Author: earsforeyes

Ears For Eyes will be taking regular dives into the recent outputs of some excellent labels.  This first round up features Chapel Yard, a label from North Yorkshire that has been transmitting some amazing and awestruck music this year.  Here, we look at their last five releases, beginning with...‘LP’ by Corsica_S is a an album of drift and roaring… Continue reading Label Round-Up: Chapel Yard Records →

‘Weeping Idols’ is the first recorded outing of a quartet consisting of Paul Dunmall (tenor sax), Mark Hanslip (tenor sax), Philip Gibbs (guitar), and Ed Ricart (guitar), and it’s a cracker.  ‘4 Souls, 8 Eyes’ is a great squabbling piece of music.   Weird effects strafe the sound field, providing a rich bed for the occasional… Continue reading Dunmill, Hanslip, Gibbs, Ricart – Weeping Idols (FMR Records) →

Shards and plucks, shivers and graceful sweeps; ‘Live at Artacts 12’ by Barrel is a soaring jungle of sound. The group are a trio of Alison  Blunt (violin), Ivor Kallin (viola), and Hannah Marshall (cello).  Barrel are a stunning chamber group, their music entirely liquid, swirling and pooling in odd pockets, sonic labyrinths manifesting unexpectedly and resolved… Continue reading Barrel – Live at Artacts ’12 (Idyllic Noise) →

Raw Tonk is an extremely promising label with two excellent albums released already. The most recent album put out by Raw Tonk is ‘...And It End Badly’ by Dead Neanderthals, a record of high-energy, intensely engaging, blistering free-jazz, featuring Colin Webster (sax), Rene Aquarius (drums), and Otto Kokke (sax).  It instantly erupts with ‘There Was… Continue reading Dead Neanderthals – …And It Ended Badly / Colin Webster & Mark Holub – The Claw (Raw Tonk) →

6 & 8 are a duo of electronic music producer Rory McCormick and poet / vocalist Jessica Peace.  The second song on ‘City Plaintive’ epitomises what makes them such a great band.  'Opening City Plaintive' is full of thick sad chords.  A maudlin instrumental, interspersed with traffic noise; a background whooshing like wind under a bridge; the… Continue reading 6 & 8 – City Plaintive / Hind Legs (Xylem) →

Bread and Shed (Anna Homler + Sylvia Hallett)Boat-Ting continued its current season with yet another great evening.First on were Lisa Fannen (poetry, guitar) and Alice Eldridge (cello).  A brilliant pairing, Fannen’s fierce lines like “immigration enforcement 12.15am” and “armoured police officer fat power coward” met with pairs of looped guitar notes twisted into a beautiful sweep.… Continue reading Boat-Ting – Lisa Fannen + Alice Eldridge, Sylvia Hallett + Anna Homler (Bread & Shed), Ricardo Tejero + Daniel Thompson + David Leahy, Sam Andrae + Hanna Olivegren + Gus Luxbo (Silence Blossoms) – Bar & Co, Temple, London, 7th October →

‘Environs’, the new release from Laica follows the excellent ‘Puls’ from earlier this year.  Like ‘Puls’, ‘Environs’ is split into two halves of absorbing electronica, this time sourced entirely from manipulated field recordings.  It builds on the excellent sound design of its predecessor while pushing its structures further into abstraction.‘Environs 1’ is immediately intricate and… Continue reading Laica – Environs (Alrealon Musique) →

‘Exit!’ by Fire! Orchestra is an astonishing record.  Mats Gustafsson, Johan Berthling, and Andreas Werlin have expanded their trio to encompass four drummers, four bassists, electronics, assorted massed reeds and brass, and some awesome vocalists.  They have together created something that will pin you to the wall. Side 1 is driven by a profusion of… Continue reading Fire! Orchestra – Exit! (Rune Grammafon) →

Another fantastic release from the house label of the Café Oto venue in Dalston, London; ‘Improvisations’ is a brilliant album, it brought together Roscoe Mitchell (saxophone), Tony Marsh (drums), and John Edwards (double bass).  ‘Improvisations’ begins with a limbering of limbs and a gathering of thoughts; in no rush to launch, it builds a quiet, considered… Continue reading Roscoe Mitchell / Tony Marsh / John Edwards – Improvisations (OTO roku) →