Friday 31 December 2021

OVD053 : Pierre Vervloesem / Minimal Tropical

 


Cover art by A.L. - pic by Pierre Vervloesem


OVD053 : Pierre Vervloesem / Minimal Tropical

Pierre going Brazilian in his personal and typical way to offer the world his visions of what should be the best Brazilian songs and rhythms. 

Track number 6 'Uma Canção Irritante' is a deconstruction of Corcovado by Antonio Carlos Jobim. 

The great Morgan Agren is on drums on number 10. 

A perfect way to finish 2021 and dance on this new-year eve! Enjoy!


And on Bandcamp:

Friday 24 December 2021

OJP062 : Toshinori Kondo feat.Ruben Van Rompaey / Ethereal Resonance

 


Cover art by A.L.


OJP062 : Toshinori Kondo feat.Ruben Van Rompaey / Ethereal Resonance

A perfect combination between the electrified trumpet from the late Toshinori Kondo and an ambient drone and effects concocted by Dutch percussionist Ruben Van Rompaey. 

40 minutes of pure ethereal resonance as the title rightly suggest! 

Close your eyes, empty your mind and let you transport in a parallel world without all the problems of ours! Merry X-Mas to all!

Digital release on the 24th of December 2021

Track listing:

1: Ethereal resonance


And on Bandcamp:

Friday 17 December 2021

ODG151 : Xtof Calis / Unifié

 


Cover pic by Pedro Bruneel


ODG151 : Xtof Calis / Unifié

Xtof Calis (see also ODG122 and ODG127) in something completely different from his usual introspective album! What he says about it: 

'This album shows my love for rhythm and electronic dance music. I started every piece with laying out a groove at 120 bpm. Then I started to lay out the ambient textures that fit in how I prefer to territorialize the body.'

Digital release on the 17th of December 2021

Track listing:

1: Un pas
2: Unifié
3: Hypothèse gaïa
4: En manque
5: Eh bien
6: Rêve chaosmique
7: Je rêve


And on Bandcamp:

Friday 10 December 2021

OUC036 : John Americus Witt / Lychnobite

 


Cover art by Silas Plum


OUC036 : John Americus Witt / Lychnobite

The new album from the fascinating American contemporary composer John Americus Witt (see also ODG115OUC026OUC033 and OUC034) with, once again, four radical and strange compositions. 

Let him explain:

"So, a Lychnobite is one who works in the night and rests during the day.  As someone who falls into this cycle with some regularity, here is what that feels like.
First, “Awaken At Dusk”.  This is disorienting, and extremely specific.  The feeling of starting the day as the sun sets brings a sense of surreal isolation that has no analogue.  The most primal parts of the Self sense that something is off, and send small signals throughout the night to remind one of this fact.
Second, “The Night Machines”.  This is where the majority of the work gets done.  There is a permission to create and experiment that is absent during daylight hours.  One can feel a connection with the other nocturnal things; the patterns they keep and lives they live.  This is most profound outdoors.  Focus is clear.  Instincts are followed without arbitrary and cyclical analysis.  Purpose becomes clearer in the moonlight.
Third, we have “The Invisible Hour”.  This can vary, as it is not tied to a specific number, but more of a sensation.  The outside slows.  There is rest.  Whatever frenzy was present earlier has receded, leaving in its wake this chunk of hidden time.  Few things are pressing.  Thoughts are slow, but not labored.  It is in this Invisible Hour that one can truly enjoy the sensation of being alone; a living battery trickle-charging in the night.
Fourth, at last, “Peaceful Sleep In A Patch Of Sun”.  There is something particularly exhausting about living at night.  Sleep comes easy most of the time.  Wash the paint from your hands.  Take off your headphones.  Put down your pen.  The sky is a dark, hopeful blue.  The birds gingerly being their songs.  The world is waking up.  As this waking world moves around you, nestle in.  Cover your eyes.  The sunlight will make its way around the room; patches moving across your body as you sleep."

So be it!

Digital release on the 10th of December 2021

Track listing:

1: Awaken at Dusk
2: The Night Machines
3: The Invisible Hour
4: Peaceful Sleep in a Patch of Sun


And on Bandcamp:

Friday 3 December 2021

ODG152 : Out Of Tune Wolf / Down from the Abbey

 



ODG152 : Out Of Tune Wolf / Down from the Abbey

Out of Tune Wolf (see also the superb ODG094) is a solo project by Josh Rodenberg, an American sound artist based out of Doha, Qatar. 

Rodenberg is a father, educator, skater just trying to navigate his small universe in the most positively impactful way he knows how to. 

His future projects include sound design for an experimental documentary and VR game about Springtails and a podcast that is a sonic narrative.

'Down from the Abbey' is composed of tracks from 2020 that were in progress and were completed in 2021. The brutal realities of the year made it a struggle to keep positive and motivated. 
As always, art is the purest solution to battle my mental demons. This a battle won but still fighting the war.

Josh

Digital release on the 3rd of December

Track listing:

1: Post 1
2: Through the Shoots
3: These Trees


And on Bandcamp:

Saturday 27 November 2021

OVD052 : Pierre Vervloesem - Teun Verbruggen / Young Talents

 


Cover art by Thierry Mondelaers


OVD052 : Pierre Vervloesem - Teun Verbruggen / Young Talents

After their perfect P.V.T.V. album released back in 2011(see OCD002) and a lot of other collaborations via Pierre's bands ( Caca, Flambant Neuf...) or other ones (Flat Earth Society), 2021 sees the perfect reunion of Teun Verbruggen (one of the most prolific Belgian jazz drummer) and Pierre Vervloesem for a powerful album named rightly 'Young Talents'! 

It's not like a rediscovery but surely like a discovery! Amazing tunes that will transport you in another dimension and a future favorite for many! 

Young Talents??? You bet!

Digital release on the 27th of November 2021

Track Listing:

1: School Trip
2: Premier baisé
3: Kill by Boredom
4: Rape and Revenge Breakfast
5: Years of Wandering


And on Bandcamp:

Friday 19 November 2021

OMT011 : Shabaaz Mystik / Ndzimitik

 


Cover art by Shabaaz Mystik


OMT011 : Shabaaz Mystik / Ndzimitik

Nzimitik, a magic word created by Shabaaz Mystik to offer us his new album, is like a trace of its different facets, its fragments of life, a fine fusion of its essences to achieve harmony.
The Ndzimi in his native Congo Brazzaville is the storyteller, the one who transmits, the custodian of memory, the evocator of yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Shabaaz Mystik, during his artistic journey rich in travels and spiritual encounters of this elsewhere which is in reality at the bottom of all of us, has over time built his universe.
From sound fragments to fragments of words, paintings, poems, dances and movements, spiritualities and mysticisms, Shabaaz Mystik gave birth to his vision of time and space through traces of life, words and music he composed for this album.

Ndzimitik, perfect fusion of all the elements that make up the album and the artist that is Shabaaz Mystik.

Shabaaz Mystik


Nzimitik, mot magique créé par Shabaaz Mystik pour nous offrir son nouvel album est comme une trace de ses différentes facettes, ses fragments de vie, un fin mélange fusionnel de ses essences pour parvenir à l'harmonie.

Le Ndzimi dans son Congo Brazzaville natal, c’est le conteur, celui qui transmet, le dépositaire de mémoire, l’évocateur de hier, d’aujourd’hui et de demain.

Shabaaz Mystik, au cours de son parcours artistique riche en voyages et en rencontres spirituelles de cet ailleurs qui se trouve en réalité au fond de nous tous, a au fil du temps construit son univers.

De fragments sonores en fragments de paroles, de peintures, de poésies, de danses et de mouvements, de spiritualités et de mysticismes, Shabaaz Mystik a donné naissance à sa vision du temps et de l’espace au travers des traces de vie, de mots et de musiques qu’il a composé pour cet album.

Ndzimitik, fusion parfaite de tous les éléments qui compose l’album et l’artiste qu’est Shabaaz Mystik.

Shabaaz Mystik : sanza, guitar, vocals
L'encre poétique feat. Manu Desouza, Dj Bidix
Roots Matsiemé (feat. Massawé)
Yoka and Jazz lingot (feat. Scalpel studio)

Digital release on the 19th of November 2021

Track listing:

1: Sanza Ya Moto
2: L' encre poétique
3: Ngow
4: Polyphonie lunaire
5: Ndzimitik
6: Yoka
7: Aux cris des hommes
8: Roots Matsiemé
9: Jazz lingot
10: Ndzimi

Itunes, Spotify, etc:


And on Bandcamp: 

Friday 12 November 2021

OJP063 : Tetsuroh Konishi / Scenes

 


Cover art by Tetsuroh Konishi, pic by 'ma_fui'


OJP063 : Tetsuroh Konishi / Scenes

New beautiful album from Tetsuroh San ( in solo: OJP001OJP002OJP027OJP052 and OJP059, in duo with Ai Kisaragi : OJP021 and OJP034, as a guest on Morgen Wurde albums: OCD027OCD040 and OCD045, and on the various artists on the OJP050) inspired by Mika Kaurismäki and Finland. Enjoy!

What Tetsuroh says about his album:

"COVID19 pandemic started in 2019. Live performance was my main job but it was all gone. I had a lot of time and thought a lot. I originally became a composer because I wanted to do music for theater and video but I forgot about it until the pandemic took away my performance opportunities. I've made music for radio and television before but I've never tried my hand at film music. So I sent my work to many filmmakers. The first person who replied to me was the Finnish director Mika Kaurismäki, a master of the film world. From there I began to create music inspired by the film. Many of the songs on this album have Finnish titles because they are inspired by Mika Kaurismäki's films and the landscapes of Finland and Lapland. These songs have not yet been used in a film but "Kevään ääniä" was chosen for Mika Kaurismäki's 2020 film "Gracious Night. The last song "Street Horizon" was composed with the image of a modern big city."


Tetsuroh San

Mika Kaurismäki

Digital release on the 19th of November 2021.

Track listing:

1: Sininen Hetki
2: Doaiva
3: Aamunkoitto
4: Lokki Taivas
5: Sumuwav
6: Tuulahdus ja Puro
7: Cloud Line
8: Lumi Putoaa
9: Kevaan Aania
10: Diamond Dust Morning Light
11: The Water Fairy
12: Hiljainen Vuori
13: Sateinen Katu
14: The Way
15: Street Horizon
          

And on Bandcamp:

Friday 5 November 2021

OUC035 : Kostas Boukouvalas / Lives

 


Cover art by Stella Bozinis


OUC035 : Kostas Boukouvalas / Lives

“Lives” are seven large scale compositions for piano, inspired by seven different philosophical aspects of Life.

1:Epic as Life
Some lives of ordinary people are more epic than the greatest heroic deeds of history
2: Live What You Are
The only way to happiness is to be yourself
3: Greek Dance for Life
Greek traditional music, as a whole, is a hymn to life
4: Half a Life after
There is always a time in every person's life to look back and take stock of what he has accomplished and what he has not.
5: Life Immortal
"When we exist, death does not exist. But when death is present then we do not exist" Epicurus, 341–270 BC. So, life has nothing to do with death. Life is immortal!
6: Learning to Live
Like all things, life is learned. That is why we must live close to the best "teachers".
7: For the Joy of Living
We do not always have to set big goals to make our lives meaningful. Sometimes it is enough to just enjoy it.

Live What You Are:


All compositions by Kostas Boukouvalas 
Piano interpretations by Kostas Boukouvalas

Kostas

Kostas Boukouvalas is a Greek composer and pianist based in Athens.

Amateur theatre performances, short films, commercials, as well as school plays have been accompanied by his music. He has also been a member of art and electronic music groups from time to time.

In December 2011 he released his first personal recording “Few notes are enough to change the world”.

In 2016 he founded the ensemble “The Last of the Romantics”, with which he presents his music in various art venues in Athens.

In 2018 he composed the music for the “YOYO” Erasmus+ European Project (Educational Yoga for the YOLO Generation).

In March 2020 his second recording "Memories from a Sea View" was released (see OUC025)

Website: https://kboukouvalas.wixsite.com/official

Digital release on the 5th of November 2021.

Track listing:

1: Epic as Life
2: Live What You Are
3: Greek Dance for Life
4: Half a Life after
5: Life Immortal
6: Learning to Live
7: For the Joy of Living


And on Bandcamp:

Friday 29 October 2021

ODG153 : Baby Fire / Eternal

 





ODG153 : Baby Fire / Eternal

Baby Fire is a female trio defined by a rock style which is full of rage, haunted, powerful and refined. Close to the aesthetic defended by artists such as P. J. Harvey or Shannon Wright, Baby Fire are in the process of putting the finishing touches to their fifth album. Mike Moya (Godspeed You! Black Emperor) and G.W. Sok (ex-The Ex, Oiseaux-Tempête...) are among the guests featured on Grace.

The release of 'Grace', announced for Spring 2022, will be accompanied by an exhibition at BRASS (Brussels) devised and put together by the band. It will shine the spotlight on women's work in culture, through media as diverse as photography, painting, drawing, textile art and collage. 

'Eternal', ‘Grace’’s first single, features French art rocker Laetitia Shériff, whom Baby Fire befriended when sharing the stage at Magasin 4 in Brussels i
n 2015.

Baby Fire - pic by Yves Collard

A teaser:

Digital release on the 29th of October 2021.

Track listing:

1: Eternal

OVD051 : Pierre Vervloesem : Basses of May

 


Cover art by A.L. - pic by Pierre Vervloesem


OVD051 : Pierre Vervloesem : Basses of May

The return of Pierre to his first love: The Bass! So this is album composed and played only with his favourite bass. 11 tracks with nothing other than his vibrant, powerful, intimate, organic, inventive, destructive, gravitational bass! Not a word to add, just listen and enjoy!

Pierre Vervloesem : Bass
Bass handcrafted by Manu Ribot
Tracks 10 and 11 by Vervloesem/Mondelaers

Digital release on the 29th of October 2021.

Track listing:

1: Mine Canary
2: Bad News Festival
3: Puncture
4: Drowned in Vain
5: Walk His Andalusian Cannibal
6: Cumbersome Personality Office
7: Memory of a Sea Cucumber
8: Reverse Romanticism
9: Bossa Nova for Injured Bikers
10: Back to Town
11: The Last Town


And on Bandcamp

:

Friday 22 October 2021

ODG150 : Mac Dunlop Quartet / Live at the Aberfal Blauhaus

 


Covert art by Mac Dunlop and A.L.


ODG150 : Mac Dunlop Quartet / Live at the Aberfal Blauhaus

"On November 17th, 2020 MDQ performed these seven 'daily thread' compositions for the first time at the Aberfal, using a combination of streaming technology and live recording. The atmosphere is hard to describe, partly because of the pandemic restrictions on events and live performances at the time. If the recent slowdown teaches us anything, its that we must do what we can to heal the wounds we've made to the planet, and try to imagine into reality a more just and equal future for everyone. 
Peace be with you." Mac Dunlop
 
The Mac Dunlop Quartet:
Mac Dunlop: Piano  - Mac is based in Cornwall, UK, and was resident pianist at La Cave in Falmouth from 2015 to 2019. He is also a sound and performance artist. His current project, the "Ambient Year" radio series explores electro-acoustic audio compositions inspired by field recordings, sound generators and spacial acoustics. 

Dom Calpun: Saxophone  - Originally from New Mexico, Dan started out playing with Post Matrix, a punk jazz outfit that was big in Toledo. 

Palomo Cund: Bass  - An Estonian musician who comes from a classically trained background, she also works with electronic musicians and is a contributor to the Ambient Year broadcast series. 

Dan Locum: Percussion  - Dan is known for his improvising rhythmic sequencing and sampling percussion techniques. His idiosyncratic style has won many admirers. 

with additional contributions from: 
Al Cupono: Vibes on Tuesday - Equal Air 
Pam Collund: Cello on Monday - Kt Rip

All songs written and arranged by Mac Dunlop 
Recording Engineer: Dao Lu 
Producer: Mac Dunlop 
Remastered at Blauhaus Studio

Digital release on the 22nd of October 2021.

Track listing:

1: Wednesday - Organic Brew
2: Thursday - Viral Beach
3: Friday - Miles
4: Saturday - Slow Low
5: Sunday - Cloud Smile
6: Monday - Kt Rip
7: Tuesday - Equal Air


And on Bandcamp:

Friday 15 October 2021

OJP061 : Ruben Van Rompaey feat. Toshinori Kondo / The Sakura Mixes

 


Cover art by A.L. from a revised portion of an original painting on canvas by Rachelle van Rompaey 


OJP061 : Ruben Van Rompaey feat. Toshinori Kondo / The Sakura Mixes

5 tracks that were recorded between 2014 and 2020 and a remix from the 'Tokyo Fusion' album (see the beautiful OJP057). 

Very introspective this time, more ambient and experimental, more relax and looking to another possible world, like the beautiful ending track of this mini album. 

Stop thinking, close your eyes and take your time to listen...

Digital release on the 15th of October 2021.

Track listing:

1: Dream Warriors - Aozara Edit
2: One Night at Shin-Ohashi Bridge -, Pt. 1
3:Otake
4: Majestic Mountains
5: One Night at Shin-Ohashi Bridge -, Pt. 2
6: Possible Worlds


And on Bandcamp:

Wednesday 13 October 2021

OVX021 : Céline Lory - Gil Mortio / Vexations Vol.21

 


Cover art by A.L.


OVX021 : Céline Lory - Gil Mortio / Vexations Vol.21

What Céline says about her proposal:

"Vexations - the musical piece and its succulent title - have been with me for many years. Short, simple and original piece - I incorporated it in several of my shows, I also participated in its collective performance “marathon” in Bozar a few years ago. So I liked the idea that the musical piece would be on my path again in 2021 since its evocative title reflects our current experience. Calling on producer Gil Mortio was a way of breaking away from the routine of solo rehearsal and radically turning to a reinterpretation. Starting from a "classic" version revolving around the piano and its playing modes, he turned, kneaded and rearranged the piece. By playing, among other things, with the indomitable length prescribed by the composer, he creates a play of colors and shapes with acid tones aligned in spectral layers."

Céline

Hybrid, mutant, impure, transgender on the artistic scene, Céline Lory, classical pianist, explorer of songs, photographs, texts, music, piano and voice and body: she blurs the tracks and makes fun of hunters. The actual period abuses of a kind of house arrest: « from where are you talking? ", like an old police summon that is still current in the cultural field, to which she is loath to play while playing - check out her self-portraits which look at you, acid and tender! - her compositions are raw, beautiful nude and uncompromising. Her sound object “en Corps y-bride” - dilapidated as it should be, labyrinthine, well written and well played - is the first delirium on an album of a classical pianist who came to write songs where interludes and instrumental improvisations played by happy hands deliver powerful texts.

https://celinelory.bandcamp.com

Gil

Gil Mortio is a well known multi instrumentalist who played with, recorded or produced a lot of bands. He's an aficionado who can adapt his creativity to a various genres of music.

https://mortio.bandcamp.com

Céline Lory: piano
Gil Mortio: other instruments and arrangement
Production: Sonar asbl

Bandcamp only release on the 6th of November 2021.

Track listing:

40x Vexations - Piano and extensive rework



Friday 8 October 2021

OUC034 John Americus Witt / Litost

 


Cover art by Silas Plum


OUC034  John Americus Witt / Litost

The new album from the fascinating American contemporary composer John Americus Witt (see also ODG115OUC026 and OUC033) or another strange and emotional proposal turning around specific sensations going through your body.

Litost is a Czech word, loosely means 'a state of agony and torment created by the sudden sight of one’s own misery'. 
The album tracks the progress of this realization, and the movement of this sensation through the body.  The state described as Litost is in essence one of immediacy.  

The Heart is hit first, sharp and deep. It skips a beat, causes a sharp intake of breath.  The Gut is next, where emotion is most deeply felt.  It grabs and twists, holds tight.  Then comes the Head, doing its best to make sense, to categorize, to place some analysis on the situation. It is frenzied.  
Finally, once the fight is driven from you, the Bones. The realization is a part of you now, imbued in the frame.  

It will live with you forever.

Discover the beautiful works from Silas Plum HERE!

Digital release on the 8th of October 2021.

Track listing:

1: Heart
2: Gut
3: Head
4: Bones


And on Bandcamp:

Wednesday 6 October 2021

OVX020 : Jozef Dumoulin / Vexations Vol.20

 


Cover art by A.L.


OVX020 : Jozef Dumoulin / Vexations Vol.20

What Jozef says about his proposal:

“Since long I have been fascinated by the idea of very long static performances based on very limited musical material mixed with improvisation. Some years ago I became aware of Erik Satie’s Vexations and in 2017 I convinced the people at Le Petit Faucheux in Tours (France), where I was artist in residence at the time, to set up a musical happening around the piece. For 9 hours straight (more wasn’t possible due to logistics) we would play Vexations, and whoever felt like could come up and join us, to either play the ‘text’ or to improvise around it. This allowed for people with very different backgrounds of level and experience to play together, which relates to another zone of interest of mine.

The performance in Tours was an extremely enriching adventure, albeit a little stiff, that made me aware of a lot of things I had never payed attention to before. 


One year later I got the chance to set up a similar happening around Satie’s Vexations at Werkplaats Walter in Brussels (Belgium), this time for a full 24 hours. Things were sufficiently loose there, and the place is connected to a big local network of artists, so a lot of different people of all ages, levels, and art-forms attended and participated, which made for an exhilarating and colourful event. 


Now, when Alain Lefebvre proposed me to be part of the 21 artists performing 40 repetitions of Vexations for his Off label, I said yes without having a particular idea in mind about how I was going to proceed. But at some point it became an evidence for me that I was going to do it with my family. I have 9 sisters and 2 brothers, and by now there’s more than 30 grandchildren. I always wanted to record something with them, and this was a perfect opportunity. I knew that if I told “Ok, I’m just going to sit in our mother’s garden and play 40 repetitions of that piece, you can come and play with me”, they would most probably do it. And if they didn’t, it would still make for a cool field-recording at a meaningful place.


When the set date became closer, a new, very determining and loaded element showed up: it happened to coincide with quite destructive works on our childhood house, right next-doors of my mother’s house, where one of my brothers lives now. The works caused a lot of emotion for most of us, and plain distress for some. With my brother we decided that we’d play there, right on the remains of what used to be our living room. This, combined with the fact that it was the first time we all reunited since my mom’s 80th birthday party right before the pandemic, gave the whole thing a very special flavour. Almost everybody showed up, and a whole lot participated by playing or by just hanging around. I’m super grateful for that, and happy to have captured the moment.


As for the final sound file, I’ve let the entire field-recording as such but choose to add two elements: synths playing the exact written material, and 2 kind of randomly dispatched and unrelated piano-loops. Those piano-loops are there to honour Satie’s spirit, to get the whole object in a kind of up-in-te-air zone that is always dear to me, and as an expression of the love and affection I feel for the whole of my family.”


Jozef and family in Ingelmunster, Belgium, on September 5th 2021









Pianist Jozef Dumoulin (Belgium) redefined the Fender Rhodes keyboard through a scope that is at the same time fully contemporary, eclectic and highly personal. He was the first to present a full solo program featuring the instrument. Furthermore he is known for his open and luminous approach to the piano and to music in general, always anchored in tradition without being burdened by it. Besides the Fender Rhodes solo, his own projects include The Red Hill Orchestra (a trio with Ellery Eskelin and Dan Weiss) a duo with Benoît Delbecq and a post-punk guitar-band called Trojan Panda. 

Jozef, pic by Peter Tümmers

Highly-demanded as a sideman, Jozef Dumoulin has recorded and toured with the finest of musicians in the domain of jazz, improvised music, rock, classical and traditional music. He currently lives in Paris.

www.jozefdumoulin.com


The family:


Katrien Dumoulin: tuba

Siska Dumoulin: bassoon

Eva Claeys: cello

Pieter Dumoulin: cello, solo voice

Ayaan Dumoulin: toy saxophone, keyboards, drums

Ivo Dumoulin: bass, trombone

Tuur Dumoulin: saxophone, bass

Kasper Dumoulin: trumpet

Hilde Vanmaele: melodica

Barbe Dumoulin: saxophone

Mathilde Dumoulin: electric guitar

Mieke Dumoulin: violin

Anne Claeys: violin

Tom Meeuws: drums

Pieter Claeys: drums

Emine Meyrem Karamemet: drums

Daniele Martini: toy saxophone

Hilde Dumoulin: flute 

Jozef Dumoulin: piano, keyboards

+ quite some others on various percussion instruments and voice


Jan Claeys: display of repetition count


Recorded by Daniele Martini in Ingelmunster, Belgium, on September 5th 2021.

Mixed by Jozef Dumoulin and Daniele Martini

Mastered by Daniele Martini


Bandcamp only release on the 6th of November 2021.

Track listing:

40x Vexations - Ingelmunster family reunion



Friday 1 October 2021

ODG149 : Mademoiselle Plume Rouge / Junkie Movie Music

 

Cover art by Janet McBurney


ODG149: Mademoiselle Plume Rouge / Junkie Movie Music

The duo Mademoiselle Plume Rouge was created in 2018 by Stéphane Povitch Augsburger (electric guitar, sampled voices, effect pedals, loopers) and Frédéric Minner (electric bass, soprano saxophone, effect pedals, loopers).

The two musicians have known each other and collaborated in various musical projects for the last 20 years. In 2018, they decided to launch a new project focused on the development of new instrumental sonorities. After several months of searching and experimenting, the duo decided to move away from the pure free improvisation they were playing in order to develop more constructed musical forms. During this time they performed several selected shows across Switzerland, with the highlight of a recent performance at Geneva’s La Cave 12 venue.

In the winter of 2021, they were offered a residency by the City of Geneva at La Cave 12 to record their debut album “Junkie Movie Music”. The 4 pieces of the album are dark, evocative and cinematic, using repetition to create a hypnotic atmosphere. They employ different compositional techniques like themes, quartal harmonies, atonalism, drones, riffs, works on textures and timbers, and clusters. These techniques draw their inspiration from composers such as Luciano Berio, György Ligeti, or Helmut Lachenmann but also from traditional Japanese music, contemporary jazz (Craig Taborn, Dave Liebman, Bobo Stenson), New-York avant-garde music from the 80s-90s (John Lurie, no-wave, John Zorn), and experimental doom (Sunn O))), Boris).

Edited by Léo Marussich at le Vélodrome in Geneva, Switzerland
Mixed by Freddie Murphy (Father Murphy) at Bombanella Soundscapes in Maranello, Italy
Mastered by John Dieterich (Deerhoof) in his home studio in Albuquerque, USA.


Stéphane “Povitch” Augsburger (born in 1975) is a guitarist, pianist, drummer, singer, writer and actor living in Geneva (Switzerland). He has recorded 4 albums with the band What’s Wrong With us? (working amongst others with producers like Bob Drake and Martin Bisi), with which he has toured in Europe and the USA. 


Frédéric Minner (born in 1978) is a bassist and saxophonist based in Zürich (Switzerland). He played in various rock, jazz, metal and experimental bands (like Poppins) and is a member of the Insub Meta Orchestra since 2010 with whom he recorded 3 albums and toured in Europe.


Scene 1:



Digital release on the 1st of October 2021.



Track listing:


1: Scene 1: What Do You Wanna Hear Kid?

2: Scene 2: He Just Kept on Playing That over and over and over Again.

3: Scene 3: I Can't Seem to Sleep at Night. Not in This City.

4: Scene 4: I Should Go In a 3-Piece White Suit Like Charlie Parker.



And on Bandcamp:

Wednesday 29 September 2021

OVX019 : Grażyna Bienkowski / Vexations Vol.19

 


Cover art by A.L.



OVX019 : Grażyna Bienkowski / Vexations Vol.19

What Grażyna says about her proposal: 

"A New Symphony"

" When Off-Record contacted me to participate in the Erik Satie's Vexations Series, I was immediately interested in the project. Erik Satie is a composer whom I love very much and have often performed as a pianist. However, I had never looked into this short piece to play 840x in a row. The unusual idea of Alain Lefebvre (Off-Record label) and Wataru
Iwata to interpret Vexations freely but under the instructions of 40 performances immediately appealed to me as a pianist, but especially as a composer. Challenge that I accepted as the opportunity to highlight my two favorite roles.

The first directive I imposed on myself was to respect the essence of the score as much as possible. So I based myself on the musical material that she offered and discovered that, despite the constraint of repetition, there were multiple possibilities to play with her writing. It opened up the composition space by touching different musical universes. Which was a real playground for my various musical influences ranging from baroque to jazz. The general form of the piece that I have chosen is like a classical symphony of the late 17th century articulated around 3 movements (vivid 20x, slow 10x, vivid 10x). The form is the first freedom taken from the starting point. I felt that this taking of liberty did not seem to me to be a betrayal of the composer's spirit, given his whimsical temperament. I wanted to create a kind of macro-work that integrates Satie's piece into mine. To continue to give a wink at the composer, I have added an evocative title to each movement as an illustration of the temperament.
My second directive was, despite the 40 executions, to keep the attention of today's listener as long as possible. The evolving architecture, spread over the 3 movements, is organized through mathematical games distributed via the notes of the theme from a
rhythmic in the lines and the resulting harmonic encounters. This allows an unwinding of the executions with more relief.
In terms of the instrumentation used, the piano remains central in a completely traditional game but with a touch of modernity brought to it thanks to the post-production tools in the studio. I worked on it with French musician Emmanuel Delcourt. Benoît Lavollée (Fr) plays the leitmotiv on the vibraphone and marimba in the 1st movement called ‘My Lewis Caroll Version’ (vivid 20x). Bruno Ramos (Fr) on the double bass supports the piece as a whole.

The 2nd movement ‘Through the Crystal Silence’ (slow 10x) is the most lyrical, it is the only one that is played in a slow tempo as requested on the score by Satie. This movement is a kind of historical unfolding of musical writing. At the beginning the treatment of the theme refers to the counterpoint then slides towards a more 19th century pianistic
aesthetic to end with harmonic jazz colors.

The 3rd movement ‘The March of the Janissaries’ (vivid 10x) is a movement so called « exit ». Its title, inspired by a choir from Mozart's opera ‘L’Enlèvement au Sérail’, is also a nod to the moment when, judged talentless by his teachers at the Conservatory of Music and dismissed after two and a half years of lessons, Satie decided to enlist in an infantry regiment.

For the mix and mastering, I worked with Erwin Autrique from ICP studios in Brussels gives breadth andthe finished touch to this "new symphony".

Composition: Erik Satie & Grażyna Bienkowski
Piano: Grażyna Bienkowski
Vibraphone & marimba: Benoît Lavollée
Double bass: Bruno Ramos
Post-production & additional instruments: Emmanuel Delcourt
Mix & mastering: Erwin Autrique 

Grażyna - pics by Lara Herbinia


Grażyna Bienkowski is born in Belgium to Polish parents, Grażyna Bienkowski is a pianist, cellist, composer and musicologist based in Brussels.
She started learning the piano aged 7 with Stéphane Stas and a few years later the cello with Etienne Capelle.
After graduating high school, she studied Musicology and Cultural Management at university and completed her training at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels. Passionate about jazz music,
she had become familiar with most major jazz great pianists by the time she completed her studies.
During her schooling, Grażyna also developed an interest in composition through film scores by composers such as John Barry, Zbigniew Preisner, Alberto Iglesias.
Grażyna has taken lessons, master classes, workshops in piano, cello, chamber music and music pedagogy with musicians from different backgrounds from classical to jazz music. Between 2006
and 2014, Grażyna worked at the Opera de La Monnaie and for BOZAR in Brussels as a cultural development officer and pedagogue. She also held the position of project coordinator in Passa Porta (International House of Literature in Brussels) for festivals and meetings for 5 years. She occasionally was invited as a freelance musicologist in debates, conferences or talks around music.
2005 marks her first steps in composition with neo-classical pieces for dance performances.
Drawing on influences as diverse as Sergeï Rachmaninov, Steve Reich, Mickael Nyman, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Keith Jarrett or Bill Evans, she has written many instrumental piano-based pieces for small musical formations.
In 2010 she released Antichambre, her first EP for piano solo.
Literature and poetry always played an important part in her inspiration and she naturally became a songwriter in 2015, when she initiated Wolves, a female duo in which she handled all composition and writing, played the piano, keyboards, cello and vocals. Products of Love, a 14 track LP was released under the Belgian label Homerecords.be in 2018.
Grażyna Bienkowski has performed in many countries (Belgium,France, Germany, Italy, Morocco among others) under her own name but also under joint efforts with artists such as DAAN (B), Karin Clercq(B), Emmanuel Delcourt (F), Pierre Hurty (F), Ken Stringfellow(US) as a live/studio musician, and for radio and TV performances.
She is a member of the Belgian Screen Composers Guild and part of the team of composers in the Belgian film music company Rabada.
Today, she is dedicating herself to the composition and production of her most personal works.
From the beginning, her music was described as narrative and sensitive, with a very personal strength, escaping the rules of any style classification but subtly playing with them.


Bandcamp only release on the 29th of September 2021.

Track listing:

20x Vexations - My Lewis Caroll Version
10x Vexations - Through the Crystal Silence
10x Vexations - The March of the Janissaries