The Jazz Project - Album 84: Anthony Braxton - "For Alto"

                To further my understanding of Jazz, I'm listening through Jazzwise Magazine's "The 100 Jazz Albums That Shook The World". Each album is presented with my stream-of-consciousness thoughts for each track, my general thoughts of the album as a whole, and any relevant information I can capture about the album. Also included is my drink of choice while taking the album in. Thank you for joining me on my journey to [partial] Jazz enlightenment.

Album 84
Antony Braxton - For Alto
Drinking: No beverage

Photo credit: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71MdsgavhOL._SL1200_.jpg

1. "Dedicated To Multi-Instrumentalist Jack Gell": While incredibly short, this song was a somber, clear tune. Braxton is a skilled player, though I wonder who Jack Gell is. 
   
   
2. "To Composer John Cage": Right out of the gate my brain is telling me this is going to be a weird one as John Cage has some pretty bizarre things to say in the music world. That being said, the intro to this song doesn't disappoint. I think that featuring the saxophone as the only instrument on this album is a bold statement. You can tell he's giving his all from the frantic breaths peppered in and around each lick. While the Cagian freestyle is beyond my musical comprehension, I enjoy the sound of the solo saxophone. The breathing acts like percussion and creates a very human experience. Say what you will about the listenable nature of the music, this musician has chops. Strangely, it sounds like he's trying to capture the sounds of a child's imagination as it runs rampant from each idea to the next with wild abandon. I must then wonder what John Cage thought of this track, especially those wild sax screams. 
   
   
3. "To Artist Murray dePillars": This track opens with a somber, melodic open which serves as a nice reprieve from the wild nature of the previous tracks. I love that you can hear the tapping of the keys over the music as there's no band to hide it. It continues to create this intimate experience between the listener and Braxton. My mind takes me to the cosmos, where all the wild trills are planets, stars, and comets sailing by my starship piloted by Braxton. 
   
   
4. "To Pianist Cecil Taylor": There's a sense of strut to this song. I wonder if this improvisation is in any way supposed to mimic a piano player. This song does a great job of walking that line between a jazz solo and free jazz, even if it favors the free jazz side of the path. My brain initially wants to discount free jazz because it's not a tune, which is what my brain is used to, but I immediately look back and realize I could never play this music. Still, I do find this to be a challenge to listen to. 
   
   
5. "Dedicated To Ann and Peter Allen": I find it interesting that some songs are "To ____" and others are "Dedicated To ____", why the difference? That said, I do enjoy the naming conventions. Such a sad intro to a song. Had these people left the world before this song was composed? Or perhaps this song reflects a strained relationship. This song is a mammoth, with a running time of 12 minutes and 54 seconds. I love Braxton's use of silence in this composition. It pulls my attention in and makes each note that much more satisfying. The moments of breathing are captivating, creating a beautiful piece. At times his breaths act like a stirred snare. Using the keys to subtly tap out a line. I'd almost call this piece an experiment of playing around with interesting silence. This piece just speaks to me. 
   
   
6. "Dedicated To Susan Axelrod": Another slow and somber intro. I'm surprised this is how he chose to order these tracks. But, I suppose I'm not in line with his vision as I struggle with this type of music. I dig that you can hear his tongue and breath technique in the microphones. I know I've said it before but it creates this intimate experience. where you're almost in the room with him. It almost sounds like he's fighting with the saxophone, which is quite evocative. I'd love to know what his brain was thinking about while he was writing this album. Was it written moment to moment, or was a meditation on an idea? The arpeggios in this song are beautiful, yet extremely wild. 
   
   
7. "To My Friend Kenny McKenny": This song returns to the wild side of town. I get the sense that Kenny is someone who has explosive opinions on things. It emulates the sound of a piano scraping across the floor as you try to move it from one side of the room to the other. Or perhaps it's a heavy metal table. This track sounds incredibly violent as the sounds created sound far outside of the instrument's normal range. I think this has been the most challenging song on the record for me. The weird humming/feedback at the end was pretty cool. 
   
   
8. "Dedicated To Multi-Instrumentalist Leroy Jenkins": A mono note opening, which is quite interesting. It builds into an explosive crescendo of random honks of alto saxophone. Another track that is difficult to sink my teeth into. I've read some articles espousing the groundbreaking importance of this album, but I must say it's lost on me. Where this movement found footing amazes me, but as mentioned before, I don't think I have the skills and experience to understand it either. It makes sense to me that it's a journey through the possibilities of sound, but I still feel lost. 

Overall Thoughts: Free Jazz is largely lost on me. I don't yet understand the value of the movement, though I recognize that it is there and has a serious following. I hope that one day it will click into place in my mind. All that being said, I have to give Braxton some serious props for pursuing this album, especially as a solo album without overdubs. It found ways to bring humanity into the music and fully exploring what an instrument could offer on the sonic canvas while bringing the listener into the room. It's a wild record, and I'm glad I experienced it. 

Info: This album was recorded in February of 1969 at Delmark Records in Chicago. Solely performed by Anthony Braxton on Alto Saxophone. 

If you liked the album you can stream it at the YouTube link above, and you can pick up a copy of the record here! 

Cheers! 

Spirit Adrift - "Battle High"

Photo credit: https://www.spiritadrift.com/

         Spirit Adrift dropped another track yesterday, and it's holding up quite nicely with their most recent offerings. "Battle High" debuted on the Century Media Records YouTube channel in support of Spirit Adrift's new album Enlightened Eternity which was released October 16th, 2020. Definitely not new to us here at Mainly Tuning Out, we highly suggest you check this band out. "Battle High" starts off with a heavy blues riff before jumping into some classic heavy metal tones. Dynamically this song works well, and feels both traditional and also fresh. The vocal performances and solos are excellent as well! If you dig this track you can stream it here! 

        

        Happy Friday everyone! Be well! 

The Jazz Project - Album 85: Krzysztof Komeda - "Astigmatic"

               To further my understanding of Jazz, I'm listening through Jazzwise Magazine's "The 100 Jazz Albums That Shook The World". Each album is presented with my stream-of-consciousness thoughts for each track, my general thoughts of the album as a whole, and any relevant information I can capture about the album. Also included is my drink of choice while taking the album in. Thank you for joining me on my journey to [partial] Jazz enlightenment.

Album 85
Krzysztof Komeda - Astigmatic
Drinking: PBR

https://img.discogs.com/B0wEucLgfu_22a3yQvcpNFz_yKg=/fit-in/600x598/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-2841202-1303486755.jpeg.jpg

1. "Astigmatic": The song opens with a jilted opening. Clean trumpets play over an eerie piano. The piano is almost manic in sound. I like how it's all starting to pull together with the drums and bass, falls away, and then comes back. The staccato rhythm is gripping. As the trumpets continue to perform I catch a mild glimpse of Miles Davis. Musically this feels like a relationship, starting with a fight, but about three minutes in it starts cooling off into a calm moment. Still, it feels like the piano, drums, and bass is operating independently of each other leaving me feeling disoriented. About six minutes in there is an odd trumpet solo that feels like it's trying to display fragility, but gently or gracefully but in a manic, crazy way. It's like looking for your keys in the house when you're already 20 minutes late, this crazed frenetic mindset builds inside until it almost fully takes control of you. This crazed piece segues to a duet between the trumpet and bass. I wonder what this studio session was like. I want to believe they were all on the same page as they performed this music, but how would you recreate these moments? It feels like a stream of consciousness that is freely flowing through these musicians. At ~11 minutes in we get a familiar Jazz moment with free soloing and one hell of a walking bass line. I know it can't last, but it's a nice change of pace from the journey this album has taken me on. At ~13 minutes the saxophone takes the spotlight for a sporadic and clustered solo. Regardless of how it sounds, this player has some serious chops. The bass takes over with a sliding and bend heavy, yet quiet solo. A feeling takes over that the music is mimicking a bad dreamscape. The entity is trapped and hysterical, yet free. A drum solo pops up around the 18-minute mark, which was a highlight, it's arguably my favorite part of this track. The band comes back together around the 19-minute mark to close out this track. These moments are very similar to the opening of the album. As an equally eerie ending comes closing in, I find myself wondering if this was a one-take performance. 
2. "Kattorna": This is the shortest track on the album by far. It features a much more conventional opening to a track, and I find the riffs to be quite pleasing. It sounds like the chase scene in a late-night gangster movie. Or perhaps watching beat cops rolling his way through the night. Highlights for me are the bass work on this track and the drum work. This band likes flirting with varying levels of tension, and we only leave the tension for brief moments. It's almost exhausting to listen to. 
3. "Sventetic": I love what the bass offers up during this intro, it's very vocal! It sounds like a cold and misty morning, and the sun is struggling to break through and burn off the mist. Suddenly, the sun breaks through and at two minutes in it's painfully hot, making the world feel sluggish. This song could be a soundscape, painting pictures with these tight, jabbing lines in black and white. Six minutes in we get a break with some classic jazz noodling. I hate to say it, but my lack of theory knowledge might be impeding my ability to follow along on this track. I want to see it as a song instead of a sonic experiment, but I can't really find the narrative in the song. Perhaps it's because there isn't one, but I'd be surprised if that was the case. With five minutes left on the clock, we make a return to the moments from the intro. That appears to be the formula for this album, passage, intro, repeat passage. 

Overall Thoughts: This album was largely beyond my comprehension. I certainly tried to follow along but I struggled with the lack of melodic structure. I agree with the quote from Jazzwise magazine, "Stanko himself said that this is an album that could never have been made in America". It's not something that would have survived American culture. I'm glad it found its place though, and I want to come back in the distant future and see if I have a better experience with this album.

Info: This album was recorded over two days in December of 1965, and the album was released in 1966 on the Muza Label. It was produced by Wojciech Piętowski, and features Krzysztof Komeda as the bandleader and on piano, Rune Carlsson on drums, Günter Lenz on double bass, Zbigniew Namys∤owski on alto saxophone, and Tomasz Stańko on trumpet.

If you want to purchase this album, you can do so here! 

Cheers! 

Boris with Merzbow - "Away From You"

Photo credit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9llVjM149U

         Today's track is a bizarre yet oddly calming track created as a collaboration between Japanese Doom Metal/experimental music giants Boris and Japanese noise artist Merzbow. Of the two, I'm only familiar with Boris, and only through friends from college who are huge fans. This was never out of dislike, I just haven't had the time to do the deep dive on them given their massive catalog. Boris has been making music since 1992, with an impressive discography of 26 studio albums, and 14 EPs. Merzbow has been creating music and art since 1979 and has released 342 studio albums and 33 EPs. Needless to say, both institutions are prolific. This track is from the upcoming release 2R012P0 which is expected to drop on December 11th, 2020. 

        

        "Away From You" opens with some percussive noises that sound like clinking cans, clutter being moved around a table or a wind chime made of old food cans. It also closely imitates the sound of several clocks clinking in and out of time with each other. Synth sounds pepper this sound, as do some echoing guitar notes, creating and very organic sound, similar to the sound of the world waking up with the sunrise. A calming bass line starts at ~0:52, and it gives the song an ebb and flow to it. The noise track gets a little more out of sync with the music and more and more sounds are folded in as others start to drop out. 

        As it continues the music continues to grow in depth and complexity while still maintaining this organic, living environment. It's truly captivating. The vocals are gripping and haunting as the lace themselves through all these layers. The music takes a darker turn at ~2:57, and the synth noises grow pointed and unsettling. In this din beautiful tension blossoms in the soundscape adding dynamic moments to this track. The instruments settle back into the calm sounds from earlier, but the synth and noise tracks continue to grow more dissonant and abrasive. While not always the most pleasant thing to listen to, it creates a strong juxtaposition of ideas and sounds that, in this baffling way, works quite well. These two extremes continue to ride out, nearly to the end of the song until the final moment where the clock-like cluttering cans briefly return. 

        This was a truly beautiful track, and worth a listen or two at the very least. I'm not sure if this is a good representation of Boris and Merzbow, but I'm certainly more inclined to listen through their other stuff and their previous collaborations having experienced "Away From You". If you enjoyed what you heard, you can preorder this album here. You can find more info on Boris here, and more info on Merzbow here. 

        Cheers! 

Amon Amarth? Full Access to Their Discography? Hell Yes!

Photo credit: https://www.metalblade.com/us/tourpics/amon-amarth.jpg

         It's a good time to be a fan Amon Amarth, the Melodic Death Metal band hailing from Sweden. Metal Blade Records has posted all of the major Amon Amarth albums to their YouTube channel! Commonly known as Viking Metal, this band has embraced their heritage with a fervor dropping albums such as Twilight Of The Thunder Gods, With Odin On Our Side, and Jomsviking. 

        It's refreshing to see a band that has been kicking around so long (started in 1992 as a Grindcore band called Scum) to gain the recognition they deserve. It wasn't until their 2008 album Twilight Of The Thunder Gods did this band become a household name (at least, in the area I'm from). It takes a herculean effort to push through 16 years before really finding success. If you're not familiar with Amon Amarth, you should do yourself a favor and check out Twilight Of The Thunder Gods linked below. If it's your jam, check out their other ten albums at the Medal Blades Records YouTube Channel. You can find more info about the band on their web page. You won't be disappointed.  

The Jazz Project - Album 86: Steps Ahead - "Steps Ahead"

              To further my understanding of Jazz, I'm listening through Jazzwise Magazine's "The 100 Jazz Albums That Shook The World". Each album is presented with my stream-of-consciousness thoughts for each track, my general thoughts of the album as a whole, and any relevant information I can capture about the album. Also included is my drink of choice while taking the album in. Thank you for joining me on my journey to [partial] Jazz enlightenment.

Album 86
Steps Ahead - Steps Ahead
Drinking: Budweiser Copper Lager with Jim Beam

Photo credit: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51Pq1wy0kdL.jpg

1. "Pools": This song has a very mellow opening. One of the things that immediately jumps out to me is the layers of tone contained on this track. Everyone is operating in their own space like they're occupying their own layers. In my head, I see a bird's eye view of traffic, or a big restaurant opening up and prepping for the day. While my brain is painting this picture I dial into the bass-tone, it's very reminiscent of Jaco Pastorius, or perhaps it should be the other way around. The saxophone in one of these sections is super slick! It's greasy almost, with these lines and runs, it's amazing how he pulls it off. The bass solo starting ~2:56 is very conversational, which is something I love in any solo. It's like if you zone out while listening to your friend talk and you're just registering the noise and notes of their voice. After a vibraphone solo, it pops into my brain that this song is like Bebop, and Funk was put into a blender and given a good frothy mix. I'm now focusing on the drums and piano, just how time mixes in. Hot damn, they're holding this groove down so it doesn't fly away, while still letting it strut around feeling good. I get the feeling that I'm looking inside the brains of a jazz performer when I listen to this. Each movement and moment is a different synapse firing off with an idea. It's crazy but contained, like a daydream. An excellent track to start the album. 
   
   
2. "Islands": I'm loving this intro, it's got a great rhythm, though I wish it kept this moment for longer instead of switching to this flowing passage. This particular part is a little too easy-listening for my tastes. As of ~1:08, it takes on a cool twist that is more in line with my taste. The music certainly achieves an island feel to it. I feel like they're capturing the sound of a soul sailing quickly by an island taking in the sights and sounds. I found my ear honing in mostly on the bass performance. It's tight, and a strong backbone to the songs. Soon, my focus also starts taking in the drums. Together they're deep in the pocket and holding this track down. Regardless, I'm not in love with this track, even though it returns to the beginning passage, which does salvage it a bit. 
   
   
3. "Loxodrome": I love the name of this track. the solemn opening is pretty great. It's like the opening to a Bogart film if it was made in the '80s. It sounds like a biopic following the life of an entry-level mobster going about his daily life with all the hustle and bustle that would come with that lifestyle. The piano solo is sharp and cutting, love it! The following bass solo is just as excellent. My only wish is that the solo didn't slow the pace of the song. Still, this person's chops are hard to critique. The section starting at ~4:25 is simply awesome! It's like beautiful chaos, the tension is heated. It clears the five-minute mark just in time for the song to come to a close. 
   
   
4. "Both Sides Of The Coin": This track has a little sass to it. The saxophone brings a sense of welcome to the song as well. I'm enjoying the intro quite a bit. At ~0:50 there is a weird trilling section that confuses me, but what do I really know? I'm lost that's for sure. This song is one of my least favorite tracks on this album. This song seems saxophone focused. Ultimately, "Both Sides Of the Coin" didn't do much for me. 
   
   
5. "Skyward Bound": An excellent open and delightful intro. Loving the bass work happening behind these moments. Something is happening on this track, and I can't quite put my finger on it. All I know is I'm getting goose-pimples listening to this song. The vibraphone solo at ~2:04 is captivating. It's slaying me with how good it is. I wonder if this was a song to remember someone, like a memorial song, as I'm getting that feeling. This track is a strong contender for my favorite song on this album. 
   
   
6. "Northern Cross": An interesting opening, it's quite busy. Sounds like a busy intersection in a city. Something is at a rolling boil and is about to hot-break all over the place. Stormy is a good word for it. I'm feeling lost trying to follow everyone as they play, though, it's holding my attention. I'm loving the bass-line at ~3:50, it's got some funky qualities to it. I do wish I had more to say about this track, I think I want to go back and give it a few more listens to wrap my brain around it. 
   
   
7. "Trio (An Improvisation)": This track features a somber opening by the saxophone. I thoroughly enjoy the bowed bass, it's a sound I greatly enjoy. I love how everyone slowly joins in by ~1:20. It sounds like a forest, or a town starting to wake up. The bass takes on a quiet menacing tone at ~2:50 which brings us to a moment I quite enjoy at ~3:13, it's so dark! There are moments where I'm taken back to Holtz's The Planets, strangely. Perhaps it's not a town or a forest that inspires this piece but the brilliance, darkness, and vastness of our cosmos. The bowed bass at ~5:04 melts my heart with its beauty. I also see in my mind this grand conference between the philosophers of the ages, a long-held debate about humanity while they all struggle to get their words in. Truly a strange yet inspiring piece, and an excellent choice to end the album. 

Overall Thoughts: I quite enjoyed this album, although some tracks lost me periodically. I blame my ear more than anything. The highs were really high, and I loved the journey getting there. Cohesively, I'm thoroughly impressed with how this band performs. 

Info: This album was released in 1983 through the Elektra/Musician record label, and was produced by Don Grolnick. Steps Ahead, at this point, was helmed by the following musicians: Michael Brecker on tenor saxophone, Mike Mainieri on vibraphone, synthesizer vibes, marimba, synthesizer, and percussion, Elaine Elias on piano, Eddie Gomez on bass, and Peter Erskine on drums. 

If you liked this album, you can pick it up here! 

Unleash The Archers - "Legacy"

Photo credit: https://www.facebook.com/UnleashTheArchers/

         Canadian band Unleash The Archers has dropped another track from their new album Abyss which was released through Napalm Records on August 21st, 2020. Unleash The Archers walk a fine line between Progressive Metal, Power Metal, moments of Black Metal and Death Metal, and standard Heavy Metal fare, and they do it skillfully. Forming in 2007, this band hails from Victoria, British Columbia.  The new track is titled "Legacy" and they debuted it with a lyric video through Napalm Record's YouTube channel. 

        "Legacy" opens with this delightful and subdued clean Prog opening with some clean vocal melodies before kicking in the door with a crushing Black Metal-like moment at ~0:29. Shortly after there is some wickedly enjoyable solo full of sweep picking, or an arpeggio synth part. Either way, it's quite excellent. We enter the meat of the song at ~1:14 as the verse/vocals rejoin the music. The mix is excellent, and the dynamic range of the moments leading up to here is impressive. The pre-chorus/chorus moments remind me of moments of mid-career/Retinal Circus Devin Townsend, while still feeling very original to this band. 

        The interlude at ~3:52 takes us back to the opening and provides a nice break from the pummeling pace of this song. Just as quickly, the Black Metal moment returns with a searing solo over it. What's surprising is their ability to switch through these styles without feeling gimmicky, or cut-and-paste in their approach. We return to the standard verse and chorus moments and they bring the song to a close. 

        I do find that I'm pulled out of the musical narrative with the line "No more hiding away in your apex again. Not when your spending your days as a slave is near an end."  It feels weird to hear as a combination of words, and doesn't make much sense as an apex is, according to Merriam-Webster, "the uppermost point, or the highest culminating point." Why would the end of your days as a slave require you to step away from the uppermost point of your life, or your residence, or whatever the term "apex" is supposed to mean here. This, however, is me just being nitpicky. 

Photo credit: https://www.facebook.com/UnleashTheArchers/photos/10156263231301710

        That aside, I think this is a great track. The vocal performance is excellent, the instrumentation is masterful, the mix is honestly great. I think they knocked it out of the park and I look forward to listening to more of their music. If you're stoked about what you hear, you should pick up their album here! If you want to find more of their music, you should hit up your favorite streaming service or check out the Napalm Records YouTube channel found here! 

        Thank you for stopping by, and have a great rest of your Monday folks!