Sunny Kim, Vardan Ovsepian, Ben Monder, "Liminal Silence" (Earshift). Shivers. When words -- even the words of William Blake and Rumi -- detract from overall sound, you begin to understand the chemistry vocalist/electronicist Kim, pianist Ovsepian and guitarist Monder have distilled. Especially on "The Totality of Silence," they make you feel you're hearing beyond nothingness -- loudly. The best of this (1,4,6,10) is penetrating, frightening abstraction, framed by Ovsepian so anyone can hear it. Listen/buy here.
Myra Melford's Fire & Water Quintet, "I Hear the Light Singing" (Rogue Art). Love it when a bunch of very distinctive instrumentalists play together without sacrificing any of that individuality. Pianist Melford makes it happen, because at any moment she can open a rocky downhill stream for everyone or create a bridge or a dialogue. You can hear the splinters in Ingrid Laubrock's reeds, feel the passionate resin flying off Tomeka Reid's cello, sense the ghosts in Mary Halvorson's snakebone guitar scrambles. Anything but a timekeeper, Lesley Mok treats her drums as mini-fireworks to illuminate the scene. And we get to witness how much fun they're having. Listen/buy here.
Cunningham/Shiroishi/Ackerley/Smith, "Five Lines Indecipherable." Here's some excellent old-skool avant improv, with violinist Alex Cunningham, alto man Patrick Shiroishi, electric guitarist Jessica Ackerley and upright bassist Damon Smith often disguising their instruments -- shoving stuff around, buzzing, rumbling, and speaking a spark language that will easily connect with listeners who tune to such a station, because the musicians' broadcasts are focused, interconnected and clear. The descriptive notes talk about fragments of lost poetry, but the spaces here are intentional, and what we hear is whole. Listen/buy here.
Ben Goldberg, "Plague Diary Selections Vol. 1" (BAG Production). During lockdown, Ben Goldberg ordered his diminished universe by applying his clarinets and synth to 216 spontaneous compositions that sound as if they could have been created in the Western world most anytime in the last couple of hundred years. They speak of intelligence, reassurance, dignity, quiet endurance, even a little humor. If culling the list down to four remixed and buffed-up volumes of melodic discipline to be released a month apart still seems like a lot, consider the short supply in which the above qualities stand. Available in the usual places, but listen to unvarnished examples here.
Ben Richter, "Aurogeny" (Infrequent Seams). Microtonal composer Richter offers two albums of drone and mutation. The first half stretches and compresses consciousness via extended solo accordion. The second half adds an ensemble of virtuoso improvisers (Vinny Golia, Ulrich Krieger, Alkis Nicolaides et al.) to wring maximum texture from clouds of mountain mist. This works as background, but extra decibels will scramble your atoms in thrilling ways. Sample/buy here.
John von Seggern, "Evocations." Fall into the deep well created by JvS's solo Chapman stick & FX. Please do not splash too much, just listen to your own breath and the echoes of your/his bodymind. It's warmer than you thought. Listen/buy here.
Scot Ray, "Itinerant Ballads V2." In contrast to his usual practice of allowing his steel guitar to spiral naturally into realms of semisolitary beauty, Ray simulates interactions with his fellow humans via percussion and keyboards. As he ponders the wonders of the universe, he realizes that the boots treading on his toes are sometimes his own, and the perspective gives the beauty that much more clarity. Listen/buy here.
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NOAH PURIFOY DESERT ART MUSEUM PHOTO BY FUZZY BAROQUE.