The Squid's Ear
Recently @ Squidco:

Peter Evans (Evans / Eldh / Black):
Extra [VINYL] (We Jazz)

An exhilarating trio with bassist Petter Eldh and drummer Jim Black, recorded in Lisbon in 2023, capturing inventive synergy across eight original compositions by Peter Evans, ranging from the fiery intensity of "Freaks" and "Boom" to the surprising twists of "The Lighthouse", as their close-knit rapport fuels rhythmic depth and jaw-dropping improvisation. ... Click to View


Joe McPhee:
Straight Up, Without Wings [BOOK] (Corbett vs. Dempsey)

Joe McPhee recounts his journey from his formative years and time in the army to his evolution as a creative free jazz saxophonist and trumpeter, sharing experiences and encounters with artists such as Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, Albert Ayler, Peter Brötzmann, and Pauline Oliveros; featuring a foreword by Fred Moten and an afterword by Moor Mother. ... Click to View


Duck Baker:
Breakdown Lane: Free Solos & Duos 1976-1998 (ESP)

A collection of fourteen solo guitar pieces and two duos with Eugene Chadbourne, this album features works by Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington (Take the 'A' Train), Thelonious Monk (Straight, No Chaser), and Ornette Coleman (Peace), drawn from live performances and demo sessions recorded between 1976 and 1998, showcasing Baker's impressive range, unique fingerstyle, and mastery of diverse moods and styles. ... Click to View


Barry Guy / Ken Vandermark:
Occasional Poems [2 CDs] (Not Two)

Capturing an exciting and cohesive live performance at Krakow's Alchemia club, documenting the first duo encounter between Chicago reedist Ken Vandermark and UK bassist Barry Guy, in nine spontaneous duets and soliloquies; Guy's dynamic bass explorations and Vandermark's versatility converge in an inspired interplay of rhythmic energy, textural innovation, and lyrical intensity. ... Click to View


Thollem McDonas :
Infinite-Sum Game (ESP)

Recording live in Palermo, Sicilia at Sala Perriera, Thollem McDonas' performance reflects a lifelong, genre-bending exploration of music, influenced by classical training, cultural diversity, and global experiences, blending classical, jazz, and punk into an omni-idiomatic dialogue; honoring the revolutionary spirit of the past while responding to the dynamics of our time. ... Click to View


Francisco Mela and Shinya Lin:
Motions Vol. 2 (577 Records)

The second volume from extraordinary New York drummer Francisco Mela and Taiwan-born pianist Shinya Lin, now based in NY, presents Parts 3 & 4 of their extended collective improvisations, showcasing joyful interplay and complex interweaving of keys and drums, enhanced by Lin's percussive preparations and Mela's vocal exclamations, delivering an upbeat and intricately exuberant encounter. ... Click to View


Novoa / Carter / Mela Trio:
Vol.1 [VINYL] (577 Records)

Brooklyn-based Eva Novoa's new trio with sax legend Daniel Carter and drummer Francisco Mela debuts with their first volume, featuring compositions inspired by the four elements — earth, wind, fire, and water — and a Cuban piece, blending Novoa's piano, Fender Rhodes, electric harpsichord, and gongs with Carter's sax and Mela's rhythms for vibrant, free-flowing interplay. ... Click to View


Philip Jeck:
rpm [2 CDs] (Touch)

Collecting work from Philip Jeck's life and collaborations, including projects with Fennesz, Jah Wobble, Faith Coloccia, Gavin Bryars and Chris Watson, including Oxmardyke completed from Watson's recordings, Jana Winderen's pilot whale track, and reflections on Jeck's groundbreaking audiovisual work Vinyl Requiem (1993), showcasing his legacy of innovation in sound and performance. ... Click to View


Rasmus Persson / Lee Noyes :
Ratios (Idealstate Recordings)

The collaboration between sound artists Lee Noyes and Rasmus initiated during their 2021 residency at Elementstudion in Göteborg, blending feedback electronics to explore balance, restraint, and precision; navigating the unpredictability of their instruments, they use improvisation, negative space and perceptual phenomena to develop these fascinating compositions. ... Click to View


Elephant9 :
Mythical River [VINYL] (Rune Grammofon)

Wearing the cloak of 60's pyschedelic organ trios modernized in approach and maturity, this is the 8th album from the Swedish improvising, prog-oriented rock band Elephant9, presenting six new compositions from keyboardist Stale Storlokken (Supersilent, Hedvig Mollestad Weejuns) performed with Nikolai Haengsle on electric bass and Torstein Lofthus on drums. ... Click to View


Moons (Berkson / Cetilia / Porter / Tavolacci):
Moons (Editions Verde)

Moons' debut album features long-time collaborators Judith Berkson, Laura Cetilia, Katie Porter, and Christine Tavolacci, each contributing a composition blending accordion, voice, cello, clarinets, and flutes, with works exploring memory through tunings, divine visions, impermanent graphic scores, and micro-intervals to create dynamic, shifting sonorities and felt-time improvisation. ... Click to View


Novoa / Carter / Mela Trio:
Vol.1 (577 Records)

Brooklyn-based Eva Novoa's new trio with sax legend Daniel Carter and drummer Francisco Mela debuts with their first volume, featuring compositions inspired by the four elements — earth, wind, fire, and water — and a Cuban piece, blending Novoa's piano, Fender Rhodes, electric harpsichord, and gongs with Carter's sax and Mela's rhythms for vibrant, free-flowing interplay. ... Click to View


Falter Bramnk:
Music for Luminous Background (Sublime Retreat)

A new solo project from French composer and improviser Falter Bramnk, exploring glass and crystal as exclusive sound sources, following his "Glassical Music" series; originally conceived for six Muzzix collective musicians, Bramnk reworked and expanded the compositions featuring glass struck, rubbed, blown, and shaken, on select tracks with contributions from Sam Bodart on Crystal Baschet. ... Click to View


Alfredo Monteiro Costa :
Transient Spaces as Impermanent Lines (Sublime Retreat)

Unfolding as a sonic drift through varied sound atmospheres, Alfredo Costa Monteiro's large sonic canvas creates a narrative akin to a psychogeographical wander that evokes emotional states of disorientation; inspired by found footage techniques in cinema, it serves as a "cinema for the ear," where found sounds stripped of context form an immersive, unpredictable auditory journey. ... Click to View


Colin Sheffield Andrew :
Moments Lost (Sublime Retreat)

Debuting at the Molten Plains Festival 2023, Colin Andrew Sheffield's work blends manipulated samples from vintage soundtrack LPs into an abstract plunderphonic symphony; using layered loops, ambient drones, and vinyl surface noise, creating a haunting sonic collage of deconstructed melodies and textures, fusing past and present in a dream-like exploration of hidden secrets and lost moments. ... Click to View


Johnathan Deasy :
Le Sacre (Sublime Retreat)

Unfolding as a deep listening experience with slowly oscillating sine waves created through SuperCollider, Jonathan Deasy's hour-long drone composition blends digital artistry with warmth, evoking orchestral textures reminiscent of processed cello or trombone with ascending and descending notes, creating a dramatic yet slow-moving, dark and spacious soundscape. ... Click to View


Perturbations:
Asymptotic Series (Evil Clown)

Evil Clown's most recent ensemble led by PEK and Joel Simches focuses on trio configurations to highlight Simches' real-time signal processing; this session features PEK, Michael Caglianone, and John Fugarino on horns, auxiliary percussion, and electronics, delivering dynamic transformations across sonorities under the influence of Simches' manipulations. ... Click to View


Turbulence:
Principles of Complementarity (Evil Clown)

Extending the horn section of the Leap of Faith Orchestra and operating independently with varied ensembles under the name Turbulence when horn players dominate, this session saw a planned 9-member Turbulence Orchestra reduced to seven, blending a large horn section, jazz-leaning bass and diverse percussion, delivering a dynamic set exemplifying Evil Clown's broad improvisational palette. ... Click to View


Simulacrum:
Replacing Reality with Representation (Evil Clown)

A Metal Chaos Ensemble offshoot featuring PEK, Eric Woods, and Bob Moores, focuses on heightened electronic elements while omitting drums, typically expanding to larger groups; this quintet session included a rhythm section using extensive instrumental doubling across brass, reeds, percussion, and electronics, resulting in a slower-moving yet richly textured exploration. ... Click to View


Barker / Parker / Irabagon:
Bakunawa [VINYL] (Out Of Your Head Records)

New York creative scene stalwarts drummer Andrew Barker, bassist William Parker, and saxophonist Jon Irabagon debut as a trio, delivering five collectively improvised explorations that emphasize call-and-response dynamics, weaving and reacting with technically impressive, extended, and unconventional techniques and expressions delivered with confident assertion. ... Click to View


Variable Geometry Orchestra:
L'Heure Derniere du Silence (Creative Sources)

L'Heure Dernière du Silence stands as a testament to VGO's ongoing exploration of the interplay between silence and sound, solidifying their position as a leading force in contemporary improvised music as heard in this live recording captured during the cycle "A Hora Derradeira do Silencio" at St. George's Church, in Lisbon, Portugal in 2024. ... Click to View


Erhard Hirt / Klaus Kurvers / Dietrich Petzold:
Weiterbauen (Creative Sources)

The trio of Erhard Hirt, Klaus Kürvers, and Dietrich Petzold defies conventional norms, blending Dobro, electric guitar, double bass, violin, and rare instruments like tenor violin and bowed metal into a compelling exploration of atonality, sonic precision, and playful free improvisation, creating uniquely intricate and shifting soundscapes filled with string excitement. ... Click to View


Kevin Miller / Dan Blake:
At First Light (Creative Sources)

Brooklyn saxophonist Dan Black and guitarist Kevin Miller present a duo album featuring three improvisations using pre-conceived time-based structures, one work using a particular kind of ambience, and an abstract take on a classic jazz tune, all reflecting their years of collaboration and exploration through free improvisation based around jazz standards. ... Click to View


Metal Chaos Ensemble:
One Step Beyond Logic (Evil Clown)

Exploring chaotic metallic rhythms, this ensemble has become one of Evil Clown's most prolific groups, blending gongs, chimes, Tibetan bowls, and horns spanning a dynamic range of sounds, here in a sextet configuration with drummer Steve Niemitz and special guest Chris Alford on guitar, offering a powerful fusion of rock elements within the ensemble's electroacoustic approach. ... Click to View


Michael Attias (Attias / Leibson / Pavolka / Ferber / Hoffman):
Quartet Music Vol. I: LuMiSong (Out Of Your Head Records)

With an ear to detail, Michaël Attias spent a year mixing and refining these four tracks, recorded after a post-pandemic concert at Barbes in Brooklyn, bringing to light four intricately melodic compositions performed with Michael Attias on alto sax, Santiago Leibson on piano & Wurli, Matt Pavolka on bass, Mark Ferber on drums and Christopher Hoffman on cello. ... Click to View


Spaces Unfolding + Pierre Alexandre Tremblay:
Shadow Figures (Bead)

Performing together as Spaces Unfolding since 2021, the trio of Neil Metcalfe on flute, Philipp Wachsmann on violin, and Emil Karlsen on drums expands their initial focus on acoustic exploration, as heard on this debut album, with the addition of Pierre Alexandre Tremblay on electronics, blending acoustic and electronic elements to reflect on the evolving influence of technology in their sound. ... Click to View


Samuel Blaser / Marc Ducret / Peter Bruun:
Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground [VINYL 10-inch] (Blaser Music)

Recorded during their UK tour at Steve Winwood Studio, the Samuel Blaser Trio's with guitarist Marc Ducret and drummer Peter Bruun's 2nd official release is a limited edition 10-inch blue vinyl, featuring a haunting interpretation of Blind Willie Johnson's "Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground" along with original compositions by Blaser and Ducret, ending with a dynamic collective "Jam". ... Click to View


Chris Cundy:
Of All The Common Flowers (Ear To The Ground)

Renowned for his work with Another Timbre and Confront, British bass clarinetist Chris Cundy presents his third solo album, blending contemporary classical elements, improvised sketches, and rhythmic motifs in fourteen captivating vignettes inspired by wildflowers, their fragile habitats, and peripheral landscapes, showcasing a masterful and virtuosic approach. ... Click to View


Rodrigues / Torres / Hencleeday / Santos:
Synopsis (Creative Sources)

Recorded live during the Creative Sources Cycle at Lisbon's Cossoul on May 2, 2024, this collaboration brings together Ernesto Rodrigues (viola, crackle box), Nuno Torres (alto saxophone), Andre Hencleeday (piano), and Carlos Santos (modular synth) in a delicate journey of reductionist improvisation, blending acoustic and electronic textures to craft an intricate, lower-case performance of subtle sonic dialogues and dynamic restraint. ... Click to View


Leap of Faith:
Logical Consequences (Evil Clown)

Originally planned as an Axioms session, this Leap of Faith performance features PEK, Glynis Lomon, Chris Alford, Albey onBass, Vance Provey, Jose Arroyo, and Michael Knoblach, who transformed a dynamic sextet improvisation into a rich exploration of sonorities, blending wind, strings, percussion, and electronics to create a spontaneous, evolving soundscape marked by deep listening and adaptability. ... Click to View



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Op-Ed (Opinions and Editorials)


  The Upside of Dowloading  
by Scott MX Turner

This is what it's come to: A 12-year-old girl in New York was sued by the Recording Industry Association of America, those asswipes, for fileswapping / filesharing / downloading.

The mighty mouthpiece of megacorporate music. Hey, I like that alluring alliteration, so much so I'm gonna upper case it. Those Asswipes, The Mighty Mouthpiece of Megacorporate Music ... suing a 12-year-old for acquiring "If You're Happy And Your Know It, Clap Your Hands" without paying for it.

A fucking campfire song.

As you know, Those Asswipes are suing hundreds of filesharers throughout the land in the belief that free downloads are killing music.

How adorable!

Those Asswipes are on a nostalgia trip, just like the rest of us. They're reliving the good old days of "home taping is killing music," "radio broadcasts are killing music," "recorded music is killing music" and "sheet music is killing music."

They're so cute!

Especially since it's music that's killing music.

More precisely, the music biz that's killing music.

Here's why sales are down so badly that Universal has reduced suggested retail prices by a whopping 30%:

1) CDs are obscenely overpriced;

2) The music biz promotes increasingly smaller numbers of acts of increasingly worse quality;

3) CDs are obscenely overpriced;

4) The biz capriciously switched formats, from vinyl to digital, and now has to lie in the cold and soulless bed it made;

5) CDs are obscenely overpriced;

6) Said format change has reduced fans' appreciation and need for artwork, making downloads a less unattractive alternative;

7) CDs are obscenely overpriced;

8) Politically and culturally conservative Clear Channel is locking up radio stations nationwide, rendering radio itself a wasteland of Lee Greenwood anthems and Timberlakeian pop drivel...the opposite of "limitless possibilities."

9) CDs are obscenely overpriced.

Since I subtly got you thinking about the retail price of today's compact disc, let's have a little look, a little see...

For indie artists like myself, a CD costs $1-2 to manufacture on an order of 1,000 discs - the standard order for most bands issuing their own releases. The larger the pressing order, the cheaper the discs. Indie bands have learned what the major labels haven't: You don't need to blow million$ to make a great album.

Obviously, the Megacorporate Music Labels get much larger bulk discounts on the manufacturing end. They just refuse to pass the savings on to you.

And obviously, Megacorporate Music Labels spend more on one artist's in-store posters than most indie bands make in a year.

They're entitled to the discounts - they do press a lotta discs. But not the immoral expenditures keeping their publicity juggernauts afloat.

Unlike P. Diddy and Sir Elton, indie bands don't generally put a gun to their labels head for overwrought videos, Courvoisier and Lear jets. More to the point, indie labels can't afford it. Major labels should urge spoiled brat superstars to experiment with anatomically impossible solo sex acts, and instead divert the money to signing good bands, getting 'em out on the road, and really bringing down the price of CDs.

Sticking to the basics means better music at cheaper prices.

The Megacorporate Music Labels haven't learned that one just yet, even though screams of "ohmyfuckingGodwe'redoomed!!!" can be heard coursing through the hallways at Bertelsman, AOL Time Warner, Sony, Universal and their megamates.

Now that the expected bumper crop of the analog-to-digital forced march - everyone buying the CD version of Dark Side Of The Moon to replace their vinyl copy - has waned, the big labels are running on fumes. Weirdly, they're only starting to learn how to use the Internet to make money. The biz is like your old, grouchy Uncle Fred, the one who never gets it and won't take anyone's advice.

Then again, how weird can it be when you're dealing with people who couldn't predict the utter ease of counterfeiting and bootlegging digital releases?

As for radio - the free downloading of choice in the '70s, '80s and '90s, thanks to blank cassettes - the Clear Channels are making sure that less, and less imaginative, bands are coming to the forefront. Very few commercial channels are freeform these days. Not the hippie freeform playlists of 20-minute live tracks, but rather djs being allowed to think for themselves ... having the freedom to choose tracks they believe in.

The last remaining bastion of alternative radio, smallpower college stations, are under attack from the FCC, local religious groups, conservative on-campus student organizations, and funding cuts at universities across the land. The FCC periodically makes noise about repealing college stations' exemptions and forcing commercial-standards compliance they can't possibly meet.

Know this: the battle over downloading is the same as any other socio/political/economic struggle in the world today, a war between the haves and the have-nots.

The haves, represented by Those Asswipes,

Here's how most musicians make money these days: live dates, touring and selling merchandise. Record sales are the primary source of income for a small percentage of musicians.

How could they be? The average pre-taxed take for major label musicians on their album sales is 3 to 7 cents on the dollar. If you're in the MetallicaLLCoolJ stratosphere, you're making a lot of money from cds. If you're on any of the lower levels, you simply use cds as portal to earning a living.

Those Asswipes and the Megacorporate Music Biz are gonna have to change their way of thinking, buying, selling and promoting. If they wanna stay in business, they're gonna have to sell cds at fair value prices, prices that support a decent salary for working musicians (whose pay scale must be increased) and trim the fat from label heads and superstar artists (whose pay scales must be slashed). The more radical idea - that times have changed and recorded music now plays a support role to live music, not vice versa - must be embraced, and music labels need to make the shift. It doesn't mean layoffs, it just means learning new modes and skill sets.

And what of the kids? Those sweeties who spend their campus days searching for WiFi hotspots to download music? Are they part of an evil cabal to deprive us musicians the right to earn a living? Do they truly hate Metallica and Dr. Dre and - no! - Those Asswipes? Are they ... are they ... un-American in their refusal to embrace free-market capitalism?

Probably not, since many support bands whose music they download by purchasing t-shirts, concert tickets, books and magazines with their heroes on the cover. A lot of 'em end up buying the albums anyway.

People who download become music fans. Or they already are, and want to expand their horizons. In other words, just the kind of informed consumer Those Asswipes fear. Because the more access music fans have to music, the more support they give to musicians. Downloaders don't sit in front of their computers, gleefully rubbing their hands and churlishly celebrating depriving musicians of a salary. Rather, they're trying to remain music fans in the face of overpriced cds of limited choice.

And that's terrifying to a business controlled by Those Asswipes, their megacorporate clients, and the Clear Channels of the world.

Musicians should be paid a fair wage. We shouldn't have to nickel-and-dime with club owners and record labels who, without us, wouldn't have a pot to piss in. There need to be more organizations like the old Noise Action Coalition, which worked hard to fuse labor activism with the New York downtown scene in order to earn fair pay for musicians on both fronts.

The thing is, downloading and filesharing ultimately aren't about who gets paid, but rather, about new models for the distribution of culture. That, and our increasing independence from the old models, which have stood for exploitation of music workers and condescension toward music buyers.

And if that makes you happy and you know it, clap your hands.



The Squid's Ear presents
reviews about releases
sold at Squidco.com
written by
independent writers.

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Recent Selections @ Squidco:


Barry Guy /
Ken Vandermark:
Occasional Poems
[2 CDs]
(Not Two)



Novoa /
Carter /
Mela Trio:
Vol.1
[VINYL]
(577 Records)



Thollem McDonas:
Infinite-Sum Game
(ESP)



Elephant9:
Mythical River
[VINYL]
(Rune Grammofon)



Peter Evans (
Evans /
Eldh /
Black):
Extra
[VINYL]
(We Jazz)



Duck Baker:
Breakdown Lane:
Free Solos & Duos
1976-1998
(ESP)



Philip Jeck:
rpm
[2 CDs]
(Touch)



Alfredo Monteiro Costa :
Transient Spaces as
Impermanent Lines
(Sublime Retreat)



Falter Bramnk:
Music for
Luminous Background
(Sublime Retreat)



Novoa /
Carter /
Mela Trio:
Vol.1
(577 Records)



Perturbations:
Asymptotic Series
(Evil Clown)



Variable Geometry
Orchestra:
L'Heure Derniere
du Silence
(Creative Sources)



Barker /
Parker /
Irabagon:
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[VINYL]
(Out Of Your Head Records)



Samuel Blaser /
Marc Ducret /
Peter Bruun:
Dark Was The Night,
Cold Was The Ground
[VINYL 10-inch]
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Michael Attias (
Attias /
Leibson /
Pavolka /
Ferber /
Hoffman):
Quartet Music
Vol. I:
LuMiSong
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Chris Cundy:
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Cosa Brava (
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Rob Mazurek Quartet (
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AALY Trio (
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Kenny Warren (
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