#booker stardrum

[sinceileftyoublog]

SML Interview: The Creative Umbrella

Photo by Joyce Kim

BY JORDAN MAINZER

The origin of one of the finest albums of the year is a now-defunct jazz club/oyster bar in Los Angeles. Well, not just any defunct jazz club/oyster bar: the Enfield Tennis Academy, immortalized on Jeff Parker's Mondays at The Enfield Tennis Academy record from 2022. The venue had become a hotbed for the ever-burgeoning experimental jazz scene in the city; over time, bar regular and studio engineer/producer Bryce Gonzales decided to set up a recording rig in stereo direct to Nagra, so that he could document the sets the nights he happened to be there. Such was the case for supergroup SML and their (sort-of) self-titled debut, Small Medium Large (International Anthem). The band started when guitarist Gregory Uhlmann and synthesist Jeremiah Chiu decided to act on a long-held desire to somehow collaborate. Each brought along some of their frequent collaborators--for Uhlmann, bassist Anna Butterss and saxophonist Josh Johnson, for Chiu, percussionist Booker Stardrum--and the just-formed quintet stepped on stage in October 2022 with one goal in mind: play.

After the members of SML got back the initial recordings from their two-night, two-sets-per-night residency at ETA, they were intrigued enough by the results for a repeat performance. After recording two more nights and four more sets, they realized they had enough material to make something out of it, so each member took recordings back to their home studio to rearrange and edit them into songs. (Cut from the same cloth, the band was heavily inspired by Miles Davis and Teo Macero's sonata form-influenced editing first explored on 1969's fusion masterpiece In A Silent Way.) With chronology tossed to the wayside and segues added, the result is an album that evokes the spontaneity of live performance while remaining a cohesive listen. Opening track "Rubber Tree Dance" is whirring and nostalgic, a smorgasbord of ping-ponging synth, fluttery saxophone, and subtly trickling hi-hats. Lead single "Industry" layers distorted saxophone, driving bass, and rubbery synths over a breakbeat, an appropriately genre-bending track for a band whose player's credits range from Leon Bridges to Lee Ranaldo. And not everything can double as a dancefloor filler: "Switchboard Operations" revolves around a humming drone, while the minute-long "Chasing Brain" is an exercise in maximalism, plucks of stringed instruments buzzing like a mosquito in conjunction with saxophone and stabs of guitar distortion, all over a lightning quick beat.

Rest assured, SML aren't trying to trick you. That is, many of the track titles, some of which started as funny working titles for the songs but stuck, are evocative of what lies beneath them. "Herbie for Commercials" imagines a world where the foremost post-bop bandleader of his generation was instead writing warped jingles, a mixture of garbled polyrhythms that are nonetheless catchy. The sax and drums on "Window Sill Song" indeed patter like rain. "History of Communication" sports interweaving synth lines, some of which sound like birdcalls. And closer "Dolphin Language" is like a slice of Reichian hyper-pop, synth vocalizations panning over shaky percussion and scraggly and disintegrating bass.

Back in June, I spoke with Johnson over the phone, just after SML was announced to play Chicago's inaugural Warm Love Cool Dreams festival at The Salt Shed, which takes place this weekend. At the time I spoke to Johnson, Small Medium Large was set to come out in a week, and the band was going to play two nights at Zebulon in Los Angeles in early July. Though four of the five members live in L.A., the exception Booker, who lives in New York, they don't necessarily practice their material. First and foremost, despite Small Medium Large being coddled together in post-production, improvisation is still a major tenet of the band's records and performances. They also have a long history of playing with each other, in one form or another. "We're all in a community with each other, hanging out and playing each other's music all the time," Johnson said. "There's a continuously collaborative thing happening with all of us. I'll see Greg a couple of times a week, and I'll play on what he's working on and he'll play on what I'm working on. Many members of the band have that relationship internally. That all is kind of baked into the cake."

In between their performance at Zebulon and Sunday, SML won't have played as a quintet since soundcheck. They're also likely not playing their debut album. "Part of the spirit of the thing is, 'Press play, and let's go,'" Johnson said. "That's part of the excitement, the trust of knowing that an interesting and compelling sonic experiment can be created because we trust each other, and we know that'll happen in real time." Wait, press play? Yes, the band is going to record their Salt Shed set. "It feels like it's kind of in our DNA of the band," Johnson said. "If we're gonna play, we should also record. Not necessarily because we're making an album, but as a document to check out later and see what's there to see if there's stuff we can built upon and contribute to the next album."

Tickets are still available to both days of Warm Love Cool Dreams. Go check out SML on Sunday, who play their set at 5:15 PM and back none other than legendary Jamaican dancehall DJ and singer Sister Nancy at 6! And read my conversation with Johnson below, edited for length and clarity.

Since I Left You: How did SML come to be?

Josh Johnson: The catalyst was Greg Uhlmann and Jeremiah Chiu. They had been talking about doing something together with International Anthem, presenting a night of new collaboration at ETA in Los Angeles. I don't know if they had yet played together, but they knew they wanted to do something together at some point, and it seemed like a good opportunity to do so. As they imagined what it might be, they thought of everyone else who is involved in it. Greg, Anna, and I have played a lot of music together, in many different settings over many different years. Jeremiah and Booker have played together a lot. I think they were thinking, "[What'll] it like to put it all together?" We did it once. It was very fresh. There was no conversation about what it was going to look like. It was like, "Let's start and see what happens." The cool thing about it was that Bryce Gonzales was there to record it. There was a feeling of, "We don't know what's gonna happen, but we should probably record this."

SILY: So there were no plans to make this more than a one-time thing, let alone an album. Did you then listen to the first recordings and at that point, think, "We should release this in some form?"

JJ: We did two, two-night residencies. The first one was in October 2022. The experience of playing was like, "Oh wow, there are some really cool moments in here. It feels like an energizing collaboration." We got those recordings back and listened to them and thought, "It would be cool to cultivate this a little bit more, do it again, and see what we're gonna get from that," with having the experience of having done it once. The first time we got back the recordings, it was exciting, and we thought it would be cool to collect a little bit more material and see what we have.

SILY: So it wasn't until after that second residency and all the recordings that you thought it could be a record.

JJ: Yeah. I think we knew there was some special stuff documented. From there, we took all those recordings. Each of these nights ,we played two sets of improvised music, so we thought, "Maybe it's not good to collect anymore and [instead] parse out what we have," take some beautiful moments and expand on what's there. Bryce Gonzales' recording rig grew and developed in that space. He had stuff wired in the room, so if he was free on a night, he'd record a show. Knowing that was a possibility was something we were aware of the whole time, but I don't think we knew we were making a record.

SILY: Does the order of the tracks correspond roughly to the chronological order of the days you played?

JJ: No. As things came together, sequence-wise, I think it was less important to us to document it that way and [instead] make a compelling album. Maybe International Anthem is this way, too, but all of the musicians in [SML] like to think of [records in terms of] Side A/Side B. Song-to-song is important, but the flow of the whole side of the record [is most important]. There are some tracks where you're getting a large chunk of the live energy of the live performance. Some tracks have some editing and overdubs where we're taking stuff from other parts of the recording and figuring out ways to expand what's there.

SILY: I had a feeling it wasn't chronological because there are so many segues, and the album seems cohesive in a way that isn't resulting from pure improvisation. I understand that the final recordings were then taken to your individual home studios. How did you manage to keep the sound of the album so cohesive considering all of you worked on the recordings separately after they were finished?

JJ: We'd each work on something we were drawn to. That was one part of the process. But another stage was coming together: Jeremiah and I would get together, or Jeremiah, Greg, and I would get together, or Jeremiah and Booker [would get together.] It was very collaborative, even in the editing. We'd each add something and would pass it on to the next person.

One of the beautiful limitations of this was that Bryce records straight to stereo, straight to tape. Practically, what that means is we're not dealing with multi-tracks where we can mute or isolate an instrument. It forced us to be really creative. Sonically, there's something already unique about the sound that Bryce captures that's integral to the sound of the record. And the way we approached edits and overdubs, we tried to preserve the spirit of what happened, really thinking about augmenting or connecting things more than masking the fact that it's live. Like on a lot of records, you're working on parts individually, but as the direction and specificity of the vibe becomes clear as more gets finished, then you start to see how the parts are inter-connected, and that influences how you proceed with the rest of it. The way it was recorded definitely helps, but the fact that the improvised recordings are featuring everyone being themselves, already, people's voices as arrangers, orchestrators, and editors is not disconnected from what's already documented in the recordings.

SILY: I like how the second-to-last song, "Greg's Melody", is the first time you can actually hear an audience clapping. It grounds you. If you didn't pay attention to the context of the album--and not every listener will--you might not know this was recorded in front of an audience until then.

JJ: We had a conversation about the applause. It felt like a nice reminder: "Hey, this is something that happened in a space with people." It's one of my favorite moments. You're immersed in this world sonically, and then it's like, "Hey, this is live."

SILY: The track titles are provocatively funny. How did you come up with them?

JJ: That's a good question. I think they all came from different people. Jeremiah and Booker were responsible for many of the titles, and some of them were working titles that do have some humor in them, that [Jeremiah and Booker] thought would be changed later but the rest of us really loved. The one specifically [we loved] is "Herbie for Commercials". I think it started as a joke, but it was actually perfect. It captures something. It speaks to the vibe in a way that is actually very clear to me. But the titles came after the music. A lot of these songs changed a lot. There are many different versions of them. There are times people work from a title, but for us, [titles are] not necessarily descriptive, always, but what are the things it evokes.

SILY: "Herbie" is just over a minute of music, and I suppose you could think that if in an alternate universe, Herbie Hancock was hired to write commercials, it could sound like that song.

JJ: Mhm. It's playful.

SILY: How did you come up with the band name?

JJ: Being in a band can be fraught. It's challenging. We had a shared Google Doc where everybody would contribute different ideas, and ones we liked would get more focus. Small Medium Large came from the feeling of a collective. Also, the idea that this thing is something that can expand and contract. There were a few nights it wasn't all of us recording at the same time, and we added pieces after the fact. We landed on the band name, and it spoke to the nature that it's a creative umbrella, and even if it takes slightly different forms, it's a collective spirit. It's compelling.

SILY: Why did you decide to make "Industry" and "Three Over Steel" the singles? Was there something about them exemplary of the album as a whole?

JJ: Good question. It's challenging to know what you're going to accomplish with the singles, but those two have some sort of magnetism, something that draws you in. I don't know if I can describe them as accessible, but there are many different access points. They have something sonically that's somewhat familiar but really different from this particular combination of instruments. They have an undeniability to their experimental nature and [a quality] that can make you want to dance but is not overly sweet. There's edge and a rawness to them. Both of those tracks feel very alive. They also have the quality of, for a while, [songs that] could be a studio recording, but you're kind of dropped into [that moment where you think], "This is definitely live." There's forward motion.

SILY: Was the band involved at all in the making of the "Three Over Steel" video?

JJ: That video was made by Miranda Javid, Booker's partner. She's an amazing artist. Miranda had already done the artwork, which we really loved, and is an incredible animator. I think there was a prompt from Jeremiah; I think Jeremiah was ultimately involved in some edits of the video. We're all fans of Miranda, like, "Please, do your thing," and her and Jeremiah sat and refined it. It was a unanimous yes.

SILY: Did the cover art have the same process?

JJ: Absolutely.

SILY: Would you ever appear in public as SML if it was anything other than the five of you playing?

JJ: There's a minimum number of core member for it to be under the umbrella, but within that, there's room to contract and expand.

SILY: Whether in L.A. or Chicago, International Anthem has roots in both places, so why wouldn't you leave the door open?

JJ: There are so many friends, incredible musicians, and artists who are like-minded who we know should hop in and join the fold.

SILY: What's next for you in the short or long term?

JJ: I put out a solo record in April, so I've been doing a lot of solo shows. It's a similar sonic world to what's documented on the SML record, but expanded. I also do a lot of playing with other people. Greg and I are working on a record which will probably be released in 2025.

SILY: Is there anything you've been listening to, watching, or reading that's caught your attention?

JJ: I'm reading an autobiography of Henry Threadgill called Easily Slip Into Another World. It's very inspiring. It's part autobiography, but you get a lot of insight into his life and Chicago and New York creative music. It's an inspiring and interesting read even if you're not particularly familiar with his music. He's also kind of documenting community in a way that's really inspiring for me. You get to see the tributaries and the ways in which these creative practices are interconnected. It feels very connected to the spirit of what's happening on International Anthem and [with] this band right now.

Music-wise, I'm always listening to these compilations, Akora Radio, field recordings from different parts of the world. There's a collection of [music from] Burundi I find myself returning to very often. I'm really interested in how repetition functions in that music. I wouldn't say it's quite trance, but [it employs] artful use of repetition to take you somewhere and put you in a space. I'm often thinking about that. I'm listening and thinking about how you can establish direction through duration. That's part of what we get to explore in live performance. You get to a place, but how do you stay there? How do you keep people there? When you're in repetition, there's a moment where you think, "Okay, this is still happening. Then you push past that point, and you settle and think, "We're gonna be here for a while," it's a whole different experience that's fascinating to me.

SILY: On this album, you have some songs like "Feed the Birds" that pass the six-minute mark, but a lot of them are short. With this type of music, you don't often see these short little songs written the same way someone might write a perfect pop song. But "Herbie for Commercials" is a little taste that says all it needs to say. "Chasing Brain", too.

JJ: I appreciate that. I don't know. It's different than people liking short songs because of an attention span reason. It's side A/side B, what's the flow of the record? What kind of space are you trying to help people move through.

SILY: It's clear to me that the track lengths on here are of ultimate service to that idea. I was more commenting on how in this type of music, I rarely hear an idea communicated so briefly yet so effectively.

JJ: One of the things in edits that Jeremiah's really good at is being ruthless: hard start, hard end. Just a strong statement, then we're out. I think it's a different endeavor and skill to make something short but also feel complete.

SILY: Is there anything I haven't asked about that you want to say about the album?

JJ: I feel proud of it as a document of overlapping scenes. [When making the album,] we never talked about what we were going to do, as in, "It's gonna sound like this with these references." It feels like a very truthful collaboration in that way. "Here's a bunch of people with a unique point of view doing what they want to do in the moment and reacting to each other." You can do that, and all the elements don't always work together, but what feels special about this is everyone being themselves and a collective.

[burlveneer-music]

Peni Candra Rini - Wani - you are unlikely to hear a better gamelan/rock crossover album than this one!

Peni Candra Rini (she/her), the Indonesian composer and performer whose musical practice encompasses a wide range of traditional and experimental Javanese styles mixed with western instrumentation, releases her second album of 2024. Wani is full of playful noise, rambunctious energy, and a deep sense of the unexpected. The album was created by giving the recorded musicians “very basic outlines” of the songs, improvising around those frameworks in the studio, and giving producers John Dieterich (Deerhoof, Mary Halvorson, Sufjan Stevens, Booker Stardrum) and Chris Botta (Yaeji, Emily Wells, the JACK Quartet, Valee, Shahzad Ismaily) “free reign to produce the tracks as they liked.” The result is a loud, fun, chaotic, energizing, and mesmerizing collection of songs that explore themes from traditional Javanese art, scripture, politics, shadow play, and song. Peni Candra Rini: voice Satomi Matzusaki: voice Jessica Zike: voice Andy McGraw: drums, pin-pia, percussion, cak, cuk, celeste, gamelan, harpsichord Hannah Standiford: cak Clover Dosier: cuk Robert Andrew Scott: fiddle Brian Larson: percussion Nat Quick: guitar, ukulele Gary Kalar: guitar Curt Sydnor: keyboards Brandon Simmons: flute John Priestley: bass, gongs Joanne Kong: harpsichord Putu Hiranmayena: gamelan I Gusti Putu Sudarta: voice Taylor Burton: gamelan Nicholas Merillat: gamelan Justin Alexander: drums Scott Clark: drums

[doomandgloomfromthetomb]

SML - Small Medium Large

Regrets, I've had a few — and one of the more recent regrets is missing SML at Zebulon the last time I was out in Los Angeles. Just couldn't make it happen! Somehow, life goes on. And at least we've got SML's insanely good debut LP. Who the hell is SML? They're a supergroup of sorts — bassist Anna Butterss, synthesist Jeremiah Chiu, saxophonist Josh Johnson, percussionist Booker Stardrum, and guitarist Gregory Uhlmann. Small Medium Large sees this stellar quintet coming together at the recently shuttered Enfield Tennis Academy nightclub in Highland Park for a series of mindbending improvs that have been expertly edited down, Teo Macero-style, into bite-sized form. The result sounds something like Ornette Coleman's Prime Time band filtered through the beat science of J Dilla; extremely groovy, extremely experimental, extremely nice.

[losangeleslovesyou]

LISEL + BOOKER STARDRUM : IN THE DOME

[dontmeanmaybe]

hear @takako_minekawa sing, @g.wingfield_ play saxophone and @bookerstardrum on percussion today, july 25, 2019! @levitt.la 7 pm! free! they perform @paulinelay’s 5:4:1, a composition for 5 horns, 4 voices, 1 percussion.

[mxdwn]

Album Review: Booker Stardrum - CRATER

https://music.mxdwn.com/2021/07/18/reviews/album-review-booker-stardrum-crater/

[zaphmann]

In Memory of John Peel Show 210430 Podcast & Playlist

In Memory of John Peel Show 210430 Podcast & Playlist

Kevin Coyne “Not your normal piss weak indie or trying to be weird but not really weird at all stuff ,so enamoured by many” >>> the best new music, independent of the industry system – back this show on patreon Paypal to zaph@zaphmann.com heard in over 90 countries via independent stations  https://radiopublic.com/in-memory-of-john-peel-show-6nVPd6/ (RSS)Pod-Subscribe for free here or…

[artwalktv]

What is liberation when so much has already been taken? Who has come for more? "Golden Jubilee", the third film in a series of works about memory, diaspora and decoloniality, takes as its starting point scenes of the filmmaker’s father navigating a virtual rendering of their ancestral home in Goa, India, created using the same technologies of surveillance that mining companies use to map locations for iron ore in the region. A tool for extraction and exploitation becomes a method for preservation. The father, sparked by a memory of an encounter as a child, inhabits the voice of a spirit known locally as Devchar, whose task is to protect the workers, farmers, and the once communal lands of Goa. Protection from what the filmmaker asks? Sanzgiri’s signature blend of 16mm sequences, 3D renders, direct animation, and desktop aesthetics are vividly employed in this lush, and ghostly look at questions of heritage, culture, and the remnants of history. Director, Producer, Editor, 16mm film & Additional Animation: Suneil Sanzgiri Director of Photography & Photogrametry: Sumedh Sawant Assistant Cameraman: Rushikesh Hande Drone Videography: Chirag Sadhnani Visual Effects Supervisior: Karan Taley Original soundtrack composed by Amirtha Kidambi & Booker Stardrum Performed by Amirtha Kidambi, Booker Stardrum, Angela Morris, and Nathaniel Morgan Devchar Narration & Interviews: Shashi Sanzgiri Additional Interviews: Shaliu Sanzgiri Translation: Tanvi Sanzgiri

[pushermania]

(Pushermania Network)

Enjoy the musical mess that is ALL MUSIC IS WORLD MUSIC with Matt Sonzala. Numba 10 we done made it. Like, share, subscribe, love, live, etc.

Tracklist:

Booker Stardrum - Walking Through Still Air AADM Our Hatley - Let's Go Outside and Hit This Kohsuke Mine - Bar 'L' Len Theon Cross - We Go Again

Ali Ditto - There's Always Gonna Be Another Woman Eimaral Sol - Care 2 Much ft. Jay Wile Eimaral Sol - Taste ft. Dontaskgen Park Hye Jin - Let's Sing Let's Dance Cecilia - Neige Little Simz - Woman ft. Cleo Soul Haviah Mighty - Protest ft. Yizzy

Shad - Out of Touch Common - Imagine ft. PJ Evidence, Conway the Machine - Moving On Up Devin the Dude - Nothing Really Just Chillin' Alboroosie, Collie Budz - Ginal Pachyman - Big Energy

The Point - Lone Star Intro The Point - This Is It The Point - Bobby

Lukas Koenig - Particles God Is War - Rollin' Through Your Hood Looking For You Diana Azzuz - A Very Touchy Spot Illuminati Hotties - MMMOOOAAAYAYAYA

Quantic & Nidia Gongora - Balada Borracha Melvin Gibbs - Get Some Sons of the Sun - Underwater Dreaming

[sinceileftyoublog]

Ilgenfritz, Chase, & Lee: An Unending Sense of Time

James Ilgenfritz, Brian Chase, Robbie Lee; Photo by Federico Garcia De Castro

BY JORDAN MAINZER

When free jazz heavyweights and longtime admirers of each other James Ilgenfritz (bass), Brian Chase (drums), and Robbie Lee (woodwinds) were booked to play an improvisational set, they practiced the best way they knew how: by recording. The result of this pre-pandemic practice session sees the light of day on November 5th. Loss And Gain (Infrequent Seams) is an open improv album that uses compositions as sketches for time-bending expressions. Over its 11 tracks, the players trade qualities and timbres, each one taking a turn toying with your expectations. Off-kilter woodwinds highlight opener “first time (before)”, while queasy bass plays the same role on “bridge - difference”. “fragile” sees Chase’s clattering drum sticks take on natural characteristics, while the panning cymbals of “holding tight” along with palpitating woodwind are honestly closer in spirit to electronic composition than anything else on the album.

Ilgenfritz chose another outlier, “no answer”, as the album’s first single, with leading woodwinds and drums and bass that emulate each other’s movements; it’s the most forward-charging song on the record. The second single “happening”, debuting today, is similar to “no answer” only in that it, too, uses just intonation, but its calm mood is a total contrast. Earlier this month, I spoke with Chase over the phone about the making of the record, how he’d describe its moods, and the idea of thoughtful listening. Read our conversation below, edited for length and clarity.

Since I Left You: The three of you have known each other for a while. Was there a moment you can pinpoint you decided to make a record?

Brian Chase: The motivation for making the record actually came out of a means to prepare for a concert. Since our music is largely improvised, there’s no music to practice, necessarily. The only thing to practice is the process of improvising. We figured, what better way to practice than to record? The studio is a time when the spotlight is on. It’s like, “Okay, the mics are recording. We have to take this seriously.” The intention is deep, and there’s the opportunity to be critical about the material. The combination of those two factors made recording seem like a good idea.

SILY: Did you end up playing that concert?

BC: Yeah, it was before the pandemic. A lot of the post-production came together during the pandemic.

SILY: Have the three of you played together as a trio since?

BC: We did a bunch of concerts previously and a short tour in 2019. James and I played together once this past June. Aside from that, it’s been email exchanges.

SILY: Is the sequence of the record the same sequence in which you played and recorded the tracks for the first time?

BC: That’s a good question. It’s not. After assembling all the material and content, it felt like this sequence generated the best flow as a unit. That’s how I feel after listening to the record. Each song is independent, but the whole album gives a feel. Its own zone. That’s a mood we’re going for.

SILY: Are there one or two other words you would use to describe the mood of the record?

BC: I’d say introspective and delicate. 

SILY: Do these tracks have certain timbres or sounds that you normally associate with introspection and delicacy?

BC: Yes and no. I’ll say largely yes. A lot of the playing and performance is determined by an intention of thoughtful listening, and those are a lot of the sounds that come out of the instruments. We do go into realms that can be a little distorted or grainy at times, but those are less the case.

SILY: I found it interesting you chose to have “No Answer” as the first taste of the record. It’s a little bit of an outlier in terms of how active it is.

BC: That’s a good observation. James chose it as the first single, and I don’t really know what he was thinking. [laughs] Maybe because it is so different.

SILY: Is the division of compositions on the record pretty equal between the three of you?

BC: Yeah. Pretty much. To have actual compositions is kind of a rarity, but it will be more so the case with the group. And all the compositions straddle the line between composition and improvisation, which is fun. It’s a great way to present the strengths of the group, which is all of our characters together, but also give us a little frame with which to present it. The compositions are considered secondary to the improvisational nature.

SILY: Do you think the fact that the compositions exist makes it easier to play this material in a live setting?

BC: Definitely. Without a doubt.

SILY: Is playing live in the works at all?

BC: James presented it as an option in December, because he does a biannual festival for his label Infrequent Seams, and he suggested the group play for that. 

The first time he did it was winter of last year, when everything was online, and it actually got a big writeup in Wire. All the artists really took advantage of the prerecorded and video nature of the event. They kind of made all of their segments very special and customized for the format. It was pretty cool.

SILY: The most successful livestreams I watched didn’t pretend it was a live show; they took advantage of the fact that there was a camera that could do fun things.

BC: Exactly. The novelty of a crappy recording in their bedroom is fun for a little bit, but then it’s like, “Alright...”

SILY: It was almost at times a little too intimate.

BC: Right.

SILY: Sometimes, on these tracks, when your drums are by themselves, like on “Fragile”, they have a very relaxing quality to them. Almost ASMR-like. Is that something you were aware of or going for?

BC: Yeah, I think so. Maybe not so directly intentionally, but that mood you described is probably what I am going for. That track has the stick rumblings. I’m tossing drum sticks back and forth in my hands. It almost sounds like water dripping. 

Loss And Gain album cover; design by Dustin Krcatovich

SILY: Do you have a favorite track on this record?

BC: “Holding Tight”.

SILY: The woodwinds on there are almost palpitating, and your cymbals pan.

BC: Yeah. There’s a character of the group I really love. I love the attention it pays to detail. [What allowed us to pay]] such close attention is that it was a very relaxed mood, to listen that deeply and carefully. It can very rarely happen. Strong emotions can prevent the focus that’s required to concentrate on an object. Especially in working with other people. We have to be very sensitive and responsive to one another. What we’re focusing on is the minutiae of each other person’s sound, to be attentive and dedicated to one another. You have to listen carefully. I really appreciate the mood that’s generated by those characteristics and quality of that careful listening. It’s not found too often, and that’s sort of the challenge of the music. It requires the listener to get into that space, or else the relevant information is missed, not absorbed. People are accustomed to listening to music that comes at the listener, forward-driven. That’s great, but at the same time, it’s almost like a drug in the sense that it encourages listening habits that reinforce themselves. It makes it more difficult for a listener to slow down and tune into music that requires deeper attention. With this album, what makes it special is that it requires the listener to listen carefully to follow what’s meaningful in it.

Because most of the music is improvised, the way that it gets created is through the thought patterns of the players. As the listener, to derive meaning is in part to get tuned into the thought patterns of the performers. To understand how we were responding to one another and why. What we’re listening to and how we create the music based on how we’re listening. Once the listener can tap into that thought process, it really becomes a magical thing.

SILY: Can you tell me about why you chose just intonation for two of the tracks?

BC: The key to just intonation is the value you place on sonic detail. The main point of it is the precise relationship between frequencies. That translates into a sense of vibration and the relationship between vibrations. That’s kind of what we’re going for as improvisers, to tap into each other’s vibrations on a very physical level, to feel and understand the tones being presented and lock in very precisely with those tones. Just intonation provides a great framework for that type of improvising.

SILY: Did the title track come before the album title, or vice versa? What does the title mean to you?

BC: I guess for me, it means a sense of before and after. Before this one event, things were like this, and after this event, things were like that. At the same time, it also indicates the event itself as its own entity. At any point of those three stages, someone could identify his or her own position. “I’m either in this stage of before or after or being right in it--the event itself.” For this album, we’re hovering in all of those states at the same time. It describes the nature of improvisation. An unending sense of time, continually linked. The present moment never gets solidified. It keeps on rolling. At the same time, each instance of the present can be meaningful in itself. That turns into the music.

SILY: How did you come up with the track titles?

BC: A lot of describing events in relation to the music itself, and how from the time of the recording to the time of it being finished, there was a lot that changed around us. Sort of feeling like we’re in the midst of times that keep unfolding and rolling forward and changing. The music itself came about under different circumstances while events changed around it, but the music never changed. There’s a sense that looking into the future, things will keep changing as well. We don’t know what those circumstances are, necessarily. Feeling like floating--we’re constantly shifting events, and here we are in the middle trying to make music in the midst of it.

That’s the conceptual inspiration for the titles. The way they were actually derived was from listening to the music and writing a bunch of sentences or a short paragraph--more like stream of consciousness-based on each song. From that, the titles were extracted.

SILY: Do you remember the specific circumstances surrounding naming “wwwbwwwwb - in between”?

BC: Oh, right. I think those were initials from a string of words that started with those letters. [laughs] The pattern looked really cool. 

SILY: What else is next for this trio or yourself in the short and long-term future?

BC: Hopefully, we get to do that show in December. It would be great to play more, without a doubt. Hopefully in the spring, we’ll get to promote this record more in person or feel more confident to do that. James is in California doing a PhD at University of California Irvine, which makes it more difficult to play. He keeps making trips back to New York, so we’re temporarily unavailable until he finishes his PhD. But we’ll take advantage of those opportunities to play when we can.

The good thing about the three of us is we all have record labels. We’re still pretty active in the community on that side of things. We’ll probably use our respective labels to keep promoting this music and what we do.

I have a handful of local gigs coming up. Keepin’ staying busy and putting out music. Hopefully we can come to Chicago for a show at Constellation.

SILY: Anything you’ve been listening to, watching, or reading lately that’s caught your attention?

BC: The first thing that comes to mind is the The Great British Baking Show. I’ve been watching it with my wife. There’s an album by drummer Booker Stardrum that I really like. There’s the John Zorn's Bagatelles box set that came out in the spring. It’s 4 CDs and all really incredible. It takes a lot to absorb. I’ve been listening to a lot of Zorn music. He has a CD of piano etudes that’s totally unbelievable.

Loss And Gain by James Ilgenfritz, Brian Chase, Robbie Lee

[awhirr]

Lisel + Booker Stardrum - I Am Not Ready To Go

[unobstructedspace]

The World is a Loud Place (2017) by Landlady Grow-fi | rock | prog-pop | pop originally released on Hometapes 6.0

[egirl-itachi]

me on my daily depression walk, blasting music that sounds like pots and pans banging together:

[losangeleslovesyou]

LISEL + BOOKER STARDRUM : FOR A WHILE

[givetimsomerest]

Der Monat Dezember

Erwähnenswerte EPs Self Defense Family - Working People (Part 1) Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy / Naked Shortsellers - Split

Neue Singles Jessica Pratt - „Poly Blue“ 06.12. Steve Gunn - „Stonehurst Cowboy“ Anna von Hausswolff - „The Optimist“ Money Boy - „Drip Juice“ These New Puritans - „Into the Fire“ (Mick the Asbestos Remix) Thee Visitors - „Aries Spirit Gun“ Maurice Louca - „The Leper“ Die Goldenen Zitronen - „Nützliche Katastrophen“ Guided By Voices - „My Future In Barcelona“ William Tyler - „Call Me When I’m Breathing Again“ Xiu Xiu - „Scisssssssors“

Meistgehört Blue Chemise - Daughters of Time Male - Zensur & Zensur C.H.E.W. - Feeding Frenzy Khruangbin - Con Todo El Mundo Lucrecia Dalt - Anticline

Besuchte Konzerte 08.12. Male at Zakk, Düsseldorf 15.12. Samuel Mielke at L, Köln 29.12. Tomoko Sauvage + Dave Phillips at Kulturaufbesserungswerk, Leverkusen

Sonstig konsumierte Medien, besuchte Orte etc. Abtei Königsmünster Regulate - In the Promise of Another Tomorrow Adventsmarkt Königsmünster Abtei-Gaststätte Königsmünster Angel Du$t - Xtra Raw Axe to Grindcast, Ep 43-45, 48-49 Axe to Grindcast, Patreon Ep 15-16 Oase Königsmünster Weihnachtsmarkt Düsseldorf Fleischfrei Düsseldorf Groß St. Martin, Köln Nouwen, Ich hörte auf die Stille (Juni) Regula Benedicti 54-73 Studienbuch AT (Kapitel 19, 23-25) Hohelied 1-8 Agape, Agape playlist Franziskus, Vater unser Vegan Revolution Köln Baruch 5,1-9 Philipper 1,4-6.8-11 Lukas 1-2; 3,1-6 St. Peter, Köln Ehrenfeld Oren Ambarchi / Jim O’Rourke / U-zhaan - Hence Ian William Craig - Thresholder Anna von Hausswolff - Dead Magic Weihnachtsmarkt Körnerstraße Köln Metabolismus - Don’t Low Up to the Amped Buenaes Astral Traveling playlist Liste 2018 playlist Shit and Shine - Bad Vibes Jesaja 40,1-11 Matthäus 18,12-14 St. Barbara, Köln Psalm 139 Gregor der Große, Dialoge II 12-21 Marktkapelle, Köln Ehrenfeld Santigold - I Don’t Like: The Gold Fire Sessions St. Joseph, Köln Muslimgauze - ZUL’M Miral (2010) Muslimgauze - Al Jar Zia Audio Lahoud Köln Departed (2006) Tarawangsawelas - Wanci Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells The Returned (2013) The House That Jack Built (2018) Workin’ for the Clampdown: Best of the Clash playlist Jenseits des Krieges (1996) Chill_Pills playlist Detroit (2017) St. Elisabeth, Düsseldorf Divan Düsseldorf sass playlist Human Range (2018 Recap) playlist Szun Waves - New Hymn to Freedom Gazelle Twin - Pastoral Booker Stardrum - Temporary etc. Corsano/Orcutt - Brace Up! The Hirs Collective - Friends. Lovers. Favorites Objekt - Cocoon Crush Jan Jelinek - Zwischen Physique - Punk Life Is Shit Ekulu - self-titled Park Jiha - Philos Erik Griswold - Yokohama Flowers Gespr. Pfr. Mensebach Jacob Bro - Bay of Rainbows thesinsofmyouth.de

[noloveforned]

we're back with our regular show on wlur tonight at 8pm. it'll be followed by the three hour jaimie branch special from last week at 10pm or you can check it out below at your convenience.

no love for ned on wlur – august 26th, 2022 from 7-10pm

artist // track // album // label jaimie branch // theme one // fly or die // international anthem ashley henry featuring makaya mccraven // dark honey (4thestorm) // beautiful vinyl hunter // sony classical frank rosaly // sinking slower, deeper/my sweet sparrow at the bottom of the ocean // viscous // molk ig henneman, jaimie branch and anne la berge // gigging // dropping stuff and other folk songs // relative pitch never enough hope // a gift // the gift economy // contraphonic eli winter featuring jaimie branch // dayenu // eli winter // three lobed christopher parker and the band of guardian angels // morning ritual // soul food // mahakala music who cares how long you sink // a glance shifts // folk forms evaporate big sky // sundmagi tommaso cappellato featuring jaimie branch and val jeanty // the elite // pioneered // domanda music princess princess // hideout one // a princess princess compendium // (self-released) belle orchestre // the gaze // as seen through windows // arts and crafts jeremy cunningham feat. makaya mccraven, mikel patrick avery, mike reed and jaimie branch // all i know // the weather up there // northern spy james brandon lewis // escape nostalgic prisons // an unruly manifesto // relative pitch tusker // triogg // tusker ep // (self-released) mofaya! // wake up! // like one long dream // trost medicine singers featuing yonatan got and jaimie branch // sanctuary // medicine singers // joyful noise dave gisler trio with david murray and jaimie branch // what goes up... // see you out there // intakt party knüllers and jaimie branch // until next time // party knüllers and jaimie branch at the casa // (self-released quin kirchner, daniel van duerm and matthew lux featuring jaimie branch // peaceable // kvl, volume one // astral spirits booker stardrum featuring jaimie branch // walking through still air // crater // nna tapes anteloper // delfin rosado // pink dolphins // international anthem jason nazary featuring jaimie branch and matt mitchell // dust moths // spring collection // we jazz rob mazurek and exploding star orchestra // parable three thousand (we all come from somewhere else) // dimensional stardust // international anthem predella group // dust town (for william eggleston) // strade d'acqua // multikulti project chris welcome // beyond all things (excerpt) // beyond all things // gaucimusic keefe jackson's project project // just like this // just like this // delmark jaimie branch // prayer for amerikkka, pt. 1 and 2 // fly or die ii: bird dogs of paradise // international anthem