweet suite, and passionate intensely.

At the risk of name dropping, Golia’s reedz, Peet’s organ and theremin, Vlatkovich’s ‘bone, Onserud’s bass... plus the git-ars, tooters, honkers and and bangers, it’s a pleasure to note that 13 Themes For A Triskaidekaphobic are even more than the sum of their parts. There are no notes save the tracks and musicians, and that Kaiser conducts this Ockodektett. If you like large ensembles running free and long (actually, no individual theme is longer than eight minutes), this receives highest recommendation, unless you are an audiophile rather than a music lover, and then you only have yourself to blame.

TED KILLIAN. Flux Aeterna. pfMentum CD007, 70:42, pfmentum.com

Killian’s electric and acoustic guitars, samples and loops create an intriguing blend of noise, ambient (due to bass growl underpin), and arena rock guitar over the course of ten varied tracks. This might appeal to prog-rockers more than the free-improv crowd, but its definitely appealing. I listened to this right after indulging myself in all four sides of Tales from Topographic Oceans. This seems the perfect dessert. What if Jimi went really druggy? Mix by Jeff Kaiser. Its in a thin three-fold package wrapped in a band.

GUY KLUCEVSEK AND PHILLIP JOHNSTON. Tales From the Cryptic. Winter & Winter Music Edition, 64:12. allegro-music.com, winterandwinter.com

On the opening track, “Spin Cycle,” master accordionist Guy Klucevsek (all of his records are worthy of purchase) pumps cyclical rhythm as well as melody sounding somewhat like a clarinet, a perfect foil to Phillip Johnston’s alto and soprano saxophones. This is an inspired pairing. Johnston’s worked in many combinations, often with his own medium size Big Trouble outfit. Both guys are witty with titles as well as with their playing. “Tulips Are Better Than One” is a semi-hora. All the tracks, whatever rhythm and speed, are intense emotionally, rich to the intellect, and aurally exciting. One can equally imagine hearing this sitting at a café in any European city, or at the Knitting Factory.

Some tracks to note are derived from classical music. “The Organ Grinder” takes Schubert’s haunting song from Winterreise mostly for melody, and the Satie piece is followed by an original in homage to Satie, at least by title: “A Pear For Satie,” playing on the Frenchman’s piece for pears. The closer is “Blue Window,” a take on Strauss’ “Blue Danube” waltz here “decomposed by Teiji Ito and Guy Klucevsek.”

The neat thing about this is how the once-villified accordion has not only been redeemed but made a now-standard instrument for jazz, thanks largely to Guy Klucevsek, as well as William Schimmel and, more recently, Ted Reichmann. (Also, Astor Piazzola and the tango, the continental crew of Eurojazzers and European volksmusikers weigh heavily in the general public’s enjoyment of wheezers and blowers.) We have W+W’s standard, corrugated packaging with tipped-in artwork, and foldout interior notes with beautiful art, yet the text is totally readable. The heavy cardboard disc-holders continue to scare me even though they’ve never yet damaged a disc.

JAY KLUM. Home Cookin’. Alltribe ATRO722, 51:36, alltribe.com

Alltribe does this release a disservice by truly ugly packaging, none of which gives a hint that this is a disc by a fine jazz singer of standards, with excellent support by Klum herself on piano, Ted Klum on tenor and bass, various drummers and guitar. This has a studio-produced sound, including overdubbed vocals, but despite that this is a clearly recorded, strictly acoustic jazz date as one might hear in a club, no electronics, no vocal or instrumental concessions to pop other than those appropriately multitracked vocals. Tunes titles include the words (you call fill in the titles), I Wish, Softly, Lullabye, Spring and April. A very disarming delight, special props to the original pop balladic arrangement of “Lullabye of Birdland,” as well as for consistently clear enunciation without the tiniest whiff of being precious or proper.

KNURL. Magnetomotive. Gameboy GB48, 50:49, gmby.net. Kurtosis. HarshNoise HN-003, 46:44. movknurl@interlog.com

Knurl is a project of Canadian Alan Bloor. Magnetomotive processes metal objects. One sits listening to waves of mid-to-upper-range bass pass by on “Inflame.” “Enkephaline” add hi-wiry neon lines to the mix. “Inflexation” gets more intense, lower bass rumble makes everything more visceral and your ears feel the speed of the higher ranges fly by, not rocket speed but way beyond the Autobahn. “Perforce” indeed; first a drill, then a throbbing rumble, and so on, each of the seven tracks vary more in dynamic range, as well as in sudden changes. Limited edition of 100.

Kurtosis, on ax-noiseman Damien Catera’s label (woops, my mistake: that one’s Harsh House, another fine noise label), is quite different although the materials are the same. The first track has similar rumble and, well it’s too low to call it whoosh, but the work is also much more percussive and filaments of filed metal like the IRT rounding the curve into Union Square. Another sounds like a large metal sculpture being dragged along concrete; reminds me of being a kid waking up to the waking up from the sound of tykes furiously pedaling around the building in their giant plastic cars. The other tracks just get louder and harsher, with more detail to hang on to. Good stuff.

On my keep-shelf, Knurl is filed between Die Knödel’s Overcooked Tyroleans and Oliver Knussen’s Where the Wild Things Are. Context is everything.

LIONEL MARCHETTI and BRUNO ROCHE. Dans La Montagne (Ki Ken Taï). chloë 004, 3” CD, 12:11, chloechloe.cc

Perhaps the most disturbing piece of musique, concrète or otherwise, since Ostertag’s Sooner Or Later (RecRec ReCDec 37), which sampled a young Salvadoran boy wailing as he buries his father. Dans La Montagne (Ki Ken Taï) begins with the sounds of breath, calls, impending death, reminiscent of the Third Ear Band’s music over the credits of Polansky‘s film Macbeth, sparing us the vision, but the war sounds so much worse in the mind’s eye. Here: breath, whip cracks, screams clearly human but animalistic: crowing, braying, neighing. The construction of this short piece, created for a Radio France broadcast competition, is powerful. It uses sounds from the Club de Kendo de Paris as well as other voices. An easy call for one of the top ten electronic works released in 2003, although created in 1996. The cover is easily recognizable as a detail from a Breughel work, but I was unfamiliar with “Le Suicide de Saül.” In a 3” jewelbox with cover insert only.

RICK McLAUGHLIN. Study of Light. Accurate AC-5048, 71:45, accuraterecords.com, rickmclaughlin.com

This left-of-mainstream outing partners the bassist with pianist Greg Burk, Jeremy Udden on saxophones. With the exception of two languid tracks, one of them Eberhard Weber’s “Colours of Chloe,” these are of the Jazz Composers Collective ilk, with improv being the motivator, but the compositional frames interesting and usually more than just heads. Burk offers two tunes, “Blink To Be” and his fine “Ink” which appears on his own Soul Note disc. The CD closes with Duke and Strays’ “Isfahan” and an eleven minute workout on Youman’s “Without A Song.”