Tashi Dorji’s Guitar Eradicates Western Notions of Authenticity
Experimentalist Tashi Dorji sometimes sounds like a kid discovering their first couple of chords on a guitar and ultimately heading for the fire pit.
improvisation
Ivo Perelman and Nate Wooley Go Berserk on ‘Polarity 2’
Tenor saxophonist Ivo Perelman and trumpeter Nate Wooley explore the limits of free jazz on this welcome sequel with its power of boundless musical interplay.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Brian Chase Joins Pianist/Composer Anthony Coleman for ‘Arcades’
Anthony Coleman and Brian Chase’s Arcades is a celebration of sound, sound reacting to sound, and the effect of two musicians constantly upping the ante.
Cinema Cinema and Matt Darriau Test the Limits on ‘CCXMDII’
Woodwind specialist Matt Darriau joins Cinema Cinema for CCXMDII, an album blending improvisational free jazz, chilled-out ambience, and experimental urges.
Typical Sisters Show Off an Irreverent Swagger on the Delightful ‘Love Beam’
Celebrated jazz trio Typical Sisters move into refreshingly unexplored territory on their third LP, Love Beam.
TALsounds Offers Controlled Bliss on ’Acquiesce’
TALsounds' Acquiesce reminds us that it's important to notice how brief moments of confidence or peace can unfurl in real-time, forming solid ground for us to walk forward.
Jim White and Marisa Anderson’s ‘The Quickening’ Takes an Experimental Journey
Avant-garde drummer Jim White and folk guitarist Marisa Anderson get together without rehearsing to see what happens on The Quickening.
Leaving Room: Ryley Walker and Charles Rumback on Collaboration and Listening
Little Common Twist, the latest improvisatory album from Ryley Walker and jazz drummer Charles Rumback, sounds like listening. The two musicians are locked in intuitive communion that confines neither guitar nor drums to their pigeonholes. We ask them how they do it and why.
Whit Dickey’s ‘Tao Quartets’ Pose Key Questions About Improvised Music
Veteran drummer from New York's creative music scene, Whit Dickey combines two quartets that pose so many of the key questions about purely improvised music.
In and Out of Sound: Exploring ‘New Bodies’ with Unlikely Tangents
From the Adirondacks to clouds of cosmic dust, "post-everything" band Tangents defy genres and conventions on New Bodies. The magic relies less on what they separate than on what they unite.
Robbie Lee and Mary Halvorson Find an Old, New Weirdness on ‘Seed Triangular’
Nearly every track on Robbie Lee and Mary Halvorson's Seed Triangular surprises, and if the disc fails to cohere, the pleasure of hearing the two artists figure out what they're doing remains.
Tangents’ ‘New Bodies’ Is Unlike Any Other Record You’ll Hear This Year
Shapeshifting Sydney quintet Tangents burn the genre maps and follow their impeccable improv instincts on New Bodies.