mudd up!

[Pont de l'Alma tunnel, Paris. Wikipedia]

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she’s inconsistent, but she’s still alive…

A haunting new song from Anne-James Chaton & Andy Moor. Haunting: presences which do not, cannot leave. Even – especially – after the song ends. Music as quiet constant supplement to the historical record.

she’s in a hotel, a palace, at the Ritz, in Paris…

available now as a 7″ on the Unsounds label!

“During the last few weeks, my friends and family have mistaken the work of Christine Abdelnour Sehnaoui for both a broken air conditioner and a car dying outside my window. I can’t say that I blame them. Her recordings call to mind unoiled hinges, deflating balloons, asthma attacks. This Parisian alto-saxophonist, born 31 years ago to Lebanese émigré parents, plays like music does not exist. When she performs live, Sehnaoui clamps her eyes tightly shut – an expression that speaks to the intensity of focus she applies to her challenging and surprisingly diverse oeuvre. . . Sehnaoui comes from a school of improvised music obsessed with the sonic possibilities of things.”

My article on Christine Abdelnour Sehnaoui for The National is now online. Ordinarily I harbor a strong dislike for the saxophone. But in Christine’s hands, it is pure weird gold. Continue reading.

[photographer: Bjarni Grims. copyright Bedroom Community 2009]

It’s confusing because there are two Ben Frosts – a musician and a visual artist – and they both come from Melbourne. But when I listen to Ben Frost everything makes utter sense. The soundworld explored on his new album, By The Throat, is pretty much perfect. Acoustic instrumental weight in restraint attacked by feral digitals. I couldn’t be happier.

I feel a deep affinity (if not envy!) for what’s happening here. It’s a less mean-spirited version of acoustic/electronic/noise balances I’m working with for the Nettle Shining-in-Dubai Resplandor project, and Frost’s recording quality/production level is SKY-HIGH, sounds stunning. Not sure if the wolf noises have earned their right to be here, but they’re infrequent.

Here’s a song from By The Throat. It starts off pretty then something else happens.

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Ben Frost – Híbakúsja (buyable at Amazon)

I know what your’re thinking: this blog is nice and all, but it’d be better if you could post a 20-minute piece of musique concrete from Iran.

Well, here’s 19 minutes and 5 seconds.

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Alireza Mashayekhi – East-West, Op 45 (1973)

Alireza Mashayekhi is an Iranian composer. He writes troubling ‘philosophy‘ (“the artist should not try to use art as a platform to expound on his social or political opinions”) and makes gripping electroacoustic music.

This piece comes from the excellent 2-CD album, Persian Electronic Music: Yesterday and Today 1966-2006, which devotes one disc to Mashayekhi and another to Ata Ebtekar.

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Ata Ebtekar – Lovaz

‘Lovaz’ has a Fckbuttonsy middle (epic, pretty noise synths for the post-guitar set) bookended by squirggling analog modulation freakouts.