"Improv demands intensive listening, to execute as well as to consume. The most successful engagements reflect a hyperattentiveness among players, where dialogues evolve across waves of restraint, excess and silence. The Northeast circuit is blessed with an expanding cohort of provocative musicians reframing noise, free, experimental, jazz and new composition on their own terms. These fiery performances provide two compelling examples.
Jeff Dragan, Ben Eidson, Caleb Duval (with Mackenzie Kourie on the second set) alternate from grave to playful in building dense sonic architectures. "Stimmy Yum"((EDITORS NOTE: this was sent to gary with a working title, he is refering to theperformance that occured on january 19th of the year 2023.)) commences politely enough only to erupt in hysteric glory halfway through; Duval's bass ostinatos unfold with heightened urgency amid a flurry of coruscating noise as the trio dissolves into a harmonic shimmer. On the Willimantic Records performance, Eidson's brocade of stuttered phonemes align with Kourie's tense cymbal flourishes. His samples stamp out arrhythmic patterns, laced with broken speech both decipherable and not, framed by static bursts from Dragan and Duval. Dragan has a distinct style, extracting musicality from so-called "cold" digital components. The quartet syncs sharply and each player is marked by empathy and alertness. The end results hold up to repeated listenings, and this writer looks forward to more" - gary higgins
((EDITORS NOTE: gary was not sent the first track due to lack of competnece by this here writer, therefore he cannot be blamed for not bessing us with words in these liner notes. i would like to thank you for your cooperation))
the qualities of these here shown recordings have been toyed with to make sure that everything can mostly be heard. this is of course a massive failure and some of the recordings sound like shit. oh well you should've been there you lazy piece of shit.
credits
released March 20, 2023
all tracks:
ben eidson - software electronics
jeff dragan - hardware electronics
caleb duval - electric bass
third track is quartet featuring mackenzie kourie
tracks 1 and 2 mixed/mastered by caleb duval
tracks 3 mixed by garry higgins, mastered by mackenzie kourie
tracks 1 recorded by cosmo gallaro
track 2 recorded by luke rovinsky
track 3 recorded by gary higgins
FatBeth is an experimental gridcore band featuring four (count em, four) members of this special little collective. Volcanic drumming, tortured wails, shrieking guitars. What’s not to like? firstname lastname
A luxurious suite of daydreaming introspection full of soothing instrumental guitar from always-great label A Colourful Storm. Bandcamp New & Notable Jan 29, 2024