Although we inevitably keep on thinking about music in traditional categories and genre-distinctions, nothing is as fascinating as witnessing young musicians doing away with this, not for the fun of 'everything goes', but because the 'old forms' have lost their urgency; because their creativity asks for a new language. Of course, this is the way 'free jazz' musicians have understood themselves from the sixties on, but even 'free jazz' has become a niche, a respectable institution with its canon, instruments and techniques.
One of these youngs guys deserving our attention here is definitely
Chris Corsano. Mostly known for his collaborations with saxofonist Paul Flaherty, he takes 'free jazz' beyond the jazz-idiom, bringing some hardcore-punk energy within a jazz-setting or adding some noise-folk-psych influences together with people as Thurston Moore, Matt Valentine, Jandek... Below you find a song from his album 'The Radiant Mirror' (out on
Textile Records), a performance together with Mike Flower, who plays here the
shahi baaja (a japanese electric dulcimer/auto-harp).
I also added a song from a great psych album I recently discovered: Blood is clean from Valet (out on
Kranky). Valet is the solo-project of Honey Owens (who has previously played with Jackie-O Motherfucker). Haunting impressionistic guitar-playing with beautiful, etheral vocals.
MARSHALL ALLEN [us] & PAUL HESSION [uk] BARDO POND [us]
