Charts And Maps - Enemies Of C. Frias

Enemies Of C. Frias by Charts And Maps was released back in 2008, and still sounds fresh today.

REVIEW
from Disagreement.net

... They are now back with a new recording, having added a guitarist and a saxophonist to their line-up, and it shows. Stylistically somewhere between the intricacy of math rock and the solemnity of post rock, it’s especially the saxophone that adds a jazzy component, reminding me on the opener Pearl Divers Of The Arabian Peninsula a little of King Crimson. The following Herd Of Elephants is a more lyrical piece with less jazz parts. The Sheriff Suspects Arson (ii) resumes the frantic energy of the opener, before the ten minute epic In The Town Of Machine ends this half hour album with a bang. If the preceding songs were all very good, this last track is a masterpiece of combining the most different elements, including fusion, progressive rock and all of the aforementioned genres.

The math rock scene has become quite opaque lately, with always more newcomers getting into instrumental rock, but Charts & Maps definitely have the potential to stand out. At home in a math rock with fast yet most often undistorted guitars, the versatile rhythm section and the jazzy saxophone do their best to set them apart from nearly every other band. Charts & Maps list Battles and Tortoise among their influences and clearly can be located somewhere between those two. This is clearly a must-have for every fan of ambitious instrumental guitar rock music… with woodwinds!

LABEL NOTES

Los Angeles based indie-jazz/math-rock (though subtly defiant of both terms)band Charts and Maps have released a 4 song EP, titled "Enemies of C.Frias". Working with engineer/producer Chris Schlarb (whose solo projects and free-jazz duo I Heart Lung are released through Sufjan Steven's Asthmatic Kitty records), the band have managed to further hone their sound while losing none of the adventurous flair of their previous releases.

Characterized by unrestrained song structure, a keen ear for new aesthetic, and an unabashed ability to throw a looping curveball in the form of a key change or time signature switch, Charts and Maps still make music for people who understand music, but have developed upon their ability to blend the aforementioned with catchy and grooving hooks. Their music is intrinsically unclassifiable, roving between genres, tied together by stylistic nuances--categorized by their uncategorizability (yeah, it's a word, apparently), as much as anything else. Instead of losing themselves in heady concept, as many bands with this kind introduction do, Charts and Maps are unequivocally listenable and sonically pleasant. Take a listen for yourself.

As key members of Heard.of.Elephants, an art/music collective that has been gathering praise, acclaim, and following in the Los Angeles area recently for their forward-thinking stance on showgoing (mixing art, music, film, and sociality into one convenient event), Charts and Maps have taken their live show to a new level. Adding Jay Watford on guitar and Mike Allison on Sax, the band's energy is unmistakable. The affair is a lot more raucous than one would imagine when listening to the intricacy of the music.


MUSIC COPYRIGHTS: Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivative Works
IMAGE: album cover
NATIONALITY: USA: California: Los Angeles
CLASSIFICATIONS: Progressive Rock; Post-Rock; Math Rock; Fusion; Saxophone; Electric Guitar
LANGUAGE: (instrumental)
FILED UNDER: Digital: Popular Class: Progressive Rock

Improvisation from Grey Ghost

Together, Aram Shelton on saxophone and Johnathan Crawford on percussion and both performing digital manipulation are Grey Ghost. The collaboration began in 2002 and resulted in two studio albums How To Create Words on 482 Music and the self-released Broad Oration.

Broad Oration was recorded by Jamie Wagner at Strobe Recordings in Chicago during in autumn 2005. Grey Ghost entered the studio with ideas and largely improvised the session. Aram edited and mixed the music. Johnathan designed and printed the silk-screened covers. The limited release of 100 was issued in 2005, and a digital copy is now available from Candy Dinner.

We were won right off by the percussion in the opening track. It resembles the clocks in "Time Is Running Out" by Salakapakka Sound System and "Tic Tac Nocturne" by the brilliant Bernard Estardy (heavily sampled in The Chemical Brother's "My Elastic Eye"). The track soon develops reminding us of vaguely of the well-known "Telephone and Rubber Band" by Penguin Cafe Orchestra (official site).

The saxophone comes into play in the second track. Broad Oration is an impressive improvisation album that can hold one's interest throughout.

Music License: © All Rights Reserved

Jazz from Steve Coleman

For several years now, influential jazz saxophonist Steve Coleman has been offering up much of his catalog for free. When a musician of this caliber and notoriety gives away his catalog, it draws attention to the philosophy behind such action. Coleman explains:

Many people have asked me what are my reasons for giving away music for free. Well, why not?  Why should everything always cost something?  For me music is organized sound that can be used as sonic symbols to communicate ideas.  Since my main goal is the communication of these ideas to the people, then why not provide this music for free and thereby facilitating the distribution of this music to the people.  However the distribution of music in this way is not in the best interest of commercial music companies, i.e. record companies, music distributors, retail stores etc.

My reasons for providing free music comes from my belief that musical ideas should not be owned by anyone.  I believe that ideas should be free for anyone to use (but not to necessarily sell to others or make others pay for the use of these ideas).  The concept of a commons area where ideas can be used for the benefit of all but for the profit of no one may seem like an unrealizable concept in the world today.  Basically greed runs the world today and it is because of this that the concept of ownership exits.

There would be no need to own something exclusively unless the use of it was restricted to the owner for reasons of conservation, or the owner wishes to rent out the use of the item to others for a fee.  The concept of wealth also stems from ownership and control of resources. [read more]

The albums he shares include:

M-Base Collective - Anatomy Of A Groove (1991)
Steve Coleman And Five Elements - Alternate Dimension Series I (2002)
Steve Coleman And Five Elements - Black Science (1991)
* Steve Coleman And Five Elements - Curves Of Life (1995)
Steve Coleman And Five Elements - Def Trance Beat (Modalities of Rhythm) (1994)
Steve Coleman And Five Elements - Drop Kick (1992)
Steve Coleman And Five Elements - On The Edge Of Tomorrow (1986)
Steve Coleman And Five Elements - Rhythm People: The Resurrection Of Creative Black Civilization (1988)
Steve Coleman And Five Elements - Sine Die (1987)
Steve Coleman And Five Elements - The Ascension to Light (2001)
* Steve Coleman And Five Elements - The Opening of the Way ()
* Steve Coleman And Five Elements - The Sonic Language of Myth (1999)
Steve Coleman And Five Elements - The Tao Of Mad Phat (1993)
Steve Coleman And Five Elements - World Expansion (1986)
Steve Coleman And Metrics - A Tale of 3 Cities (1995)
* Steve Coleman And Metrics - The Way of the Cipher ()
Steve Coleman And The Council Of Balance - Genesis (1998)
Steve Coleman And The Mystic Rhythm Society - The Sign And The Seal (1997)
Steve Coleman - Motherland Pulse (1985)
Steve Coleman - Rhythm In Mind (1991)
Strata Institute - Cipher Syntax (1988)
Strata Institute - Transmigration (1993)
(* selected tracks)

Several of these titles are already cherished albums on the shelves at Oddio headquarters. We hope that this post and Steve Coleman's generosity will bring new fans to his work.

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Photo: Steve Coleman, Selmer Factory in Paris France, July 2004, by Patrícia Magalhães

Art Music from Saxophone Quartet

The West Point Saxophone Quartet, from the United States Military Academy Band at West Point, New York, is comprised of members of the saxophone section of the Military Academy's Concert Band.

Founded in 1965, the West Point Saxophone Quartet consists of soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones. The ensemble performs across genres -- classical, jazz and popular music, and demonstrates beautifully the technical virtuosity, tonal beauty and versatility of which the saxophone family is capable.

In their album Fault Lines, the Quartet performs modern compositions by Perry Goldsmith, David Kechley, Pierre Lantier, David Froom. This is an album we come back to often and recommend to all lovers of modern composition. It is beautifully done. With the exception of a Radiohead piece, Fault Lines is available for free download from the Academy website where there are complete program notes and credits.

license: uncertain (US Government Public Domain?)

A Full Moon Party in Chile

Here's a beauty from jazz guitarist Emer Mulhulland and her group. Mulholland is a classically-trained guitarist, Stag Records session musician, and Galway native. This album was recorded in beautiful Cerro Concepción, Valparaíso, Chile.

The pianist is Tom Fahy who you may recall released toy piano albums by composer Aestrid Burne (1968-1998) to whom this album is dedicated. Do check out the remarkable catalog of albums (instrumental, classical, jazz,...) Mr. Fahy has made available with Creative Commons licensing.



genres: jazz, classical guitar, guitar, piano, saxophone, instrumental
album license: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
photo: Cerro Concepción, Valparaíso, Chile by P_R_ [Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license]

Droopy Drops In

Hugo "Droopy" Contini delivers hard bop from Lorraine, France to the WFMU Free Music Archive on US National Jazz Day. Contini is part of the RawBounce Records collective and the alto sax man for The Real Dealers.

Once after rehearsal, the band had the space for a few more hours, so they recorded the album, Surpriscording. [more info]

photo: RawBounce Records

Album license: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License