Five musical things of a more experimental nature, some more cross-pollination and the endless parade of sound. Bad fringe red top she said, do we need another editorial at the the top or can we just cut to the chase and the sounds and the links and the words and the worms and the tiny amounts of splash, I mean, barely a splash. Here you go, five more musical things, there is always more to explore..
1: Xeeland and some glacial ambient drone, sound collages and field recordings, all we can really tell you about Xeeland is that she, he or they is or are from Utrecht, Netherlands. “Soundtracks to films that were never made”, so we’re told, but there are films that do run in your mind. Blissful, evocative explorations ambient orchestral synths, ethereal melodies, a kind of full bodied relaxing sound that doe s have something a little extra. There is a whole album to explore over on the the Xeeland Bandcamp page, seven rather rewarding variations on a slow moving theme that just feels like it has just a touch more than most ambient drone albums that come our way
2: Martina Berther has an album called Bass Works: As I Venture Into, a rather minimalist set of beautifully experimental things from Swiss bass player and composer, a debut album from the Ester Poly / AUL / Sophie Hunger / Hallow Ground contributor. The rather warm album actually came out back in April, it landed here this weekend along with a fine set of films that now acompany the pieces
“Berther is at home in many different musical words. Trained in jazz, she is a member of genre-bending bands such as Ester Poly and AUL, has worked as a live musician for Sophie Hunger and recently collaborated with Philipp Schlotter. Since 2017, she has been playing fully improvised live solo sets using pedals, preparations, and additional objects as well as unconventional playing techniques. “During rehearsals for the concerts and on stage, I discovered a plethora of new sounds”, explains Berther.”
3: Martina Berther x Vic Bang – And now, Vic Bang (from Buenos Aires, Argentina) has taked the sound created by Martina Berther and reimaginesd them, remixed them, reconstructed and generally put them together in a very different yet still recognisable way…
“Worlds collide on this latest Kit Records collaboration, as Buenos Aires artist Vic Bang shatters and reassembles Swiss composer Martina Berther’s recent LP, “Bass Works” – condensing 12 pieces of textural, soaring ambience into nine minutes of wry and frenetic dance music”. Find the rather fluid results on Bandcamp
“These two tracks are entirely produced using sounds from Martina Berther’s album Bass Works: As I Venture Into. The adventure was to delve into a deep and dense valley of rough sounds, collecting samples of the species that inhabit it, to then recreate a completely arbitrary and fantastical miniature model that somehow recalls the beautiful valley” – Vic Bang
4: Ester Poly – Wet – now this album came out in Summer 2021, it is only just crossing our path today for the first time (as a result of the Martina Berther and Vic Bang reworking) and well, all we can say is sorry it took so long! Kiss, flick, suck, lick… Clearly lots to explore in terms of Martina, this album is not suitable for work…
“Ester Poly are Martina Berther (electric bass, voc, Zurich) and Béatrice Graf (drums, voc, Geneva). Since 2013, the two musicians have been expanding the possibilities of the bass – drum – tandem. Rock, peppered with a pinch of the unexpected. Their influences come from improvised music and jazz. The mix results in a freshly squeezed Ester Poly juice with a bitter socially critical aftertaste”.
Just who is she? “Martina Berther is a Swiss bass player and composer based in Zurich. Her sound spectrum ranges from pop to experimental music. She tours internationally both solo and with her bands Ester Poly and AUL and as a sidewoman with musicians like Sophie Hunger. She also writes music for films, theatre and installations and works as a curator. She has received numerous awards for her work.”
Jim White and Marisa Anderson Swallowtail (Thrill Jockey) – They kind of, in the most positive of ways, stumble along in a most simplistic manner, they really are enjoyable, breezy, a delight, fluid, fresh, it feels very natural, like what they’re doing together is the easiest thing in the world, oh look, they say it themselves, hadn’t seen that, natural – “The collaboration between renowned drummer Jim White and acclaimed guitarist Marisa Anderson is a natural union of two of the most intuitive players and listeners working in music. White and Anderson are each very in-demand as collaborators in no small part because of their mastery, versatility and highly expressive playing. The duo have each amassed an impressive body of work, and remain at the vanguard of their practices due to an insatiable curiosity and delight in exploration of new avenues of expression. Their 2020 debut The Quickening exemplified that daring spirit as an exercise in trust: two musicians who had never performed together before committing those first moments in time to record. 2024’s Swallowtail is a deepening of that trust, White and Anderson completely immersed in the moment, each attuned to the other fluidly moving as wind and water”.
These are fine musical conversations, gentle forward movement, delightful (skilful) instrumental interplay, indeed an ebb and flow, a gentle flow, a subtle shift of point of view, organic, spiritual, restrained when it so easily could get out of control, they instinctively know how far to go, they never over paint any of it, it is so easy to overwork a painting and destroy it all, they never do…
Meanwhile, coming up this weekend…
THE ORGAN 
One response to “ORGAN: Five musical things of a more experimental nature – Xeeland’s glacial drone, Martina Berther, Vic Bang, Ester Poly, Jim White and Marisa Anderson’s Swallowtail…”
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