Michel Blanc, Le Miroir des Ondes

Composer-drummer Michel Blanc comes through with a 33-minute chamber-electric work called Les Miroir des Ondes (Ayler 151). It was meant to capture the composer's reaction to a number of historical events that took place in his experience between 1972 and 1989. A track of event-related voices and sounds continuously blends with the chamber group's music, in a sense pinning the music with the experiences they were meant to comment upon.

The work is a seamless melange of new music, rock elements and new jazz overtones, performed magnificantly by Marc Ducret on electric guitar, Annabelle Playe, vocals, Anne Giminez, piano, Antonin Rayon, organ, and Blanc himself on drums and percussion.

The music has a wealth of arresting aural events that continually segue one with the other, creating long unfolding mood auralities that fascinate and draw the listener in.

It is a unique and very worthy piece, modern without allying to definite style categories, synthetic yet rather wondrously distinctive.

I've heard nothing quite like this out there before. Viva Michel Blanc!

Swarmius Return with New EP

We took a look at Swarmius's first CD a few days ago (see listing below). Today it's time for their EP follow-up, Also Normal (Aleppo), and it's another good one. Jozefius and company create orchestrally conceived music that does not fit easily into the ready-made categories. There's a modern classical component but the drive of rock and the electronic wizardry of the best of hip-hop. They conflate genres the way Zappa and Zorn do, but in ways that distinguish them as original.

The thirty-some-odd minute EP ranges over wide and relatively uncharted territory. "Cali' Karsilama" is a wild romp through the mid-east-near Asian-Semitic zone and it has a joyous quality."Orpheus is a Tiptoed Steamhorse" has lively contrapuntal passages that punch through all obstacles and communicate with widely varied textures and timbres in ways that will not leave you somnolent. "Moonlight Beach Chaconne" adds voices to the mix and some really captivating solo violin for a choral opus that plays out its musical cards in a poker game where Swarmius's hand takes all the chips.

In short, this is another intriguing offering and well-worth your listening time. What's next for them? I look forward to whatever it is, and I suspect there are more surprises in store for all of us.

Swarmius Defies Categorization

Swarmius is a four-man unit. Their music combines industrial, modern classical, world influenced music and a bunch of other things for a mix that has its own trajectory.

Heading up the band is Jozefius (Joseph Waters) who composes the music and uses a laptop to stretch, alter and augment the sounds created. Todd Rewoldt plays reeds, Felix Olschofka is on violin (quite adeptly so), and Joel Bluestone is the percussionist.

Their first, self-titled album (on Aleppo) has some rather startling musical content. Think of Zappa in his most ambitious vein. But don't think of his music; Swarmius does something different. There are driving pulses, exotic timbres, somewhat traditional sounding violin concerto pyrotechnics juxtiposed with rather untraditional accompaniment, and on from there.

The results are rather marvelous. Swarmius respects no rules about what goes with what. And that is most refreshing. Highly recommended.

Go to www.swarmius.com for more info.