ODG219: EyeSkreem / EyeSkreem

 

Cover art by Andrew Leslie Hooker

ODG219: EyeSkreem feat. Andrew Leslie Hooker and Russ Grant / EyeSkreem

EyeSkreem sees the union between avant-garde experimentalist Andrew Leslie Hooker on No-imput mixing board and Russ Grant on guitar. 

They offer us 4 powerful tracks which bring you to a certain state of (un)consciousness.

To listen at full volume to interact the best with the music.

Both of them were/are extremely involved in experimental improvised music having played with a huge amount of musicians from that scene since the early nineties in the UK

Andrew

Andrew Leslie Hooker was born in Guildford, England in 1962, and lives in North Wales.

He began working in London as a photographer and graphic designer for various record companies and fashion/culture magazines such as i-D and The Face, and in 1989, relocated to Rome in order to focus on painting and filmmaking (shows include the Trevi Flash Art Museum and the Venice Biennale).

In the early 90’s, he began experimenting with electroacoustic feedback systems using typical audio mixing boards as musical instruments, which lead to many collaborations with composers and musicians across various genres, from modern classical (Gavin Bryars, Alexander Gabrys, Manuel Zurria, Sarah Saviet, Sylvia Hinz etc.) to avant-garde experimental (John Duncan, Valerio Tricoli, Stefano Pilia, Philip Jeck, Giuseppe Ielasi, Rhodri Davies, Toshimaru Nakamura, Giacomo Salis etc.).

For over Thirty years, he has performed improvised and composed music (his own and others) in many countries both solo and in group situations, including with various dance and theatre companies, and has released numerous recordings on CD, vinyl and cassette tape (including labels such as Touch, Entr’acte and Dinzu Artefacts).In 2011, he became artistic co-director of Anoikis Contemporary Dance with which he continues developing projects as a writer, composer and performer.

At the present time, he is a PhD research candidate in new music at The Academy of Creative and Performing Arts/Leiden University (under the supervision of Richard Barrett), developing an interdisciplinary form of musical language in which experimental pieces written for acoustic instruments are constructed entirely from electronic feedback produced by the no-input mixing board.

Over the last few years, as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic, he has returned to his photographic practice as a way to negotiate a mythopoetic space between trauma, loss and landscape.

https://soundcloud.com/andrew-leslie-hooker

https://andrewlesliehooker.bandcamp.com/

https://www.instagram.com/andrew_leslie_hooker/

https://www.plasbodfa.com/bodfa-continuum-works-blog/barely-a-trace-upon-this-earth-andrew-leslie-hooker

Russ

From the 1990s onwards, guitarist and composer Russ Grant regularly played festivals around the North West of England and North Wales with his jazz-rock band C-City, which also had a three year residency at the Mello Mello Bar in Liverpool.

Until 2015 he was a regular contributor to Frakture (Liverpool's free improvisation organisation). Russ performed duets with various musicians, and in the Frakture Big Band supported Eddie Prevost and Alexander Von Schlippenbach. He also has music published in the North West Real Book ( a collection of compositions by the North West of England's top jazz composers). Moving to Wales in 2015, Russ played in a Country & Western group before becoming a key member of the Improvisers North Wales organisation, which led to the formation of EyeSkreem with composer Andrew Leslie Hooker. He played at Bangor University's Free Improvisation Festival in 2023, and has supported events sponsored by LLif(t), a Bangorbased free improvisation organisation.

Improvised music by:

Andrew Leslie Hooker - no-input mixing board & various boxes

Russ Grant - electric guitar & various boxes

Produced by EyeSkreem

Recorded live by Dave Sunerton-Burl at Nannerth Farm Studio, North Wales in 2022

Mixed by ALH at home, between 2022-24

Mastered by DS-B

Artwork by ALH

Short Stories by RG

Please play loud and use speakers, not headphones.

Andrew would like to thank Luigi Nono, Luciano Berio & Bruno Maderna

Russ would like to thank Derek Bailey, David Byrne & Dewey Balfa

EyeSkreem Short Stories

A1 The Heart Of A Phantom Is Beating

Truth and beauty march their mildly muddled march through canyons and cwms.

Shooting stars shoot
serene serendipitous shine-rays above the glamorous pitter-patter of earthling hearts.

The furling clown-angel taps the window. A drunken uncle
admitted by sober silent parents,
scolded by auntie’s bald fury.

A2 - Not Really Now Not Anymore

I limp-dance in Procrustean shoes towards the posing Pannonica of the PostBop-Backlash backlash twisting in the twilight

rapt and wrapped
in a hologram of Doris Daydream.

B1 - With These Lovely Feathers We Will Fly Around The Boundaries Of The Earth

Rough tongue, sleep-glue eyed and happy, arise in a fanfare of flies
to search blog-page bilge bins
for virtual vestiges of vinyl virtuosi...

When will you marry my daughter dear? A parler nous a boire
You can’t always get what you need.

Outside a crazed battered mark one
Beefheart auto-chaufferbot in a
stolen MadMax pick-up truck
scream-hiss lisps “let me take you take you for” forever

So Harry and me cuppa’d up and were talking it over
when the battery just packed in and the decision made itself.

B2 - Everything Ends In Mystery

Knee-deep in murk-mud of the barren plain we hear a distant trumpet band
the ecstatic towns-people, feral citizens
fuelled full of fiesta fired communion fizzwine clump their wild joyful chicken dance

as Otto reaches for pastels...

A time-tunnel opens and mother is mixing “Is that space-cake mother?”
“Oh don’t ask me,

don’t ask me, don’t ask me.”

Bloody typical.

Russ Grant 2025 

Digital release on the 30th of May 2025.

Track listing:

1: A1 - The Heart Of A Phantom Is Beating

2: A2 - Not Really Now Not Anymore

3: B1 - With These Lovely Feathers We Will Fly Around The Boundaries Of The Earth

4: B2 - Everything Ends In Mystery

Itunes, Spotify, etc.:

https://bfan.link/eyeskreem

And on Bandcamp:

ODG218 : Alinovsky / Contingency

 

Cover art by A.L. from a portion of an unknown painting

ODG218: Alinovsky / Contingency

Contingency : something that might possibly happen in the future, usually causing problems or making further arrangements necessary.

Alinovsky says:

'The album was constructed around 6 cymbals multitracks that were recorded for the Fleur de Feu album 'Weep'. I just started simply twisting the sounds of the cymbals and adding layers of synth and rhythmes and the 6 finished tracks were done in a few hours.

I'm quite happy with the result as it was fun to do and I hope you will enjoy the music as I did recording it."

Digital release on the 23rd of May 2025.

Track listing:

1: Eventually

2: Presumably

3: Arguably

4: Uncertainty

5: Fortuity

6: Possibility

Itunes, Spotify, etc.:

https://bfan.link/contingency

And on Bandcamp:

ODG217 : John Americus Witt / Kakophonos

 Cover art by Silas Plum

ODG217: John Americus Witt / Kakophonos

After his 'Canorous' album, comes the dark mirrored 'Kakophonos'.

About the album, John says:

"Kakophonos. A terrible racket. Unpleasant sounds. Animalistic. A companion piece to “Canorous”. Little slices of time. Bits of defining events. A puzzle, as always. The Cover Art gives a clue, for those still engaged in this dying expression. Beware, even the silence has Overdrive."

Digital release on the 16 of May 2025.

Track listing:

1: Prelude - Fall 1946

2: Spring 1994

3: Summer 1816

4: Winter 2025

5: Fall 2006

6: Fall 1989

7: Summer 1914

8: Spring 1955

9: Postlude - Winter 1947

Itunes, Spotify, etc.:

https://bfan.link/kakophonos

And on Bandcamp:

OUI054 : 3/4 Peace / Short Stories

 

Cover art by Adam Magyar

OUI054 : 3/4 Peace / Short Stories

3⁄4 Peace is a chamber trio composed by Belgian saxophone player Ben Sluijs, Belgian- Peruvian pianist Christian Mendoza and French Brice Soniano on the double bass.

With improvisations and original compositions, their musical approach incorporates jazz and classical music that transcends technical proficiency, creating a rich and tasteful sound that almost feels like a fine dining experience.

They play as three kindred souls that unite and offer a musical mood that’s warm and intimate, which feels like a hushed conversation with an old friend, or kiss from a long lost lover.

Their synergy on stage establishes a deep sense of community with the audience, where the musicians have room to share musical stories that are simultaneously personal and collective.

This is a collaboration with Astropi music and will appear on Off only it's main and Ugoki! Bandcamp.

There is a beautiful limited vinyl edition that you can purchase here:
https://astropimusic.bandcamp.com/album/short-stories-peace

Christian, Ben and Brice

Ben Sluijs: alto sax, alto flute, clarinet

Brice Soniano: double bass

Christian Mendoza: piano

Recorded: April 4 and 5 at DADA Studios, Brussels, 2024 Mixed and mastered by Dre Pallemaerts at 52creations Studio 

Digital release on Off on the 13th of May 2025.

Track listing:

1: Vienna

2: Out Of The Dark

3: No Matter

4: Short Stories !Soniano)

5: Short Stories (Sluijs)

6: Another Inside

7: Ganesh

8: Mr. Motian To You

9: Stuk Piano

10: Stuk Trio

Bandcamp:

ODG216 : John Americus Witt / Canorous

 

Cover art by Silas Plum

ODG216: John Americus Witt / Canorous

The return of the formidable John Americus Witt (see catalogue) with a very different album.

John says:

""Canorous". Simply a pleasant sound. A companion piece to “Kakophonos”, the next project. A small thematic message, as always.  This time it’s Fighters. Boxers, generally. Some were undisputed champions. Some were perennial losers. At least one died in the ring. But Boxing is the “Sweet Science”, as they say. Enjoy a bit of sweetness, as these men batter each other to slake out bloodlust. It’s a little treat. Have a listen."

Digital release on the 9th of May 2025.

Track listing:

1: The Opening Bell

2: Lay Your Troubles Down On The Radio Wire Tonight

3: Ali

4: Marvelous Marvin

5: Iron Mike

6: Jimmy Doyle

7: Joe Calzaghe

8: Kid Herman

9: Knockout

Itunes, Spotify, etc.:

https://bfan.link/canorous

And on Bandcamp:

OUI051 : Varv / Bright

 

Cover art by Muto - Giovanni Benedetti

OUI051 : Varv / Bright

After releasing their first album ' Lowland' in 2024 (see OUI032) comes their new single 'Bright' which introduces guitar riffs and polyrhythms. 

The title tells it all! Have a listen!

Release on the 2nd of May 2025.

Track listing:

1: Bright

Itunes, Spotify, etc.:

https://bfan.link/bright-3

And on Bandcamp: