Source: The Quietus.

With new album Walk It Dry premiering exclusively below, Sly & The Family Drone leader Matt Cargill tells Patrick Clarke about the traumatic road accident and subsequent recovery that preceded their formidable new record, and the challenges of experimental musicianship during a pandemic

Source: American Songwriter.

When he was thirteen years old and living in San Diego, he read an article in Look magazine praising the record merchandiser Sam Goody. It claimed that Goody was such a genius that he could sell any album no matter how ugly it was musically. And the album they chose as an example of this ultimate ugliness was The Complete Works of Edward Varèse, Volume I, which featured a percussion piece called “Ionizations.” The writer described the piece as “a banging and clanging with sirens and stuff.”

Source: The Wire.

I first heard Keith Tippett in my early teens on King Crimson’s 1970 album In The Wake Of Poseidon. A guest player, he made his presence felt, spilling dissonant, deliciously incongruous piano lines across their otherwise Beatlesy single “Cat Food”. And on “Bolero: The Peacock’s Tale” from Lizard (1970), he suddenly breaks the faux-Iberian mood by hammering a single staccato chord over and over before scrambling up the keyboard. These were strange offerings from a rock group, leading to an abiding fascination for Tippett’s playing and composition, encompassing the singular approach to jazz taken by The Keith Tippett Group, groundbreaking large ensembles such as Centipede and Ark, and solo free improvisations.

Source: Invisible Oranges.

A slow, crawling, eldritch horror, direct from the nightmare world. Dead Neanderthals has been known to craft otherworldly “heavy free jazz” atmospheres in other releases, but Blood Rite is something different and older in a… different sort of way. With Otto Kokke ditching his trademark wailing saxophone for crushing, heavily distorted synthesizer and Rene Aquarius slowing his usual blast to a slow plod, Blood Rite is far from Dead Neanderthals’ usual “New Wave of Dutch Heavy Jazz.” No, Blood Rite is minimal, destructive death/doom metal, a 27-minute venture into the darkest recesses of horror-music and pitch-black tones.

Parallels can be made between this Dutch duo’s frantic jazz musings and Blood Rite’s minimal lumbering — the names of the game here, much like with every other Dead Neanderthals album, are energy and atmosphere, which Blood Rite oozes in spades. Though this isn’t your average, or at least partially expected Dead Neanderthals release, Blood Rite’s anti-mania crushes the listener all the same. Lose yourself in an exclusive stream of this single-track album and read an interview with the band below

Source: Aquarium Drunkard.

On the surface, nothing about Whit Dickey’s decision to start his new record label, Tao Forms, makes much sense. It’s the drummer’s first time leading such a venture, and he’s doing so in his mid-60s, right around the time most impresarios are looking toward retirement. Too, he’s using Tao Forms as outlet for free jazz, the unbound subgenre that Dickey has spent four decades devoting his career to. Not the soundest of commercial moves—especially amid a global pandemic—but that has never seemed to be his concern.

Source: ATTN:Magazine.

Listening to assholes, inner/outer presentations of self, power chords over trap beats. The Texas-based artist discusses three important albums. Head over to Claire’s website for information on her releases, including her incredible records on Already Dead and Anahuac Editions. She’s on Twitter as @clairerousay.

Source: UNCUT.

The latest issue of Uncut – in shops now or available to order online by clicking here – features an exclusive, in-depth interview with Robert Fripp, in which he talks with wit and candour to Michael Bonner about his new Music For Quiet Moments series, “Crimson metal”, advice from David Bowie, how to avoid provoking armed police officers, and why you should never, ever have a band meeting. Here’s an extract…