A Round-up of recent Clean Feed Records releases

For those unfamiliar with Clean Feed Records, the Lisbon, Portugal-based label is a go-to source for unconventional music.  If dissonance and atonality were currencies, Clean Feed would have the market cornered.  And while this isn’t the place to go if you’re out shopping for typically pretty music, the albums released on Clean Feed do possess beauty… just not your standard stuff.  What you’re going to find is compelling projects and individualistic visions.

Let’s begin.

Lisa Mezzacappa – avantNOIR

There’s an addicting oddball lyricism at play here.  Melodies are warped into indescribable shapes and rhythms communicate in a language not yet codified for human translation.  If I were to say this was the West Coast sister ensemble of NYC’s Kamikaze Ground Crew, that might get close to preparing you for Lisa Mezzacappa‘s particular concoction of insanity.  The theme of avantNOIR are old-school hard-boiled detective novels, and considering the depth of mystery each tune presents, it’s fair to say the inspiration bled into the body of the music.  Very fun and terribly intriguing.

Your album personnel:  Lisa Mezzacappa (acoustic bass, samples), Aaron Bennett (tenor sax), John Finkbeiner (electric guitar), William Winant (vibraphone, percussion, Foley), Tim Perkis (electronics) and Jordan Glenn (drums).

More on the Clean Feed Records site.

Artist site | Buy:  Amazon

Kokotob – Flying Heart

There’s some serious enchantment going on with this magical set from the trio Kokotob.  Marimba, piano and clarinet cast off all kinds of vivid imagery, all of it riveting.  The lovely repetition of “Korokoro” is the ambient textures reminiscent of Reich or Eno.  “Etude in eb” works the same territory, but trades out tranquility for enthusiasm.  And while “Feldmännchen” is reminiscent of pale moonlight on a starless night, “Bikkuri” embodies those monsters that haunt the darkness outside the reach of the moon’s glow.  And then there’s the sublime beauty of “Origami im Görlitzer Park” and how delicate tones radiate great melodic strength.  I’m really taken with this recording.

Your album personnel:  Taiko Saito (marimba, vibraphone), Niko Meinhold (piano) and Tobias Schirmer (clarinet, bass clarinet).

More on the Clean Feed Records site.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Amazon

MIR 8 – Perihelion

Drum and drone is what you get from the debut of the MIR 8 ensemble.  At its most tranquil, there’s always an undercurrent of tension, and at its most volatile, there’s always a hint of serenity hanging in the air.  This quartet goes heavy on the electronics and effects to bolster trombone and percussion, and somehow they get it all to snap neatly into place.  This one grabbed my attention from the first notes, and after a handful of times through, it hasn’t let go.

Technically released on the Shhpuma label, an imprint of Clean Feed Records.

Your album personnel:  Andrea Belfi (drums, percussion), Werner Dafeldecker (function generators, bass), Hilary Jeffery (trombone) and Tim Wright (computer, electronics).

More on the Clean Feed Records site.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Amazon

Carlos Bica & Azul – More Than This

Carlos Bica & Azul are the sun and the moon.  They can take a melody and spin the pure light of serenity from its notes and, with the same ease, the trio can take that same melody and make it burn like flames.  Either way, it’s a thing of beauty, and the only difference is the level of intensity and tone.  The session of new material celebrates twenty years as a working trio.  It’s not empty flattery when I say I hope they celebrate many more anniversaries to come.

Your album personnel:  Carlos Bica (double bass), Frank Möbus (guitar) and Jim Black (drums, percussion).

More on the Clean Feed Records site.

Artist site | Buy:  Amazon

Mind Games – Ephemera Obscura

What I find most enjoyable about this session from the quartet Mind Games is how the frantic motion of each track defines the melody’s ultimate shape and form.  There are times the music hints at an old-school blues and other times it’s a new-school contraption where bop is never one of the scheduled lessons.  But in each instance, it’s the slashing, twittering or skittering motion that determines how the song is most likely to be interpreted.  It’s something that gives the sense of a singular personality capable of donning any number of different faces.  That’s the kind of thing that’ll keep the ear interested and on guard at all times.

Your album personnel:  Angelika Niescier (alto sax), Denman Maroney (hyperpiano), James Ilgenfritz (double bass) and Andrew Drury (percussion).

More on the Clean Feed Records site.

Artist site | Buy:  Amazon

One final note, be sure to check back in soon, because new Clean Feed Records releases by Max Johnson and Jonah Parzen-Johnson will be receiving some attention soon.

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