Off - Record label

Thursday, 26 May 2016

ODG052 : Nimzo-Indian / Nomadno

Cover art by Nimzo-Indian

ODG052 : Nimzo-Indian / Nomadno

Nimzo-Indian is musician, artist and instrument maker Andrew Spackman. He has been making experimental electronic and electro-acoustic music under various pseudonyms since 1997 but more recently as Nimzo-Indian since 2011. His music is difficult to categorise or pin down, lurching from beat infused noise music to electro funk and jazz. Tracks on the album feature an eclectic and quixotic array of instrumentation including turntables, home made guitars and basses, processed voice and retro synths.

His music has been previously played on BBC Radio 3 Late Junction with Nick Luscombe and BBC 6 Music. He has also collaborated with a wide number of musicians including creating remixes for Mark Springer (Rip Rig and Panic), the High Llamas (Blinger Suc) and Sasha Siem. he has previously released 2 albums and 2 EP's. Nimzo-Indian's music has been reviewed in the Wire Magazine, Creative Review, MOJO, the Independent and on the cultural blogs Monolith Cocktail, Booooooom and Lost at e Minor.

This album was put together over a 2 year period and as such catalogues a range of moods and stylistic approaches over that time. Tracks such as Words, Shrigley and Poetronica feature the use of voice and computer poetry against guitar lines and experimental beats.

Telescope the Moon and Incredible Incredible are more cinematic and features live recordings from a Welsh chapel pump organ as well as washes of guitar noise from home made instruments.

Let's Forget, Time Waits and Speakon have a more world and avant jazz sound whilst still infused with complex rhythms and micro beats.

Andrew Spackman

Some videos:

Telescope the Moon:

Incredible Incredible:

And here you can see more of is art works and follow him on his blog here.

Digital release on the 27th of May 2016.

Track listing:

1. Telescope the Moon

2. Red Mini Red

3. Pelina

4. Speakon

5. Words

6. Sunken

7. Poetronica

8. Shrigley

9. Telescope the Moon (False Landing)

10. Time Waits

11. Incredible Incredible

12. Crash

13. Party

14. Lets Forget

And on Bandcamp:

Friday, 20 May 2016

OCD029 : Aerobe / Aerobe

Covert art by Andrew Claes

OCD029 : Aerobe / Aerobe

Formed 2 years ago, Aerobe is a kind of super band.

The members are:

Andrew Claes (see also ORT010, ORT012 ,ORT014 and Internal Sun ODG048) from STUFF and BRZZVLL fame, who plays sax, Ewi and electronic treatments.

Owen Biddle (bio) formally bassist of The Roots and now playing a lot with different acts.

Zach Danzinger, one of the most search after session drummer (U2, Primal Scream, Manic Street Preachers... see here).

Adriaan Van De Velde on various keyboards.

They spend a few nights improvising in a rented Antwerp studio and came out with dozens of songs.

Making a choice was complex, but those 11 songs show well the intensity and creativity they had during those sessions!

Mixing, breaks, beats, heavy basses, dub, electro, drum&bass heavily, you have now Aerobe!

From left to right: Zack, Andrew, Owen and Adriaan

Video of one of those recording nights:

Physical and digital release on the 20th of May 2016.

Track listing:

1: High on Life

2: Medicated

3: Bibb

4: Ez Glistening

5: Am Don

6: Flatulance Armstrong

7: Cursing Mantis

8: Swells

9: Exam Cut

10: After Dinner Cordial

11: Kevin Spacey

Cd on sale here:

Friday, 6 May 2016

OCD030/ODG051 : Soldier Six / Flesh Of A Trinity

Cover art by Jente Boone

OCD030/ODG051 : Soldier Six / Flesh Of A Trinity

'Flesh Of A Trinity' is the first EP after the band's full length 'Lost at Timekeeper's Gate' (See OCD017).

For this EP they recorded at the MotorMusic Studio's in Belgium and worked together with the famous producer Pierre Vervloesem. Having grown musically in the past two years the EP sounds more confident and more energetic to achieve the essence of the pieces of music.

Their musical taste has broadened as, for exemple, reflected in a piece like 'Thanks But No Thanks' where the band's leaning towards a post-pop/synth-like groove with sometimes even a nineties hip-hop feel. Also the presence of a lot more synths, vocal effects ('Evil Kids'), pedals and overall strange dirtiness shows the band's increasing sense for experiment.

But still, the band strives continuously to grip you with lines and beats that push you as a listener towards the unexpected, though never letting you go, as is to hear in 'Guarantee After Self Destruction'.
This time with 5 long compositions showing again their skill to sculpt amazing songs made of many different structures going from metal to math-rock to prog to mellow to dub to electronic and avant-rock! An explosion of sounds and music!

Hard to say where the band's going after this, but they sure can cook.

Digital and physical release on the 6th of May 2016.

Track listing:

1: Thanks but No Thanks

2: Guarantee After Self Destruction

3: Illuminated Nostalgia

4: Sanity Suppositoire

5: Evil Kids

And in Bandcamp:

Buy the cd here for 12€ or OCD017 + OCD030 for 20€

ODG054 : Alessandro Baris / Faces

Pic by Dania Gennai

ODG054 : Alessandro Baris / Faces

Alessandro Baris was the drummer and composer of the band Comfort (see OCD010) and is part of the duo Collisions (see ODG035 and ODG036).
This time, he was asked to compose the music for a commercial.
Though the add is only 15 secondes, he decided to extend the track to a complete song called Faces.
Here is what Alessandro is saying about it:
"The song was commisioned to me by a video production; they asked for a music that would have bring on positive and suggestive feelings in order to place it on a commercial for a famous italian apple brand that they were shooting and editing for. Even though my main instrument is drums I ended up composing a piece just for piano, strings and bass, with a classical music taste and using the pizzicato and the piano riff to give rhythm.
Aside from few works into cinema's soundtrack this is been my first jingle ever but in the end it worked out so well."
Here it is for you to discover.
Digital release on the 6th of May 2016.

Thursday, 28 April 2016

OJP009 / Sachiko Nagata / Le Hamon

Cover art treated pic by Kiekebiche

OJP009 : Sachiko Nagata / Le Hamon

Recorded part in studio and part live in Paris in October 2009, Le Hamon is a very original sounding album as it shares 2 very intriguing instruments with, at times, some more traditional percussions.

Sachiko Nagata (see also OJP006, website) is a percussionist and improviser mainly using the iron slit drum called « Hamon ».

She is known for her solo works and collaborations with other artists from all over the world.
She plays mostly free improvisations sets t

rying to approach the simplicity of percussion with the call from the players for the buddhist temple.

Hamon is an original instrument made by Japanese artist Teppei Saito being inspired by the sounds of the traditional Japanese garden ornament called Suikinkutsu.

She has a long love relationship with France where she went in the 70ties as a student.
40 years letter, she returned in Paris to record this album.
As she speaks French, she wrote this little piece about her instrument:

Le hamon et moi

Le hamon, objet d’art plastique mais aussi sonore,

objet qui, bien que métallique, évoque au toucher le monde végétal. La beauté très simple de sa forme procure une sensation de calme.

De même qu’un la cloche d‘un temple ,

chacun de ses sons évoque un univers et pénètre le cœur des gens.

Aux résonnances du hamon de petite taille, j’associe une fée.

Aux resonnances du hamon de grande taille, j'associe la terre.

Ses sonorités se fondent avec le vent, la pluie, le cri d’un insecte.

Elles ne sont jamais en discordance avec les bruits de la nature.

Quand je joue du hamon, je fais corps avec lui

et je pars pour un voyage dans un univers peuplé d’impressions et de souvenirs lointains.

Sachiko Nagata

hamonと私

音の出る造形作品　hamon

鉄なのに植物のような感触

その形はとてもシンプルで、佇まいは静かで美しい

寺の梵鐘のように、その音はひとつの音で宇宙を持ち、

人の内側の扉を開く

小さなhamonは妖精のように

大きなhamonは大地のように響く

その音は、風、雨、虫の音、など自然の音と溶け、けっして対立しない

演奏する私は、hamonと一体になり、ここではない、どこかへ旅立つ

遠いはるかな記憶の世界へ・・・　　

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　永田　砂知子　　

In the studio and live, she was joined on some tracks by Christophe Souron on percussions and Pierre Malbos on piano Baschet-Malbos.

The piano Baschet-Malbos was built in 2003 from the collaboration between French sculptor François Baschet and piano master builder and composer Pierre Malbos.

François Bachet is also known for his gigantic sonore sculptures he created for the Steal pavillon of the 1970 Osaka exhibition for which Toru Takemitsu composed and played 'Seasons'.

Pierre Malbos

Christophe Souron

　　　　Sachiko Nagata

Original coved of the cd:

a video from 2009:

and from 2013:

This is a new remastered and edited version.

Digital release on the 29th of April 2016.

Track listing:

1: La mer profonde　　　　　　　　

2: Une mélodie venue d’ailleurs　

3: Un fleuve paisible　　

Hamon +percussions with Christophe Souron:

4: Petite conversation avec Zarb

5: Petite conversation avec Rig

6: Petite conversation avec Daf

7: Petite conversation avec Udu

Hamon + Piano Baschet- Malbos with Pierre Malbos:

8: Prière tranquille

9: Résonance Métallique

And on Bandcamp (with bonus tracks and special tracks edits):

Thursday, 21 April 2016

ODX009 : Les Boucles Absurdes / Boîtes à brains

Cover art by A.L.

ODX009 : Les Boucles Absurdes / Boîtes à brains

Finally available in one digital box, the two albums and the remix album from one of the most intriguing Belgian bands, featuring the great Pierre Vervloesem on every tracks, mixing and mastering. He played all over the basic songs composed by Jean-Pierre Jonckheere.

To discover or re discover with urgency!

The compilation includes OPV007 / Boîtes à Tartines, OPV010 / Into My Brain and OVD003 / Lines.

Original covers:

OPV007 / Boîtes à Tartines, cover art by Kiekebiche:

OPV010 / Into My Brain, cover art by Kiekebiche:

OVD003 / Lines, cover art by Patrick Pirlot:

Them:

Digital release on the 22nd 2016.

Track listing:

Cd1/ Boîtes à Tartines:

01. Purple Line

02. Dartagnan

03. Crac

04. Pervertion

05. Pique-Nique

06. Boîte à tartines

07. Ballade pour un apprenti

08. Old complaining beast

09. Jazz de schiste ( Feat. Morgan Ägren )

10. Absurde Gunzor

11. No place to learn ( Feat. Albert Marcoeur )

12. Foggy Morning

13. Ballade pour un expat

14. Date de péremption

15. La Petite Maison dans les cailloux ( only available on the digital release)

Cd2/ Lines:

1) Red Line : featuring Seesayle

2) Brown Line : featuring Pierre Vervloesem

3) Green Line : featuring Clémentine Collette

4) Black Line : featuring Gilles Mortiaux

Cd3 / Into My Brains:

01. Broken line

02. Skeleton

03. L'angoisse du chicon

04. No gods needed

05. Glow

06. Into my brain

07. Absence

08. Dialogue de sourds

09. Left alone

10. Captagon

11. Apnée du soleil

Saturday, 16 April 2016

ORT016-Rat035-OUI017 : Warped Dreamer / Lomahongva

Cover artwork by Michaël Borremans - 'The Skirt' 2005

ORT016-Rat035-OUI017 : Warped Dreamer / Lomahongva

A “dream line-up” is possibly the best way to describe Warped Dreamer. Few quartets succeed in bowling over their audiences in such diverse ways as this quartet led by drummer Teun Verbruggen. This versatile Belgian percussionist puts together four top-notch musicians from the Belgian and Norwegian scenes, who bring out the best in each other on stage. Teun likes to be startled by collaborations with wayward musicians, musicians who inspire him because they rediscover and reinvent themselves each time again. He had already hooked up with trumpeter Arve Henriksen and with Jozef Dumoulin (Rhodes) previously. Guitarist Stian Westerhus is the right fit and perfectly complements the quartet. Include a big display of effects pedals and you get a music genre that defies any attempt at classification.

Free improvisation, jazz residue and electronic interventions/manipulations are woven together in an organically flowing crossover that both hints at a Northern vastness and utilises a complex inner map that guides the audience past labyrinthine horizons, intricate textures and spontaneous interactions. As such, they incorporate both crackling, whirling walls of sound and claustrophobic whispers. Warped Dreamer is definitely looking forward in a way that makes the question whether it’s in or out completely irrelevant. It’s everywhere at once. The band gets its name from an Othin Spake composition, another of Teun Verbruggen’s experimental bands, and also shares the same fickle, mysterious city vibe. If you like improv, you are in for a treat!

Cd/dvd/lp, a collaboration between Off and Rat Records.

The musicians:

The name Arve Henriksen (NO) immediately conjures up his typical husky trumpet sound. Even during his musical training at the Trondheim Conservatory, he was already active as a free-lance musician. It is therefore hardly surprising that he has already played with a solid cross-section of musicians, often under the record label ECM Records. As a result, his discography includes over 140 albums. Supersilent, Sidsel Endresen, Nils Petter Molvaer, Christian Wallumrod, Eivind Aarset, Laurie Anderson, David Sylvian, Gavin Bryars, Jon Hassell, Dhafer Youssef and Tigran Hamasyan are just a handful of examples, of the great many we could mention. Besides jazz, he is interested in Japanese music and also played with hard rock band Motorpsycho. He has composed for dance, theatre, film & various documentaries. In 2006, he was artist in residence during the renowned Moers Jazz Festival as well as at the Molde Jazz Festival in 2009. He has won several awards including the Paul Acket Award (North Sea Jazz Festival).

“A Fender Rhodes specialist” is just one of the many phrases used to describe Jozef Dumoulin (BE). Jozef is regarded as a musician who manages to maintain his own style in any musical context, ranging from traditional jazz, improv, pop to contemporary music. Dumoulin creates a unique sound on the Fender Rhodes, which he successfully combines with electronics. In this respect, he has joined forces on numerous occasions with existing bands, including Magic Malik Orchestra, Reggie Washington Trio Tree, Octurn, Dre Pallemaerts band, Othin Spake, Benzine, Narcissus Quartet, Brussels Jazz Orchestra, Toots Thielemans, Aka Moon, Belmondo Brothers and David Lynx.

Stian Westerhus (NO) is well-known for his experimental guitar style. He plays in bands such as Jaga Jazzist & Puma and with musicians the likes of Sidsel Endresen, Nils Petter Molvær, Arve Henriksen, Jan Bang & Ingar Zach. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in jazz with Stuart Hall at Middlesex University and his Master in the jazz programme at the Trondheim Musikkonservatorium. In 2008, he won a BBC Award for Innovation in Jazz with Fraud.

The ‘V’ in Teun Verbruggen (BE) stands for ‘versatility’. His search for authenticity, his desire to gain mastery over all possible aspects of music and drum styles, his boundless style and his continuing quest for fresher sounds as well as the freedom of collective improvisation led him to collaborations with Alexi Tuomarila (4tet and Trio), Jef Neve, Hilmar Jensson, Johann Johannsson, Mauro Pawlowski, Molo Trio, Jambangle, Rackham, Pascal Schumacher JojoBa, Streams, Silent Song, Jozef Dumoulin... In 2003, Teun founded his own record label “RAT Records”. Since then, Verbruggen organises “RAT Events”, with which he aims for increased visibility on and more concerts for free jazz and the improve scene in Flanders.

The press:

“The quartet invites the audience [...] on a roller coaster ride and repeats the process over and over again. In quiet and subdued moments, the public waits with bated breath while the band lets the tension rise slowly. Then, as the carts reach their highest point, we, humble listeners, are taken on a breakneck race downhill with Westerhus’s hefty solos, gritty interludes courtesy of Dumoulin, Henriksen’s sampled interventions and as mentioned, Verbruggen’s mighty but downright rhythmic percussions.” Jazz&Meer

“From calm-infused passages to outbursts of musical energy, the audience is drawn into a wonderful world of free expression which at times sounds almost mystical and at others like a damned good organised chaos. The percussion sound play cannot be pigeonholed. It is pure improvisation where the musicians inspire each other from one moment to the next: improvisation built from scratch, influenced by a playful mix of jazz, electronic, noise and rock. They get the best out of their instruments.” Written in music

‘’Warped Dreamer shares a fickle, mysterious city vibe with a few other bands these musicians are/were involved in. At the same time this project, which combines the talents of Belgian stalwarts Teun Verbruggen (drums) and Jozef Dumoulin (keyboards) with those of Norwegian experimentalists Stian Westerhus (guitar) and Arve Henriksen (trumpet), also has an entirely different identity. Free improvisation, jazz residue and electronic interventions/manipulations are woven together in an organically flowing crossover that hints at a Northern vastness and utilizes a complex inner map that guides the audience past labyrinthine panoramas, intricate textures and spontaneous interaction. As such, they incorporate both crackling, whirling walls of sound and claustrophobic whispers. Warped Dreamer looks toward the future in a way that makes the question whether it’s in or out completely irrelevant. It’s everywhere at once.’’ Guy Peters

A video live at Het Bos - February 2014:

Arve Henriksen : Trumpet , flute , voice and electronics

Stian Westerhus : Guitar and electronics

Jozef Dumoulin : Fender Rhodes and electronics

Teun Verbruggen : Drums and electronics

Lomahongva:

artwork : Michaël Borremans

Lay out : Peter Verbruggen

Live recording by Dieter Claeys 17th of January 2015 at ‚het Bos’ , Antwerp

Mixed and mastered by Stian Westerhus November 2015

Produced by Teun Verbruggen

Digital and physical release on the 13th of May 2016.

Track listing:

1: Kenda

2: Nahimana

3: Sahpooly

4: Odahingum

5: Tehya / Ogin

Rat-Off DVD001:
The full concert beautifully filmed in dvd is also released now, see details here.