★Ultramarine
Brand
“Brand” is the new trio of Gary Smith (guitar), Silvia Kastel (voice and synth), Ninni Morgia (guitar). On this recording Gary Smith produces the playing for which he’s considered a master of avant guitar: multiple layering, complex grainy textures, dense counterpoint, influences of birdsong. Fused with the guitar of Ninni Morgia, which floats between minimal movements of primordial electronics, pre-war slide blues and Hendrix-esque feedback. Over, and blending with them, Silvia Kastel’s moaning…
Sound Gates
Guitarist Ninni Morgia, after playing with countless improvisers such as Peter Evans, Daniel Carter, William Parker and lots others, is here in a duo together with master Italian drummer and percussionist Marcello Magliocchi. Marcello Magliocchi has been active since the early 70s and has played and recorded with amazing artists like Steve Lacy, Evan Parker, Peter Kowald, Mal Waldron, John Tchicai, Joelle Leandre and countless others. He also put out his work on Andrea Centazzo’s Ictus label and…
Chora / Quivers
Chora is the British duo of Rob Lye and Ben Morris. Their music is a gorgeous mix of psychedelic free-form improvisation and ecstatic free jazz, with hypnotic percussion, cymbals, bowed instruments, eerie reeds, and an overall ritualistic, shamanic vibe. Quivers are guitarist Ninni Morgia and upright bassist Jordon Schranz, joined here by drummer extraordinaire Mike Pride, a Milford Graves student who has played with Anthony Braxton, John Zorn, Nels Cline and Keiji Haino among others. Their impr…
Eskra
Temperatures are a London-based duo formed by Peter Blundell (bass, voice) and James Dunn (drums, synth). Blundell's rumbling delayed bass runs against Dunn's bursting drums that simultaneously trigger an unruly ARP 2600. Vocals are both muffled and shouting at times and eventually end up getting buried under a (controlled) landslide of sounds. Thanks to their instinctive but thoughtful approach to noise, Temperatures can express a suffocating sense of alienation and mal de vivre, as well as tod…
A La Lu La
Amolvacy is Aaron Moore from Volcano the Bear, Dave Nuss from No-Neck Blues Band, and Sheila 16 of the Laboratory Theater Group, NYC. The band creates compositions from its improvisations centered around strong elemental percussion, radical theatrical vocals, and classical acoustic instruments. Recurring themes in Amolvacy’s texts are the pain of relationships, the affirmation of the feminine in myth, the hero’s journey, and continuous need to flame the passions of the heart. “A La Lu La” specif…
The End Of The Empire
Second album for the Brooklyn trio led by guitarist Ninni Morgia (ex White Tornado, ex La Otracina), in this recording with Stuart Popejoy (Bassoon) on bass and Kevin Shea (ex Storm and Stress, Talibam!) on drums. Compared to their first album, that featured Peter Evans on trumpet, “The End of the Empire” is more various and eclectic. The eight tracks open up to psychedelic and ambient music besides free jazz, marked by Ninni Morgia’s visionary guitar, Stuart Popejoy’s pulsating industrial bass …