Bohren und der Club of Gore — Piano Nights (2014)

Just discovered Bohren und der Club of Gore will be releasing a new album titled Piano Nights at the end of january 2014. Can't wait to listen to it ! Here's a teaser from their Vimeo page. Sounds as good as their previous albums.

Colin Stetson — Judges (2011)

Colin Stetson is a bass saxophone player from Montréal with a minimalist approach. He plays saxophone with a circular breathing technique that allows him to play for very long periods unninterupted. His songs are made up of musical textures and repeating patterns. The result is something you have never heard before. The song Judges is featured on the album New History of Warfare Vol. 2 (The third album of the trilogy was released this year).

The Portico Quartet — Line (2009)

I had a recent obsession with the sound of the hang drum, (see article on the subject here). I have been looking for interesting records featuring this musical instrument.

I just discovered the Portico Quartet. A London jazz group making minimalist music featuring a hang drum. The instrument is really well integrated and doesn't sound like a gadget or something added on top of the music. Their music is repetitive, minimal, sometimes reminiscent of the sounds of Philip Glass and Steve Reich. It is accessible jazz that will probably please amateurs of minimalist music.

The Portico Quartet
Line

Album: Isla (2009)

Supersilent — 6.2 (2003)

Supersilent is a jazz / improvisation band featuring a lot of unconventional instruments. The group features ambient trumpetist Arve Henriksen and sound artist Helge Sten of Deathprod. Each album is completely improvised (and some albums have a very aggressive electronic sound not very common in jazz).

Supersilent
6.2
Album: 6 (2003)


Painting:
Aurora Borealis (1865)
by Frederic Edwin Church

The Video Collages of Dario Cogliati — Naked City

Dario Cogliati is a photographer. He also happens to have made these little video collages for the crazy music of jazz group Naked City. See more on his Vimeo Channel.

Tomasz Stanko — Grand Central (2009)

I'm in no way a jazz expert but I do enjoy a few jazz musicians. The polish trumpeter Tomasz Stanko is definitely one of my favorites. He has an album called Dark Eyes released as The Tomasz Stanko Quintet on ECM Records and I keep returning to it. There is something dark and introspective in his music that I haven't found in a lot of jazz musicians.

Just found out this fantastic official music video for the song Grand Central featured on Dark Eyes. It was created by Katarzyna Kijel and Przemyslaw Adams. It was nominated Best Animated Music Video at the Yach Film Festival in 2010.


Tomasz Stanko Quintet
Grand Central
Album: Dark Eyes (2009)

Miles Davis — Generique (1957)

Miles Davis — Générique
Album: Ascenseur pour l'échafaud (1957)
Soundtrack for a Louis Malle's movie

Bohren & der Club of Gore — Black Earth

There are groups who follow musical trends, and there are the groups that create a musical genre all by themselves. Bohren & der Club of Gore is the latter. You can find "clones" of Bohren, but none is as good in my opinion (The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble and the Dale Cooper Quartet & the Dictaphones are two of the best).

Since their second album, Sunset Mission (1995) it is safe to say Bohren & der Club of Gore have created a genre: doom-jazz (or dark jazz). A music that doesn't have much common with jazz except the instruments used (saxophone and vibraphone). In fact, the music of Bohren has far more in common with Doom Metal. It's slow, heavy and depressing. Not surprisingly, the quartet is composed of former metal musicians).

Their darkest album, and in my opinion their best, is Black Earth. It is a strange mix of jazz and ambient music. The sound is very characteristic, deep bass, very slow music. In fact, the music is so slow that its unsettling the first times you listen to this album. Black Earth has a sound that evokes the atmosphere of a rainy street at night or a smoke filled nightclub in the 20's. Like the soundtrack to an unexisting film noir movie. It is music for a nightmare, but it never gets violent. I have read many reviews making a parallel with the music of Angelo Badalamenti (especially the Twin Peaks soundtrack). And I must say it is very reminiscent of the soundtrack of a David Lynch movie.

If you take the car at night and have a lot of driving to do, Black Earth is the ideal soundtrack for the road.