updates:

NEW RELEASES:

A Band
Amphibian
bic-01

A new set of studio recordings from the latter day version of the A Band. As noted in previous musings (check out David Keenan's article on The Wire site) on this collective, the A Band follows in the tradition of the People Band, Scratch Orchestra, and Portsmouth Sinfonia (and oddly enough, Calgary's own Street of Crocodiles), ditching traditional notions of instrumentation and ability for a more disparate and unique flow of ideas and sounds. Standard instruments (piano, clarinet, electric guitar) sit alongside makeshift/found percussion, weird electronics, and vocal utterances, the elements shifting in and out of focus, often seeming as if players are walking in and out of the studio at their leisure, adding something then moving along. The first track is largely acoustic, featuring a swirling marriage of its rag-tag odd and ends, while the second main track (actually the third) features a much different feel and heavier usage of electric sounds. Totally bizarre, singular, and unlike anything else on Bug Incision.

treated white card sleeves with color & b&w stick-on art, edition of 119

Ulher/Perkis/Robair
Pogiff
bim-29

The excellent Robair-Ulher tag-team (previous releases on Creative Sources and Rastacan are killers) is here bolstered by the presence of Tim Perkis, frequent Robair collaborator and Bay Area fixture (he's also put in time as a member of the recently-archived League of Automatic Music Composers). The Robair-Ulher discs are sparse and taut, all tension and no release, but Pogiff features a slightly more expansive sound palette, largely due to the nature of Perkis' laptop + electronics contributions. Processed field recordings, subtle electronic grit, and swoops of sound intermingle with Ulher's tight, ultra-controlled, lip-smacking trumpet playing (with radio!) and Robair's trademark appraoch to analog synth and percussion (his 'voltage made audible' often sounds like, alternately, a computer trying to sound like a field recording of crickets in the night or a dentist's spit-sucking machine). This is a record that demands your attention, constantly bubbling under the surface, trading bluster for little gestures.

color covers in plastic sleeves, edition of 100

Mike Khoury
Airwaves
bim-31

Five new tracks of solo violin improvisations by our friend Mike Khoury, a familiar face to the Detroit-area improvisation scene (his duos with Ben Hall and Chris Riggs are well worth seeking out). These tracks were all recorded live at various radio stations, legit and not-so-legit, around the US. Khoury on his own emits carefully wrought ribbons of lyrical, stream-of-consciousness violin playing, alternately leaving tons of space, letting his notes really hang, then obsessing over small, scratchy sounds or dissonant harmonies. It's worth mentioning his huge, full-bodied sound on the violin, reminding one of the his beautiful duet with Ben Hall (bim-09), one of the high points in Bug Incision's catalogue. A lovely, unified addition to his ever-expanding body of work.

color covers in plastic sleeves, edition of 63

Simeon Abbott with Bent Spoon Duo
Saigon, You Crazy Diamond
bim-32

In October of 2008, nomoreshapes and Bent Spoon Duo took a trip to the eastern side of Canada to hock their wares and mingle with their displaced neighbours, one of which included ex-Calgarian Simeon Abbott. The days were just packed on this trip. After completing this session at Aaron Leaney's old apartment on Bloor Street, the duo carried their gear to Somewhere There, where they recorded what would become Fossils of Slumber (on Holy Cheever Church), their most focused release to date. After languishing in the vaults for a stretch, this recording is finally being made available. Two dense, 20-minute tracks of very physical, visceral playing. This is the era in which the duo began playing on the floor, each others' gear in close proximity, allowing them to make rapid and odd instrument switches, further confusing their sound. Their heady mix of small keyboards, percussion, objects, strings, tapes, and vocals, in concert with Abbott's prepared guitar extrapolations suggest a louder, more aggressive Three/Four Pullovers. Extra material from this session appears on this trio's self-titled 3" disc (bimm-05), also on Bug Incision.

color covers in plastic sleeves, edition of 70

Simeon Abbott + Chris Dadge
A Menu Isn't A Meal
bim-33

Longtime collaborators Abbott (prepared electric guitar + electronics) and Dadge (percussion + electronics) release their first album together. There's a lot of movement in these two tracks, but there's a similarity in their approaches that streamlines the proceedings. The duo tosses a dizzying array of ideas and sounds at one another, and they are caught, tossed back, and(/or) sidestepped entirely, as only a duo can do. Abbott's playing occasionally recalls a handful of his predecessors (Frith, Kaiser, Rowe, Chadbourne, et al) in the guitar mangling tradition, but we are mostly exposed to his own rapidly developing voice on the instrument, further evidenced on his recent solo album, Zebra Wood, and the wonderful Lamp Chops album (bim-24). Dadge (fresh of a year of playing with the likes of Mats Gustafsson, Eugene Chadbourne, and Eric Chenaux) is in full kaleidoscopic mode, adding bags of junk and amplification to his drums & cymbals. Recorded by Brad Hawkins at the monthly Bug Incision concert series in the summer of 2009.

color covers in plastic sleeves, edition of 65

Darren Williams with Bent Spoon Duo
bimm-4

Darren Williams is an important piece of the Bug Incision puzzle. Previous to the BI activities, which began in 2005, Calgary's hook-up for far-out sounds was largely Nach Hause, Williams' concert production series, which brought in heavies from around the world, and blew a number of young minds in the process. When Darren left for Vancouver in 2004, there was a clear and admirable model for what needed to appear in its wake. As a musician, Williams plays the tenor sax, and his blasted approach is firmly located in the fire-breathing tradition of Brotzmann, Charles Gayle, Paul Flaherty, and the like. Calgary's Bent Spoon Duo (this time: Dadge on straight drumkit, Munro on upright bass & DS) found themselves in Vancouver as a part of a larger touring unit, and the trip ended with an evening of ad hoc groupings at the venerable 1067, the long-running hub of city's creative music community. This super rough, 20-odd-minute mono recording is fairly unrelenting, more akin to the music BSD made as their early days as a trio, but way more violent. Good to finally get this trio out there.

b&w photocopy covers in plastic sleeves, 3" cdr, edition of 30

Simeon Abbott with Bent Spoon Duo
bimm-5

The remaining chunk of music from this trio's collaboration in Aaron Leaney's old apartment on Bloor street. See bim-32 for more info.

b&w photocopy covers in plastic sleeves, 3" cdr, edition of 34

shows:

WEEDS CAFE (1903 20th AVE NW), 8-10pm, PAY WHAT YOU CAN

• April 5 - Eric Normand + Bent Spoon Duo
• April 21 - Larry McDowell + Alan Briks + tba