Abstract Index playlist Mar 15/06

Aaah yeah! Kieran Hebden and Steve Reid's "Exchange Session Vol. 1" has been rocking my headphones recently. This CD dares you get up with it. Both Reid and Hebden are well matched, having first collaborated on Reid's Spirit Walk. Reid's eternal deconstruction of near no-wave drum grooves are well matched with Hebden's pulsating blend of new thing jazz references and savage processing. The energy level is way, way up here and it made for a nice segue from the Full Metal Revolutionary Jazz Ensemble. The incredible trumpet work on that track was courtesy of the late great Raphe Malik, who died Mar 8.

I must admit, and it should be obvious to regular listeners, that I like "exciting" improv. My tastes often run to music with overwhelming information, whether it's excessive dub, crazed electronic manipulation, jigsawed polyrhythms or furious free improv (or all four at once). I always get a get a tremendous physical and mental response to music with these stimuli. I have fond memories of going to the Victoriaville festival 16 years ago, partying non-stop for 4 days, then hooting and hollering at Henry Threadgill's Very Very Circus and Noma which exhibit at least two, two and a half of those "fun points". Of course, I have come to appreciate less frenetic forms of improv - like Mujician, for instance, which came up during the second half of the show. Mike Hansen, who recently left campus radio station CKLN after 22 years, and now does a podcast at c3r.ca has pointed me towards a lot of less frenetic improv over the years, and certainly the Rat-Drifting label (see below) seems to have found a third way between calm and stormy. Nevertheless, between the first three tracks of last week's show (the third being a live recording of my 'lectronics from years past with partner in combustion Nick Holmes), the on-air monitors were screaming for mercy.

passport to freedom - full metal revolutionary jazz ensemble (fmrje)
morning prayer - kieran hebden and steve reid (domino)
underwire - combustion lente (bubble one)
fenetres - brain damage feat. mohammed amraoui (jarring effects)
a divine image - sound directions (stones throw)
tema dos deuses - som imaginario (rev-ola)
dracula simon - anga (nonesuch)
nothing but human nature - alexis baro (groove united)
kompa - chris speed (songlines)
daichovo - storesveit nix noites (bubblecore)
track 1 - rozasia (independent)
jangylyk - tengir too (smithsonian folkways)
stop giving your children standardized tests part one - laura barrett (independent)
exquisitely woven spritual communication track 13 - mujician (cuneiform)
20 - beans with william parker and hamid drake (thirsty ear)
black box disco - vortex ost (soul jazz)
cosmic dust - sharon bailey (salsoul)
reasons - nomo (ubiquity)
puppy fat - diesler (tru thoughts)
confide in dub - boogiewall soundsystem rmx. by mad professor (ohm grown)
dub ites green and gold - prince jammy/johnny clarke (blood and fire)
u man dub - improvisators dub meets high tone (jarring effects)
gatyeni - teba (out here)