A not-so-well documented passion of mine is the British jazz scene of the late ’60s and early ’70s. Some of the most exciting music made there and then came from a bunch of South African expats. They showed up in London, jammed at Ronnie Scott’s, bedded a lot of birds (much to the chagrin of the locals), and made some of their best music under the aegis of Chris McGregor’s Brotherhood of Breath (which also included some non-expats).

For those who neither care about jazz, in general, or Brit-jazz, in particular, BoB has at least one kind-of-obscuro, but kind-of-semi-popular, claim to fame: It was one of the acts produced by Joe Boyd, the guy behind the boards for many a Fairport Convention, Incredible String Band, and Nick Drake session.

Anyway, back to the jazz. Silver Spring’s Cuneiform Records is responsible for a top-notch new BoB archival release, Eclipse at Dawn. The live disc, which was captured by German radio in 1971, is surprisingly well-recorded and features the 12-piece band in all of its freewheeling, Mingus-meets-the-townships glory. Great stuff.

Today marks the release date of ANNWN, the new album from ex-local avant-metal guitarist Mick Barr (here, in the form of Ocrilim). I’m listening to it right now and, though drum-less and possessing of more bottom end, it doesn’t seem like a drastic departure from Ov, Mick Barr’s last record with the guitar-and-drums duo Orthrelm. Here’s my review of that release:

It is perhaps strange to say that Orthrelm’s new emphasis on repetition is a much-needed change. After all, the D.C. duo has earned quite a reputation amongst noise-hipster types for the non-recurring nature of its trebly, squiggly riffage. Guitarist Mick Barr and drummer Josh Blair’s initial, 2001-era performances were no doubt technically impressive feats, kind of like staring at the construction of a really long, really tall bridge. But, hey, a bridge takes you someplace eventually and, to be honest, Orthrelm’s all-solo-all-the-time schtick seemed to be going nowhere fast.

That’s why it was something of a relief to witness OV-type material on Orthrelm’s tour with the Dillinger Escape Plan and the Locust last winter. At least one…writer has asserted that there’s no way that these guys could be playing all of OV’s minimalist metal, that Barr and Blair must have recorded a few minutes of music and looped it into a whole album. That may be true. However, the new disc’s 45-minute song—or something just like it—has been witnessed live and is, thus, very possible, even if it seems inhuman. Sound-wise, OV is much like Orthrelm’s earlier catalog—that is, trebly and squiggly. The difference can be found in the presentation of licks, which get looped for several minutes at a time, yielding structure that’s closer to old Terry Riley or Steve Reich records than anything going on in underground metal. Repetitive? Absolutely. Boring? Never.

Here’s another piece from yours truly about Orthrelm.

And, just to be fair and balanced, as they like to say on Fox, here’s Michael J. West’s less-than-enthusiastic review of Barr’s “jerk-off session” on John Zorn’s Tzadik label.

I link, you decide.

The good news is that the bass/drum powerhouse known as Om (a.k.a. Sleep’s rhythm section) has teamed up with Maryland doom-master Wino and Neurosis‘ Scott Kelly to form a new supergroup called Shrinebuilder.

What not to like, right?

Well, unfortunately it also means the end of Om as we now know it. Here’s the word from Om’s Al Cisneros via Earsplit PR:

“Om is continuing forward with a new drummer and working on a new recording. Please check the band’s website and myspace page for updates.

A live vinyl only LP “Om - Live at Jerusalem” will be forthcoming. This is Chris Hakius‘ final release with the group.

I personally apologize to east coast fans who planned on coming out to the shows. Please know that Om will be back in your area later in 08.

Thank you to all of you. Live dates resume in late spring. There is a LOT of new material on its way.
Shrinebuilder is also forging ahead.

See you all soon.” - Al/Om

Thanks to an assignment, I’ve had my head dug into Cuong Vu’s new album, Vu-Tet, all week. The Seattle-based trumpeter plays on the last two Pat Metheny Group records. So, perhaps that’s why I’m so receptive to Day Trip, Metheny’s new trio record with Christian McBride and Antonio Sanchez. Or perhaps, like his debut Bright Size Life, it’s just really good.

NYT’s Nate Chinen thinks so.

And so does Washington Post’s Mike Joyce.

Metheny’s brand of lyricism often gets him tagged as easy listening. But, thanks in no small part to the rhythm section (half of which played with Sonny Rollins at his recent Carnegie Hall concert), there’s a weight and substance to the playing on Day Trip that you can feel as much as hear.

The trio is winding its way across the country as I type. It’ll be at the State Theater in Falls Church on March 14th.

According to an article in yesterday’s Washington Post, Orpheus Records is still closing, but it might get a brief extension on its lease. You can read about it here.

Also, one of Thrill Jockey’s most recent signings, Baltimore’s Human Bell, will play an in-store at Crooked Beat on Thursday, February 7, at 7 PM. (Crooked Beat is located at 2318 18th St. NW.)

You can hear Human Bell, which features folks from Arboretum and Lungfish, here. The post-rockin’ duo’s self-titled debut comes out tomorrow.

Here’s Gazette.net’s article from this Wednesday about the “agreement between the county and Live Nation to open a music hall in Silver Spring.”

From the article:

“It’s important that people understand that this is not a done deal, that it can’t be a done deal unless the Council approves it,” I.M.P. spokeswoman Audrey Fix Schaefer said. ‘‘So now, all the effort is on that process.” I.M.P. operates the 9:30 Club in Washington and the Merriweather-Post Pavilion in Columbia.

Here’s the backstory.

Been digging the doom band Indian (pictured), a Chicago trio that is about to release a new disc, Slights and Abuse/The Sycophant.

You can hear some of Indian’s stuff here. But I kind of prefer their slower, scarier material (think Khanate, Swans), stuff that isn’t promoted on the Web site.

This Chicago Reader piece suggests that the split between the thrashier stuff and the doomier stuff is some sort of internal divide between the guitarist and the bassist. Fast or slow, however, all of it is quite menacing.

Seeing as how it’s January and the release schedule hasn’t quite picked up, I’ve been revisiting some more ’07 stuff. This is what I wrote about Xasthur’s Defective Epitaph when I got the latest from this one-man-black-metal-band back in September:

Not only are the songs kind of lackadaisical, not to mention a bit too kvltishly recorded, but “Defective Epitaph” has to be one of the worst black metal album titles of all time. If you’re going to go with the adjective-noun thing, Malefic, you’ve got to think of something more grim than “defective.”

Here are some quick suggestions, free of charge: “Putrid Epitaph,” “Odious Epitaph,” “Unholy Epitaph”–even “Blemished Epitaph” is more likely to give someone chills.

Joe Gross said pretty much the same thing when he reviewed the album in the December issue of some other publication:

One would assume the title of this new one was supposed to be kinda funny, but he hasn’t exactly displayed a sense of humor about himself or his (really pretty amazing) body of work in the past. So, altogether now: Defective?! Really? That was the word you came up with?

Turns out the main difference between Defective and his last one, the excellent Subliminal Genocide, is that Xasthur (a.k.a. Malefic and, according to Spin, Scott Conner), decided to take up drums. On his previous records, he backed his many layers of chiming guitars and frosty synths with a drum machine, the fallback for many a one-man-black-metal-band.

Now, I’ve always said that rock and jazz acts are only as good as their drummers (which is why I always liked Rapeman better than Big Black), but it would seem that Xasthur is an exception. There’s something charming and not altogether distracting about the crappy fills, the hesitancy, and the recorded-in-my-Mom’s-basement sound.

Truth is, some of the best black metal is badass and funny in equal measure. Defective, which I like now, is just a bit funnier than most.

OK, so the year’s off to a weak start. The upcoming Grey Daturas disc on Neurot, Return to Disruption, is pretty hot—as in, I-just-scalded-my-face hot—and trumpeter Cuong Vu’s self-released Vu-tet disc should appeal to anyone who forked out for Miles’ The Complete On the Corner Sessions box set.

But that’s about it. The best thing I’ve heard in 2008 is a record I missed in 2007: Wolves in the Throne Room’s excellent Two Hunters.

As Erik Davis reported out in Slate, this Pacific NW black metal band has something of a D.C. connection. But don’t check ‘em out for that reason, or for the environmental stuff (that kind of conservativism has been present in black metal almost as long as there’s been black metal).

Check ‘em out because they made the most dynamic, melodic, and just straight-up serious black metal record of the past year. And sorry to all of my colleagues who fell in love with Watain’s Sworn to the Dark.

That record is a frightening blast or bad ‘tude, for sure, but, as with so much black metal, the nastiness wears thin after a few songs. It just can’t touch Two Hunters, which has me squeezing invisible oranges from start to finish.

Back in 2004, Tone, local devotees of “the math and science of the guitar,” collaborated with the Bowen McCauley dance company on a piece called Telemetry.

Neurot, the band’s Neurosis-affiliated label, recently posted YouTube links to the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater performance from November of that year.

You can find the goods here.

NME is reporting that Barack Obama has racked up another endorsement, this one from Arcade Fire’s Win Butler. On the band’s website, the Canadian resident writes:

I am watching Hillary Clinton in her victory speech in new Hampshire…they just threw a bunch of college kids behind her, and had her talk about student loans, and had her daughter come out for a long awkward hug…does anyone actually buy it? Surely young people are too media savvy to be fooled by this kind of shit.
do we live in a democracy so we can just keep electing the same families?
Barack is the first candidate in my lifetime to strip some of this bullshit away, and I just hope we don’t blow this chance.
man if we miss this opportunity we don’t deserve it…how bad does it have to get?

fuck!!!!!!!!!

(Do you think he kisses his mother with that mouth?)

When asked, in an earlier interview, if he and bandmates ever considered moving to the United States, the Texas-born singer-songwriter said the following:

Not really. There wouldn’t be much reason. Two of us are dual citizens, two of us are U.S. citizens, and the rest are Canadians. So I guess we could really go wherever we want. But I kind of imagine keeping Montreal as sort of a home base. That’s where I’ve been the last four years and that’s where my wife, Regine, is from.

It’s understandble why someone who equates our current President with “a genuine deep, dark evil” wouldn’t want to live here. Fine. But do you ever hear about American indie rockers meddling in Canadian political affairs?