A new Splinter Orchestra album ‘Efforts’ – featuring ‘Poor Effort’ and ‘More Effort’ is available now through Caterpillar on Bandcamp. I played with Splinter a lot in 2021 while living up on Gadigal country as part of the Peggy Glanville Hicks residency, but strangely enough this release is all created remotely while we were in lockdown. The release coincides with the latest edition of ADSR zine (below) which features a short article and collated image reflecting the ‘Poor Effort’ process.

“The humility of their approach in occupying space with nature and adding to nature’s sounds, means that the listener often finds it hard to distinguish where one ends and the other begins.”

Loudmouth Aug. 2021

Online acoustics are not easily conducive to this philosophy, but as the lockdown continued we began to feel that non-synchronous recordings, where there was no attempt to play at the same time as other Splinters, and no attempt to hear other Splinters synchronistically — in effect exquisite corpses — produced interesting results that highlighted multiple diverse environments. These communal plays are meetings in the idea of the Orchestra, without a virtual or physical immediacy.

The first piece ‘Poor Effort’ was a response to listening back to many of these non-synchronous plays. There are 10 individual tracks in 10 separate spacetimes overlaid. The brief given was for each player to record for about 20mins but only give about 6.5% effort, thereby leaving space for the ambiences and sonic ecologies to poke through and flourish. It has a feeling of players just quietly being as their unique timespace unfolded. The second piece in this collection ‘More Effort’, recorded in the week leading up to the 18/09/21, had the simple instruction to submit a 20 minute recording.

Despite, or maybe because of the impediments of technology, these works exhibit a vast multi-perspectival eco-orchestral musicking, our sounds are woven into a single fabric, a shared material of which none of us is the sole creator, and there are many serendipitous and unknown players.

Eastmint’s latest release comes from a duo that approaches their output in a similar vein. Crush Crush is the creative tandem of Evelyn Ida Morris and multi-disciplinary artist Aviva Endean, and their self-titled album is another masterful display of experimental music that leaks through categorical confines.

The record is an exploration of the sounds that can be created using a limited collection of tools, namely Aviva’s clarinet and bass clarinet, which has been expounded upon by Evelyn’s multi-instrumental and production input. What has resulted is something that has transcended limitations despite a conscious implementation of limiting factors. From basic sketches of ideas and skeletal arrangements of bent noise, Crush Crush has built a striking package of work that is filled with life and imagination. Primitive rhythms have been pieced together from disparate parts (see: the opening moments of ‘Shovel And A Cabelcar’ for an example), providing solid footing for Evelyn and Aviva to build upon.

Although relying on a concise array of sounds to work with, Crush Crush has brought forth a lush release that is full of life. Tranquil in parts and dissonant in others, the sway of each movement evokes the untameable character of nature – as if a new gust of wind will send the music in a different direction. This is the sound of two artists pushing their own boundaries and creating something that defies most, if not all, conventions and is a charmingly oblique audio companion for one’s own travels.

Released by Eastmint
Review on Weirdo Wasteland 

Anna Joy Gordon– Baritone Saxophone
Aviva Endean– Bass Clarinet
Justin Marshall– Drums and production
Recorded by Justin Marshall
Mastered by Naomune Anzai

Released December 6, 2017

Prophets – Ah!Puch!, Bird Brain, Groovy G, Heaps Mad, Shazzam, Viz a V, Ctrl+Alt+Man & Pug – are the of originators of the Stylefree Movement. The best dressed and grooviest street band in Sydney & Melbourne, Australia! Playing raw grooves with multiple saxes, drums, percussion, balafons, melodicas, guitars, xylophones, MPCs, basses, masks and wonderment!

Prophets live & work in Sydney & Melbourne, Australia and also run Workshops; Participatory, hands-on inter-disciplinary events that combine music, art, design and performance through activities such as mask-making, instrument building and music-making

http://www.prophetsband.com

contact – prophets@ahpuchrecords.com.au

The music defies easy categorisation, but has been described as “Kurt Weillish, Euro-Cabaret jazz colliding with lullabies constructed to tear your heart out.” It is transformative concert music that is nuanced and theatrical, with Zulya’s smoldering vocals supported and enriched by accordion, piano, clarinets, guitar, double bass and percussion.The limited edition CD is released as a larger format hard cover story book with stunning illustrations by Dilka Bear.

Engineered, mixed and produced by Myles Mumford at Audrey Studio and Bakehouse Studio, Melbourne
Mastered by Adam Dempsey at Deluxe Mastering, Melbourne
Artwork by Dilka Bear, www.etsy.com/shop/Dilkabear
Design by Luke Fraser
www.zulyaandthechildrenoftheunderground.com

” A reverential reception for … Miss Zulya Kamalova and her phenomenally talented Children Of The Underground. From the first beat of the opening song we are willingly transported to another realm; a scene from an Emir Kusturica film, a basement cafe in Moscow circa 1955, a circus band playing the funeral of the fallen trapeze artist, even Berlin between the wars. So consumed with the songs is Zulya that she enacts them in a mesmerising way you thought only dead singers filmed in black and white could do with any authenticity. But here, in Melbourne, it happens.” Interviews and Gig Reviews.

Zulya and The Children of the Underground perform exquisite original music inspired by Zulya’s Tatar and Russian roots. The music defies being labeled, but has been described as “Kurt Weillish, Euro-Cabaret jazz colliding with lullabies constructed to tear your heart out.” Ten years, three albums, one ARIA award and two ARIA nominations, the ensemble is placed firmly at the crossroads of restlessness and the sublime. The result: a transformative concert music that is haunting and nuanced, with Zulya’s smouldering vocals supported and enriched by accordion, trumpet, guitar, double bass and percussion.

Since their formation in 2003, Zulya and The Children of the Underground have enjoyed unprecedented success throughout their native Australia and abroad. They have toured Europe on numerous occasions –  their latest (2013) appearance included the first inaugural  Russian Womad, along with a National live to air broadcast at Vienna’s Radiokulturhaus, Austria.  CD releases have held top 10 rankings in the European world music charts – a first for any Australian act. In 2010 the group embarked on a six week national tour – extending to all major cities and regional areas across the country. They have been featured repeatedly on national radio and television including live broadcasts on ABC’s Radio National Music Show and Music Deli.

Australian performances have extended to all major venues:  Sydney Opera House,  Angel Place (NSW), The Basement (NSW), Melbourne Recital Centre (VIC), Iwaki Auditorium (VIC) and festivals: National (ACT), Port Fairy (VIC),  Woodford (QLD), WOMADELAIDE (SA), Ten Days On The Island (TAS), Brisbane Biennial (QLD), Apollo Bay Music Festival (VIC), Kulcha (WA) and numerous others.

In Europe they have performed at festivals and venues throughout: Russia, Germany, Luxembourg, Finland and Switzerland.

Lashing Tango, Rockabilly, Metal and Gypsy feels together with hard hitting guitar riffs, double kick blast beats and massive horn arrangements, The Barons of Tang serve up their self described ‘Gypsy Death-core’. The catchy tunes and punk ethos all tie together to mean one thing, dancing is inevitable!

Into the Mouths of Hungry Giants is the culmination of 6 years of travel, triumph and tribulation. The first full length album release from Australian band the Barons of Tang, it is document in experimental world music. Beautiful and brutal, it is skilful and chaotic all the while following a sonic theme that’s hard to put your finger on. True, the Barons have developed a signature sound over the years but this is the album where their full dynamics become apparent. The 7 piece outfit has an arsenal of Instruments at their disposal on this record, including accordion, banjo, bass and contra-bass clarinet, trombone and double bass.

The record reflects on the world-wide travel the band has enjoyed but also the tyranny of distance and loss. It reflects the tiny tragedies faced by traveling artists: Break ins, Break ups, break outs and break downs. Deaths and gifts wrapping, tolls and tuberculosis and maybe no ones listening or maybe you have the whole world on the edge of its seat . These are their stories, told in old and new conventions, music from the past for the future. We move through sound and light, and fall into the mouths of hungry giants.

released September 20, 2013

Recorded and mixed by Matt Voigt at Sing Sing Recording Studios Melbourne, Australia mattvoigtproductions.wordpress.com
Mastered by Steve Smart at Studios 301 Sydney, Australia www.studios301.com
Artwork and layout by Sean Wyers reverbia.blogspot.co

Quiver was a new music collective that formed in 2009 to pursue the exploration of sound through performance, improvisation and installation. Described by The Age as a ‘talent-rich new body’, the collective is dedicated to presenting refined interpretations of new and obscure scores, and creating programs that draw meaningful parallels between chamber music, improvisation and hybrid art. Quiver events use elements of installation, staging and lighting design to define the conceptual narrative and enhance the experience of these musical events. They have commissioned works by Warren Burt, David Young, Chris Dench, David Chesworth, James Rushford and Luke Paulding. Their projects have included working with Aphids, New Music Network, The Trilling Wire, Jessica Aszodi, Tristram Williams, Carolyn Connors, Sam Dunscombe, Eugene Ughetti, Dale Gorfinkel, Anthony Maegan, Aria Co. and Chamber Made Opera at venues including the Melbourne Recital Centre, Iwaki Auditorium, Horti Hall, Richmond Uniting Church as well as tours to Brisbane and regional Victoria. Quiver was awarded the Alan C Memorial Fund and the Atheneum Award for excellence in chamber music through the Victorian College of the Arts.

Their most recent work from their June 2014 residency in Berlin can be heard on releases on Tone List and Compost and Height