I think this collective are from Detroit but residing in New York (there is certainly some kind of NY/Detroit merger proceeding). Two MC’s & a duo in the beats department if I am not mistaken. It’s really the sonic finish/final product that scintillates here…some phenomenal production, harvested from predominantly Jazz sample source. Ergo hard-to-trace, busy intersections of double bass, vibes & pitched-down horn grafts. Continue reading MF911- Idol the Bloodsport CD
LAW was a ridiculously potent eleven-deep (or so) master rap collective from LA that you have probably never heard of? They did one truly historic album in 1995 that it seems went nowhere for reasons I am unsure of!? Their style was essentially Battle Rap/Hardcore Hip-Hop, but their mode of linguistic dispatching derived from an obsession with extremely violent, graphic & destructive lyricism & majorly murderous metaphors heavy on pugnacity & lethal depictions galore.
One shot – one kill! 1993, an MC duo of Phase & Mack 10, 12 tracks strutting the full spectrum of Hardcore, Gangsta, Hip-Hop & ultra-offensive flagrant type shit to perturb, repel or entertain? depending on your angle & strength of gut-lining. Some gorgeous hard beats, with a snare so sharp it could skewer on some tunes. Continue reading Brokin English Klik – S/T CD
A gem in the dirt rind! A merciless, unforgiving & abrasive masterpiece of sweltering urban decay & anti-establishment dissidence from the bowels of NY (I think it’s the Bronx? they never seem to specify?). Continue reading Assault & Battery – S/T CD
A wonderful piece of Avant-Garde class from 1974. Carla Bley was the Norse arch-bohemian Blanca lookin’ nut-case & composer bad-ass running with a crew of super cool NY envelope-pushers. This is also the first outing on her long-running record label Watt that she co-produced (& I assume founded?) with trumpeter Michael Mantler. Mantler is on this recording as well along with the great Dave Holland on bass, Howard Johnson on tuba & a whole gaggle of loons (seven in total) all enabling a herculean scope of detail & depth. Continue reading Carla Bley – Tropic Appetites 12” LP
And so! Pianist & rollicking bohemian cool-dude Paul Bley drags in the super duo qualities of bassist Dave Holland & drummer/percussionist Barry Altschul to form the Scorpio trio, sliding around the deck in the Avant improvisational district over premeditated skeletons arranged by knock-out Carla Bley & Annette Peacock. Now, to seriously add the rainbow-fluid, magic-dust, cosmic-bollocks to an already exciting proposition – Bley is playing a plump expanse of synthesisers, electric keyboards & what’s either a killer moog or a synthesizer modal that’s damn close to one! Like a bad sweet-tooth, I have a real pash on mad moogs & the idea of them in an unbridled orbit backed up by Holland & Altschul is pretty goose-bump dappling.
A tremendous 1978 hidden (so to speak) recording from enigmatic guitarist, singer & multi-instrumentalist Michael Gregory Jackson & reedist Oliver Lake. Jackson is one of the drollest characters in the, um – Jazz/Avant-Garde arena operating a confusing chameleonic surf between categorically pioneering & highly astute intellectual Jazz innovation, ultra Avant-Garde, JazzFusion, Noise, Improvisation, Pop & R&B. his wildly contrasting history from cutting-edge 70’s New Music vanguard, major stardom, quite obscurity & genre defenestration is a fascinating, rare, unique & as of yet undisclosed (at least fully) page from Jazz history (presuming we can limit the definition to Jazz in this most multifaceted of musicology cases?). Continue reading Michael Gregory Jackson – Karmonic Suite LP
An excellent, highly balanced equilibrium into one of Braxton’s greatest phases. Through the early 70’s he dispensed a slew of brilliant records for Arista, backed frequently by the awesome finesse from rhythm-section Dave Holland & Barry Altschul, also regularly joined Kenny Wheeler on trumpet. Braxton’s phenomenal technique, smouldering soloing capacity & highly intricate, if not hifalutin, compositional directive is superbly relayed through these eight pieces capturing a snap-shot of his many miens. What does that entail exactly? Continue reading Anthony Braxton – The Complete Braxton 1971 DBL LP
This is another of my favourite & most recommended Braxton recordings, scaling a large gamut of his styles from, for me, his greatest period. Bolstered by both George Lewis & Kenny Wheeler, the exceptional double act Barry Altshcul & Dave Holland & on the final splendid piece – The Berlin New Music Group (an Avant-Classical ensemble conducted here by Herr Hummel). Naturally, brilliant performances emerge from everyone, & Braxton himself renders both awesome playing & compositional accomplishment in a toweringly versatile pallet & persona.
Continue reading Anthony Braxton – The Montreux/Berlin concerts DBL LP
A giant flippant & facetious wallop in the gob! This is essentially a digital-Shitnoise compilation with what seems to be an intentionally shabby, self-deprecating, deliberately underachieving pageant of self-immolation & shite-wallowing. There are 56 bands over two 12”LPs, most of which are on some ultra obscurist etchment (i suspect many will never publish outside this comp) that are in the kind of irresistible ruinous garbage of Breakcore, Speedcore, Gabber, Glitch, Mash-Up, Noise, Noisecore & other trashy distorted digital imploding & Ignoramus Dance Music. Continue reading Sidetracked – Double 12” LP
