OJP020 : Makoto Kawabata - Geoff Leigh / Spacial Roots

Cover art by Geoff Leigh

OJP020 : Makoto Kawabata - Geoff Leigh / Spacial Roots

Spacial Roots was recorded live at Urban Guild, Kyoto, Japan on the 11/11/2014.
This was the first time Leigh & Kawabata played together. 

Geoff Leigh is well known for his work with Henry Cow in the early 70’s, as well as contributing to fellow Virgin bands of the time Hatfield And The North, & Slapp Happy. 
In recent years he has collaborated with members of FAUST, Porcupine Tree (as Ex-Wise Heads with bassist Colin Edwin), Nurse With Wound, and musicians such as Mitsuru Tabata, Tatsuya Yoshida, & Nana Tsiboe. He is currently a member of Jump For Joy (featuring members of Faust & Henry Cow), and The Artaud Beats (also featuring Henry Cow alumni).
He is also playing on the album 'Økapi & Aldo Kapi's Orchestra / Pardonne-moi, Olivier! (16 oiseaux pour Olivier Messiaen)' (see OCD035) released on Off.

Makoto “Speed Guru” Kawabata is best known as leader of Japanese psychedelic band Acid Mother Temple (Acid Mothers Temple Official), and for his innumerable collaborations & recordings with members of Gong ( Gong - Band), Guru Guru, & many other Japanese and international musicians.

The duo first played together in Kyoto, Japan, in 2014. In 2016 they played eight concerts in Japan – material from these is in the pipeline for a 2nd CD release. Their music embraces a wide range of styles and influences, mixing elements of ethnic, rock, jazz, world, ambient, & electronica, and is completely improvised.

Spacial Roots is one (slightly edited) continuous track, but the download version has been split into two tracks.

Makoto & Geoff

Digital release on the 30th of June 2017.

Track listing:

1: Spacial Roots, Pt.1
2: Spacial Roots, Pt.2

And on Bandcamp:

ODG069 : electrOZorus / Le grimoire - Trou noir

Cover art by Jean-Marc Rodrigue

ODG069 : electrOZorus / Le grimoire - Trou noir

A double compilation from the French band electrOZorus is a gift to everyone as it was actif from the beginning of the eighties till 2011 but never released a proper album. 

Over the years they composed and created lots of songs and the time was right to finally listen to some of them.

Definitely crossing genres, from prog to hard to pop to jazz to musique concrète, they created something appart and particular. The words, always sing in French, are particularly important as Kriss the writer is also a poet and a lover of nice sentences and phrases. 

The first cd is dedicated to all aspects of their music and is a collection that flies over all the years and music they did. 

The second cd is taken out the last live concert they did completely in the dark (therefore the title ' Black Hole') to illustrate the movie from the same name.

electrOZorus – La bio (comme racontée et écrite par Kriss Electro):

  

Nous sommes en 1980 lorsqu’à l’occasion d’une audition Christophe Vandeputte, pas encore Kriss Electro, croise Roland Duval, de sept ans son ainé(Chris n’empruntera son pseudonyme que trente-deux ans plus tard, quand le groupe Electronique De France (voir OCD020), dont il est le leader, verra le jour); guitariste dont la technique s’est nourrie au rock de Jimi Hendrix mais aussi au jazz de John Abercrombie et de John McLaughlin, il est à la recherche d’un batteur pour monter le meilleur trio de jazz-rock du monde, comme peut l’espérer tout chanteur-guitariste de dix-sept ans de cette époque.

   

Durant la mise à l’épreuve, Chris est très impressionné par l’indépendance rythmique et la précision métronomique de Roland, dont la vaste culture musicale dans à peu près tous les domaines le fascine: musique savante contemporaine, du A de John Adams au Z de Bernd Alois Zimmerman, rock in opposition le plus confidentiel de l’époque, tel le groupe Etron Fou Leloublan, en passant par le jazz très cérébral et pourtant si vivant d’Anthony Braxton. Il a tôt fait de comprendre que fréquenter ce type est une aubaine extraordinaire; dès lors, il le convainc de jouer et de créer avec lui. C’est ainsi que tous les deux se mettent à rêver d’entrecroisements de mondes sonores, typographiques, plastiques ou autres, jugés par tous inconciliables, laissant aux chocs ainsi provoqués la chance de dynamiter les catégories et les conventions admises.

   

À l’œuvre au sein de ce curieux groupe dicéphale baptisé electrOZorus : Roland fait pleurer d’amères cures au chrome sur Revox, Teac, Tascam, – tous magnétophones à bande à deux ou quatre pistes –, éructant, soufflant, pinçant, claquant, fouettant, martelant métaux, peaux et bois, hautbois, cordes ou touches synthétisantes, tandis que Chris invente des constellations d’accords, de mélodies et de mots, qu’il couche sur ses partitions semblables à des archipels.

  

Si les deux camarades sont sollicités dans d’autres projets, parfois ensemble, quand par exemple Chris amène Roland à participer à l’enregistrement du prochain album de Lio, c’est quand même dans leur formation duelle qu’ils semblent traverser le temps de façon pérenne, inscrivant sur leurs tablettes, jadis magnétiques, désormais numériques, de 1980 à aujourd’hui, leurs créations inactuelles, à contre-temps, mais jamais à contre-courant…

electrOZorus est-il un dinosaure vivant, un dieu fait homme à tête d’oiseau, un magicien de l’électronique, une hélice circulaire, c'est-à-dire une courbe tracée sur un cylindre de révolution, telle qu'en chacun de ses points sa tangente forme avec OZ un angle de mesure constante? Il n’est en tout cas pas de son temps, mais de tout temps par tous les temps!

 Roland

 Chris

 Chris

Roland

  

electrOZorus - The bio (as told and written by Kriss Electro):

  

We are in 1980 when Christophe Vandeputte, not yet Kriss Electro, meets Roland Duval, seven years his elder (Chris will borrow his pseudonym only thirty-two years later, when the band Electronique De France (see also OCD020), of which he is the leader, will be born); guitarist whose technique has been fueled by the rock of Jimi Hendrix, but also jazz by John Abercrombie and John McLaughlin, he is looking for a drummer to set up the best jazz-rock trio in the world, hope for any singer-guitarist of seventeen years of that time.

During the first rehearsal, Chris is very impressed by Roland's rhythmic independence and metronomic precision, whose vast musical culture in almost every field fascinates him: contemporary scholarly music, from John Adams' A to Z of Bernd Alois Zimmerman,  or from the most confidential opposition rock of the time, such as the Etron Fou Leloublan group, and the very cerebral and yet so-lively jazz of Anthony Braxton. He soon realized that frequenting this guy is an extraordinary luck and from then on, he convinces him to play and create with him. It is thus that they both begin to dream of sonorous interactions, typographical, plastic or other worlds, judged by all to be irreconcilable, leaving to the shocks it provokes the chance to blow the categories and the accepted conventions.

At work in this curious dicephale group called electrOZorus: Roland makes cry sounds on Revox, Teac, Tascam, - all tape recorders with two or four tracks -, blowing, pinching, slamming, whipping, hammering metals, skins and woods, oboes, strings or synthesizing keys, while Chris invents constellations of chords, melodies and words, which he lays on his archipelago-like scores.

If the two comrades are solicited in other projects, sometimes together, when for example Chris brings Roland to participate in the recording of the next album of Lio, it is nevertheless in their previous dual formation that they seem to cross the time in the best way, taking back from their shelves, formerly magnetic, now digital, from 1980 to today, their creations untimely, at the time, but never against the current ...

Is electrOZorus a living dinosaur, a bird-headed god, a magician of electronics, a circular helix, that is, a curve drawn on a cylinder of revolution, such as in each of its points its tangent forms with OZ a constant angle of measurement? In any case, it is not of his time, but of all time in all times!

 Roland

Chris

Kriss and Roland now

electrOZorus is : Roland Duval and Christophe Vandeputte, alias Kriss Electro,

with Eugène Darredeau, alias ZzBrr, exceptionnaly in the pieces of concrete music.

Digital release on the 23h of June 2017.

Track listing:

CD1: Le Grimoire

01 - AURÉOLE (words & music : Roland Duval)

02 - LOIN DE L'OGRE (words & music : Christophe Vandeputte)

03 - CHANSON DE LA FOLIE (words & music : Christophe Vandeputte)

04 - AU SENS FIGURÉ (words & music : Roland Duval)

05 - DÉSERT D'AMERTUME (words :  Christophe Vandeputte – music : Roland Duval)

06 - RÉSERVOIR DE DOULEUR (music : Christophe Vandeputte / Roland Duval / Eugène Darredeau)

07 - IMAGE (words : Christophe Vandeputte – music : Roland Duval)

08 - LA VOIX DES ANGES (music : Christophe Vandeputte)

09 - DANS LA CHAMBRETTE (words & music : Christophe Vandeputte)

10 - L'HEURE DU CRIME SONNE - PART I (words & music : Roland Duval)

11 - FUGUE (words & music : Christophe Vandeputte)

12 - IN MEMORIAM LUCKY (music : Christophe Vandeputte)

13 - GREC (words : Christophe Vandeputte – music : Roland Duval)
14 - LA CAVE EST OUVERTE (music : Eugène Darredeau / Roland Duval / Christophe Vandeputte)
 

All vocals, instruments and computer programming by electrOZorus,

except on DÉSERT D'AMERTUME, guitar solo : Bruno Objoie
and GREC, guitar : Ramon Ribas Coca.

 

CD2: TROU NOIR – LIVE AT DOUCHY-LES-MINES – JANUARY 28, 2011

01 - Trou Noir, part.1

till

10 - Trou Noir, part.10
 

Improvisational music performed live in darkness by :
 

Kriss Electro : Electric Guitar, Vocals,

Roland Duval : Drums,

Romain Vandeputte : Bass Guitar,

Rémy Locquet : Keyboards,

Jean-Michel Monchecourt : Electronic Touch Control,

Maureen Tolleron : Djembe, Didgeridoo.

Le Grimoire is on Bandcamp here:

ODG073 : NOMMO / Conquest

Cover art by Juliette Mauduit, pic by Christian Aschman

ODG073 : NOMMO / Conquest

NOMMO is an electronic duo formed in 2012 by Adam Fearn aka Florian Parra (pianist, composer and producer) and Jumo (author and performer).

NOMMO belongs to the Electronica / Grime line. Their universe is built on tensions and contrasts between dense rhythms, hypnotic melodies and crystalline voices.

In 2015, they released their first EP "Collision", followed in 2016 by their first album "Better like this" and a tour in France, Belgium and Japan. 

Back with new compositions and influences, they present their new EP "Conquest" (4 tracks + bonus remix by Darko).

Conquest of love and feminine territories, the light of these new compositions guides the listener to a cosmic-romantic landscape, as valiant as lush.

"We are far from conventions, with a real universe, personal and limitless. Anchored in passion, turned to curves (of heart, equalizer, thoughts, graphics ...), NOMMO shapes, explores and captivates.

NOMMO means losing our roots in order to find them better. "

Welcome to their land!

Recording: Jérôme Renard - Studio de la Province de Liège, avec le soutien de Ca Balance

Mixage: Elsa Grelot

Mastering: Rémy Lebbos at Rare Sound Studio

Digital release on the 16th of June 2017.

Track listing:

1: Defeated

2: Hidden

3: Insane

4: Love you Only

5: Fire (remix by Darko)

'Fire' video:

And in Bandcamp:

ODG068 : Tadash / Rivals

Cover art by Clément Malherbe pic by Cyrille Poumerie

ODG068 : Tadash / Rivals

Second release from Tadash (see ODG039) on Off, the album 'Rivals' combines again a mix synthesizers, dark melodic curves, new-wave basses, post-punk drums and soft voices, though much more pop in its approach. 

The tracks were written, recorded, deleted, recorded again and finally disorganized in a typical manner by the two French musicians of Tadash.

Mixing 80ties, 90ties and current sounds, singing in English or French, listening to Tadash is  definitively  a very rewarding experience.

The text from the song 'Cocktail of Snake' is a poetry from Faulkner.

Mixed by Jean-Charles Versari at studio Poptones.

Mastering by Pete Maher.

Digital release on the 13 th of June 2017.

Track listing:

1: The Spirit of Solitude (Driving)

2: Ex-Nihilo, Up to the Skin

3: Observatoire

4: Garçon

5: Circonstances pour Louis

6: Cocktail of Snakes

And in Bandcamp:

OAS004 : Minyen Hsieh, Shih-Yang Lee, Fang-Yi Liu / Constellation in Motion

Art cover by Fang-Yi

OAS004 : Minyen Hsieh, Shih-Yang Lee, Fang-Yi Liu / Constellation in Motion

'Constellation in Motion' was recorded live in May 2014 at Kaohsiung Music Hall, Taiwan, by three of the most well known and respected Taïwanese musicians: Minyen Hsieh on soprano saxophone, penny whistle and finger cymbals, Shih-Yang Lee on (prepared) piano and Fang-Yi Liu on voice, saw, objects and toys. 
The music is an incursion and variations on a mixture of Jazz, avant garde and contemporary classical. 
Though those seven tracks sound as they were completely writen pieces, they are all improvisations on the spot. This is amazing considering the complexity and density of the various pieces. 
Ultimately one will find a way to cross all those genres and enjoy one of the most thrilling experience of listening music!

Musicians:

謝明諺 Minyen Hsieh    - soprano saxophone, penny whistle, finger cymbals 

李世揚 Shih-Yang Lee  - (prepared) piano

劉芳一 Fang-Yi Liu      - voice, saw, objects, toys

Recorded& Mixed by 吳東晏 Musicmaker Wu, Facebook

Piano tuning 洪宏旼 Hung-Min Hung, Facebook

Photo by 曾俊銘 Car5on, Facebook

Mastering by Pierre Vervloesem, Website

Record date: 2014-07-05 at 高雄音樂館 Kaohsiung Music Hall, Taiwan

Minyen Hsieh, is a highly regarded, award-winning Taiwanese saxophonist. The Taipei native, born in 1981, started to perform professionally at the age of 19, and studied at the Koninklijk Conservatorium in Brussels. There he studied with John Ruocco and Jeroen Van Herzeele. His strong improvisation skills and rich tone has made him a coveted player in several genres varying from: jazz, rock, hip-hop, electronic to avant-garde. Outside of Taiwan, Minyen has also been welcomed to grace stages through Japan, China, HK, Macau, Malaysia and more. He won the Taichung Saxophone Competition in 2012, and regularly contributes to various jazz, pop and experimental projects in Taiwan. His most recent recording is the well-received, best-selling "Firry Path" (2014). Soundcloud

————

Shih-Yang Lee, from Taipei, has performed and recorded in Asia and Europe. Lee is the co-leader of the world music improvisation ensemble KaDaoYin. In addition, he has made himself a name as a composer and performer in some of the best drama and dance companies in Taiwan. His live album “Galactic Alignment” with Fred van Hove won the “Honorary Mention of the New Releases of the 2014 of New York City Jazz Record. “Music Non Stop” won the “Best Musician” of 6^th Indie Music Award of Taiwan. He is also the founder and music director of “Taiwan International Improvised Music Festival”. Soundcloud

————

Fangyi Liu, is a Musician based in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. His work focuses on sound collage and field recordings, where he uses objects and voice as source material in his improvised performance. 

He mentioned two major points. First is about the human voice. The pronounce action from different races and cultures contained not only languages, but also the sound of out of languages, before languages, distortion and lapsing of languages, etc. Even the unestablished pronouncing still can bring the signal or context to the receivers. Second is about the environment sound or sound field. People are surrounded with sounds induced by every vital or mortal things. The problem of sensing or recognition environmental sound are his major projects. He tries to use any kind of materials or methods to approach these two topics. Fangyiliu.bandcamp.com

In talks before the concert

Digital release on the 9th of June 2017.

Digitally distributed on KKBOX for all the Asian friends who want to listen and discover!

Track listing:

1: Constellation in Motion, Pt. 1

2: Constellation in Motion, Pt. 2

3: Constellation in Motion, Pt. 3

4: Constellation in Motion, Pt. 4

5: Constellation in Motion, Pt. 5

6: Constellation in Motion, Pt. 6

7: Constellation in Motion, Pt. 7

And in Bandcamp:

Cover art by DJeromebosch from a Quentin Noirfalisse pic

OMT001 : Didan & Petit Pierre / Musique du film 'Le ministre des poubelles'

Off-Matonge is a new series on Off born from the love of the various musics coming from Congo. 

Matonge is a district in Ixelles, one of the municipalities of Brussels-Capital, which derives its current name from a district of Kinshasa, Matonge (former Camp Renkin) , located in the commune of Kalamu.

DJeromebosch is the curator of this new series that will bring all kind of African music typically heard and played all over Matonge.

The first release is the music of the movie ' Le ministre des poubelles' directed by Quentin Noirfalisse and composed and played by Didan and Petit Pierre.

Quentin Noirfalisse (1986) is a young writer-director and producer at Dancing Dog Productions.

After living in eastern Congo, he made a first transmedia documentary behind the scenes of the free Internet (Geek Politics - 2013), before embarking on a three-year journey with the Minister of Poubelles. Today, he is preparing an interactive documentary on Brussels, her faces and her data, and a film on environmental advocates in the Congo Basin. He is also a freelance journalist, co-founder of Médor magazine and has published for Le Vif / L'Express, Moustique, Slate.fr, Imagine, Alter Echos, Notre Afrik, Le Soir.

Didan (tenor saxophone and vocals) played with the greatest: Johnny Bokelo, Cercul Jazz, Somo Somo, Veve de Verckys, Celi Bitshou or Dizzy Madjeku. If you ask him more about his bio he will answer you: "now you have the fish and you have to grill it as you want".

Petit Pierre (guitars and vocals) grew up in the Kasa-Vubu district of Kinshasa. He has been the "little" protégé of Bavon Marie Marie and has participated in several prestigious groups including the Jamel Orchestra, the Negro Success, Vévé de Verckys and the TP OK Jazz by Franco Luambo.

They specially composed a song 'Matongé Na Ngai' (my Matonge of myself) sung in Lingala by Sylvie Nawasadio (formerly in Zap Mama) on the top of the score for the release of the album.

The video:

Digital and physical release on the 6th of June 2017.

Track listing:

1: Matonge Na Ngai (feat. Sylvie Nawasadio)

2: Pipinisi (Chant)

3: Lisanga Mondiadi

4: Mboka Ya Sika

5: Monga Mweku

6: Pipinisi (Orchestre)

And in bandcamp:

CD on sale here: price

World shipping €10,00 EUR

OGD070 : Baby Fire / Brussels ( Pierre Vervloesem remix)

Cover art by A.L., pic from Dominique VKW

ODG070 : Baby Fire / Brussels (Pierre Vervloesem remix)

Brussels is the second single issue from the album Gold (see OCD033). It has been remixed by wizard Pierre Vervloesem. The song evokes some of the architectural disasters that have taken place in the belgian capital from the Fifties up until today.

Some press for the album:

“Gold ressemble à un trip post-punk en onze tableaux qui peut faire courir de sérieux frissons sur l’échine. A l’écoute, par exemple, de ce « Brussels » (« la ville aux ongles sales ») oppressant et presque lugubre. Ce « Tiger Heart » un peu Savages. Ou ce (trop) court « The Salamander », blues new wave à combustion lente.”

Didier Stiers - Le Soir

"Stevig, sexy en zelfbewust (…) Zoals de opener al liet horen is 'Gold' vooral ook een erg fysiek en vooral noisy punkalbum dat erg in your face klinkt. En dat is op tijd en stond erg aangenaam. De moeite, zeker voor noise- en punkfans."

Philippe De Cleen - damusic.be

Baby Fire is nu echt klaar om ontdekt te worden." 

(swat) - Gonzo (Circus)

Produit par Pierre Vervloesem (dEUS, Joy as a Toy), ce nouvel album maintient le post-punk sur la corde raide. Un exercice périlleux, accompli avec autant de grâce que de rage. 

Nicolas Alsteen - Larsen 

« Gold, le nouvel album de Baby Fire... le meilleur jusqu'au prochain ? La formation est en constante évolution et c'est à chaque fois un grand cran au-dessus de la précédente. »

Fred Brichau - Shoot Me Again

"I love it. It makes me want to spend the entire afternoon playing Baby Fire, Candelilla, Savages and then by as much as possible of the discography of Siouxsie and The Banshees. If only there wasn't so much other work to be heard as well. CD of the week had we such a thing of course." 

Frans de Waard - Vital Weekly

"Porté par le très beau chant expressif de Diabolita et des choeurs féminins, Gold brille dans les ombres. La beauté tour à tour glaciale ou abrasive ne laisse pas de marbre, dérange, hypnotise, s'envole dans de magnifiques mélodies (Brussels, How Do I Love Thee?), évoque des forces magnétiques sur le morceau Gold qui ne serait pas sans rappeler les récents Mütterlein, un blues moderne d'Européennes pour des contes pour adultes. Rien ne dépasse mais un pouvoir de suggestion énorme. Pas un coup de baguettes de trop, de la retenue mais de l'électricité dans l'air à chaque note. Il ne tient qu'à vous de vous laisser embarquer."

SKX – Perte & Fracas

"Minimal, minéral, lent et sacrément dense."

Dcalc - Des Cendres à la cave

"Gold is zonder twijfel het beste van wat Baby Fire tot nu toe heeft uitgebracht."

Didier Becu - Luminous Dash

"De optredens van deze dames zijn intensieve, dynamische en zeer energieke shows, iets wat ook in de elf tracks op het album “Gold” valt waar te nemen."

Valsam - Rootstime.be

« S'aventurer à l'intérieur de cet album à la beauté sépulcrale, traversé de martèlements lancinants et de feulements obsédants, de cet album fiévreux sur lequel planent les ombres intenses de PJ Harvey, Siouxsie ou Carla Bozulich, s'aventurer là, au coeur de ce brasier sonore, n'est pas une expérience de tout repos. Nous la recommandons néanmoins très chaudement." 8/10 

Jérôme Provençal - New Noise Mag (2014)

« Baby Fire folgen auf ihrem zweiten Album einer existenziellen Geworfenheit,

für die eigentlich Shannon Wright Expertin ist. Wo jedoch Wright das

Expressive, das Explosive wählt, da erhöht Van Cappellen-Waldock ihre

Möglichkeiten durch variantenreicheren Gesang und Nuancen der Verzweiflung.

Man könnte auch an PJ Harvey oder Siouxsie Sioux denken. Der Tod ist

allgegenwärtig, doch trotz aller Morbidität ist "The Red Robe" ein mitreißendes

Stück Musik geworden, das weit über irgendwelche Riot-Grrrl-Attitüden und

Retroaffinitäten hinausgeht. »

walk - www.wienerzeitung.at (2014)

« The overall tone of the release is one that combines sexy nonchalant vocals

(think Justine Frischmann of Elastica) with straightforward instrumentation, but

the best songs are the ones that are spookier and darker. As far as debut releases

go, this one outlines where the collaboration could move in the future, and it

certainly leaves a portrait of a band that has their future work cut out. »

Nicholas Zettel – Foxydigitalis.com (2011)

« Quand on pratique l’énergie comme un genre à part entière, une voix franche

et reconnaissable rend un album tout de suite plus abordable au commun des

mortels que je représente pour l’occasion. Si un déssablage auriculaire est prévu

pour vous, je vous conseille cette thérapie par le feu. »

Esprits Critiques – Mescritiques.be (2011)

'Brussels' video:

And in Bandcamp: