From Downtown Music Gallery, a review of FIMAV:
One of the most anticipated sets this year was by The Ex & Brass Unbound. The Ex are a DIY sort of punk band from the Netherlands that have been around for some thirty+ years with just a handful of personnel changes. They recently got their first new singer in their long history who adds a youthful vibe to their sound. For their Victo set, they added a rare horn section with Mats Gustafsson (bari) and Ken Vandermark (tenor) on saxes, Roy Paci on trumpet and Wolter Weirbos on trombone. The Ex’s currently have no bassist but two longtime guitarists who play different interlocking riffs which often remind me of those bent Beefheartian double guitars. The group gets into a variety of different rocking grooves that are somewhat hypnotic and often over the top with intensity. All four horn players have long careers in improvised music, yet here mostly wail out those funky riffs with an occasional solo. There was of course one amazing, over-the-top bari sax solo from Mats Gustafsson who is unstoppable when he gets going.
Also, a review of the Vision Festival:
I had high hopes for the annual Vision Festival to provide some much needed spirit, creativity and community consciousness-raising. I was not let down. Festival organizer, Patricia Parker has a way of bringing together an international community of serious listeners and engaging them with a variety of festivities. Besides a wealth of challenging music, there was also dance, painting, films, commerce (the sales of CD’s, t-shirts, books & food) and discussions. A few of my friends complain that too many of the same musicians headline every year, but this was not the case this year. The line-up had a number of important surprises like a few of our favorite European musicians: Peter Brotzmann, Evan Parker, Paal Nilsson-Love and Tomasz Stanko.
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