Label: Emanem – 4121
Format: CD, Album, Reissue Country: UK - Released: 2005
Style: Free Improvisation
Digital studio recording made in London - 1989 February 22.
Tracks 1 - 10 originally issued in 1989 as Acta LP 4
Tracks 11 - 14 previously unissued
Artwork By [Cover Sculpture] – David Tinn
Producer [Technical] – Matthew Hutchinson
Recorded By – Marc Hunt
Emanem CD re-issue of LP originally released on Acta. With extra 20 minutes of unreleased material from the original session.
With the hindsight afforded by 17 years, "News from the Shed" seems astoundingly prescient; if you looked on a map for the place where European free improvisation branched out into more compositionally based strategies, electro-acoustic and lower-case improv, this 1989 session was the crossroads.
Originally issued on John Butcher ’ s Acta label in 1989, this is an extremely valuable – and wonderfully creative – reissue. Featuring an intense, attentive quintet – Butcher on tenor and soprano, Phil Durrant on violin and electronics, Paul Lovens on percussion and saw, Radu Malfatti on trombone, and the marvelous John Russell on acoustic guitar – this is as good as it gets for London improv during this period.
The music doesn ’ t simply barrel forward carelessly, though it does have periods where the momentum is overwhelming: listen to the fairly hot “ Mean Time ” and “ Weaves, ” with even the reserved Russell slashing away. But the players also don ’ t simply dot and dash with no sense of larger purpose, even though their restraint and economy impress. Rather, the sound morphs and changes color consistently, in a five-part conversation that is both coherent and surprising. Particularly delightful is the contrast between the horns (shifting between Butcher’s sputter and Malfatti’s garrulous chortles, so different from his self-effacing play these days) and the foundation of strings and percussion. The contrast is really pointed on the brief “ The Gabdash, ” where Russell – with intense choked harmonics – pinwheels between horn incisions, and on “ Reading the River, ” an essay in attack, decay and elongation where Butcher ’ s held tones frame the pointillism from Lovens and the subtle Durrant. And of course, there are plenty of passages that brim with gorgeous abstract textures, as on “ Everything Stops for Tea ” (with its intense soprano trilling) and “ Whisstrionics ” (where Lovens ’ intense saw cuts through the mix).
For music so deliberate and often reserved, there is an awful lot of exuberance and exhilaration here. And, as is customary for Emanem reissues, the initial session is padded out with additional tracks (here four extra slices, adding up to an extra twenty minutes, from the same session). Wonderful stuff, an essential reissue for improv fans.
_ By JASON BIVINS (Dusted Reviews, Nov. 5, 2006)
This welcome CD reissue of the original News From The Shed (released on vinyl on John Butcher's Acta label in 1989) features four previously unissued tracks. Long regarded as one of the finest examples of group free improvisation, the album's reputation has grown steadily. The quintet grew out of the existing trio of Butcher, Durrant and Russell. When Malfatti and Lovens joined them as guests for a short UK tour, it was soon clear that this was not a trio- plus-guests but a group; News From The Shed continued playing gigs until 1994.
It is particularly interesting to reassess this music in the light of developments in improvised music in the years since its first release. We can clearly hear roots of the variant strains of improv variously known as eai (electro-acoustic improvisation), lowercase, New London Silence, onkyo, Berlin reductionism, etc. Although there has been much cross-fertilisation and blurring of boundaries between these strains, their common characteristics include use of electronics, silences, very low volumes and small gestures, plus a lack of focus on individual virtuosity. As Butcher, Durrant and Malfatti have all had significant roles in these new developments, it is no surprise to hear roots here. (Indeed, Emanem proprietor Martin Davidson has stressed roots stretching back to the '70s work of John Stevens, Trevor Watts and Paul Rutherford; those variant strains came about through evolution, not revolution.)
There is plenty here that will be familiar territory to aficionados of improv; the cut and thrust of sections of "Kickshaws or "Sticks and Stones employ the methodology whereby any musical utterance requires a rapid response, leading to that familiar feeling of animated chatter. In contrast, tracks such as "Everything Stops For Tea and "Reading The River are far more sparse, with every gesture seemingly well-considered and laden with significance. Meanwhile, "Whisstrionics lies somewhere in between, busy but quietly so.
The four unissued tracks that have been added fit seamlessly with the original ten. All four are noticeably spare. "Coracle is so low-key it could be a product of New London Silence; the players create an atmosphere of tension that draws listeners in and keeps them in a state of heightened expectation. The result is thrilling listening.
Tellingly, Butcher says that the original tape of the album had to be remastered, as the quiet work was lost in the noise of the vinyl test pressing. Digital technology no longer makes that (such) a problem; today, it is far more likely to get lost in the general background noise of the world!
_ By JOHN EYLES, Published: February 23, 2006 (AAJ)
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