More albums, there’s always more albums, there’s always more good albums, there’s always more cherry picking to do, only time and space for the things that stand out a little from the mountains of releases that come this way, there are only so many hours in the day, there is paint to throw, leaves to leave, only so much time to waltz around all these buildings…

RZWD – Gaps (Carton Records) – On Gaps, RZWD tell us they aimed to “craft dance noise club music on their own terms, pushing the limits of what a live band can be in achieving this”, they go on to tell us that “the core idea behind Gaps was to use developed themes as a starting point for further variations and exploration within Dance noise club music. This time, the instrumentation includes bass and an ever-expanding, mutating layer of modulation” – scrub all that though, this sounds far more instictive than they make it sound, if this is dance music then the dancing is going to be wildly all over the place and well, if you like dance music by all means tune in and dance like a maniac, more importantly, if you don’t like dance music then definitely tune in! This is for everyone, this is other rock, this is pointy, this is sharp, this is delightfully fractured, warm, inviting, this is fluid in an awkwardly good way. It is mostly electonic, it feels very organic, analogue in terms of texture and yes that might be one of several contradictions just made but who cares, bottom line here is this is really really good – mutating layers of modulation indeed, played beyond rigid tempo measurements. Recorded live as a live band, that bit is crucial to what is going on here, recorded in 2023, released in the Autumn of 2024 and sent to us in the second week of 2025, it might have figured somewhere on that (rest of the) best albums of ’24 if it had landed here in time…

Bandcamp / Carton

Jazz Sabbath – The 1968 Tapes (Jazz Sabbath) – Well their story certainly is an interesting one, who knew? And yes, what a blatantly black thing do Mr Iommi and co! The back story has slowly been coming to light, as have Sabbath’s recordings including this recent released album of tracks that are said to date from back in ’68. Pin point pieces of almost lounge flavoured sublime easy listening jazz instrumentals laced with riffs and runs that you might recognise from somewhere or other. These are excellent versions, some say the original versions…

The album came out at the end of last year, we tell you today ahead in the trio’s The trio will embark on an extended UK/IE tour in February and martch of 2025, followed by shows throughout Europe and beyond. All dates here.

“Although never released until recently, Jazz Sabbath’s music has been finding its way to millions for over 50 years. Through a vicious cycle of personal tragedy and plagiarism the songs intended to change the jazz world ended up giving birth to a much darker sound. Now a third recording from the Sixties has resurfaced, perhaps their most important one.

In 1968 Jazz Sabbath were an instant hit on the UK jazz scene. It wasn’t long until they were offered a record deal. They spent weeks in the studio recording the tracks that got the heaviest reactions at their shows until they captured their live energy on tape. Unfortunately, the label manager told them the album was far too experimental and there was no hit potential. Ordered to play some of their ‘easier’ tracks instead, they reluctantly gave in.

The two albums that followed still are classics in their own right, but they were not mistaken in thinking they had recorded their best work in 1968. Like the tracks from their two albums, these tracks were also blatantly presented as ‘original songs’ by that band from Birmingham a few years later. Whether they copied them from live bootlegs or if they got their hands on the mix, it doesn’t really matter. Their lasting popularity, even in the crude way they were covered, only proves just how monumental these songs were and how record labels are often wrong.

With the truth now finally out there and that Birmingham band exposed as the musical charlatans they are, Jazz Sabbath have finally mastered the 1968 tapes to present their best work to the public”. 

Bandcamp / Linktree

You see, that Jazz is easy, you already know the Sabbath riffs, but then there’s this, this ftom Jeff Arnal and Dietrich Eichmann probably isn’t jazz, does it matter what we call it?

Jeff Arnal / Dietrich Eichmann – Tides of Unrest / Berlin 2023 (No Business) – There’s a fluidity that stops it all falling down the stairs, at times it all sounds like a Jackson Pollock painting, or a series of his paintings, at times like spiders, or rain on a tin roof, like there’s an urgent matter that isn’t too urgent for anyone to be that worried or act with any kind of urgency. You know there was nothing accidental about a Pollock painting, he may have let the paint lead him at times, he was always controlling it though, he knew where every drip needed to be, it was in a rather different way, precise, purposed, instinctive, we all knew though. This is experimental music, jazz music maybe?

American percussionist Jeff Arnal and German pianist-composer Dietrich Eichmann have forged a dynamic musical partnership spanning over two decades. It has the textures of jazz, the movement, the fluid awkwardness, not sure if two painters could paint together like these two musicians do, the way they talk to each other, flow as one thing, constantly moving in the same direction, in the same manner, knowing, heading towards a shared conclusion. No real way of working out who’s triggering who? It does sound instinctive, pure, rich, of the right colour, the right combination of colours, the right flicks of the wrist – easy to listen to, to be with, not easy listening, never that, hard boiled, never too hard to digest. What colour would you need to squeeze out to paint this? Whatever the colour needed was, that requirement had changed now, the palette has dramatically altered, we’re Watching Shadows now. It isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea, there are complaints coming from the corner, I rather like it, it like the flow, the way it all fits together in some kind of way that almost doesn’t fit (or maybe just doesn’t want to fit) and this is all dancing around that architecture again, only it doesn’t need to be danced around, you have the music right there, you don’t need these words, hit the play button and let it take you with it, I say it is worth your time, others say not. Sounds of a Garden makes for a dramatic final piece, it sounds like no garden I know of… (sw)     

Bandcamp. And a word for the cover art, Artwork courtesy of Molly Sawyer, do like that cover art…    

“American percussionist Jeff Arnal and German pianist-composer Dietrich Eichmann have forged a dynamic musical partnership spanning over two decades. Sometimes there are long intervals between their encounters, but each reunion sparks new and unpredictable explorations in sound. Their music emerges as an organic tapestry of polyrhythmic structures and vibrant textures, precisely articulated from the first note. Tides of Unrest captures the essence of their creative synergy during an electrifying encounter in the spring of 2023”.

And here comes some of the body language…

About the Artists

“Dietrich Eichmann, a German composer and pianist born in 1966, is renowned for his innovative works that span orchestral music, chamber compositions, and experimental improvisation. Trained under Wolfgang Rihm and Frederic Rzewski, his music has been performed by esteemed ensembles and soloists, including Ensemble Modern, Peter Brötzmann, and SWR Symphony Orchestra, with premieres at prestigious festivals worldwide. Eichmann’s collaborations, notably his long-standing partnership with Jeff Arnal, delve into the intersections of composed and improvised music. His impact on contemporary music is further underscored by his curatorial work with Neue Musik im Fläming and the broad documentation of his works through recordings and broadcasts.

Jeff Arnal is an American percussionist, composer, and community organizer who has made significant contributions to experimental music since the 1990s. A student of visionary artist Milford Graves and composer Stuart Saunders Smith, Arnal’s work fuses experimentation, improvisation, and tradition. Recent projects include Drum Major Instinct with Curt Cloninger, released on Mahalaka Music in 2022 and featured at the 2024 Big Ears Festival, as well as Signal Otherwise, a 2024 trio album with Ken Vandermark and Bonnie Han Jones on Catalytic Sound. As the Executive Director of the Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center, Arnal champions the College’s revolutionary legacy of experimentation, collaboration, and interdisciplinary innovation through exhibitions, programs, publishing and residencies”.

Lords of Form – False Light – One time Hawkwind man Niall Hone and his gang of ever productive space rock creatives. this time Jamie Gillett, George Cobbold and Trim with twenty odd minutes of focused flowing biting space rock that comes laced with a touch of dark drama as well as a different colour or two. They maybe prolific, Lords of Form never seen to be on automatic pilot though, they’re very much at the manual controls of the ship once again. Full bodied instrumental space rock, rich, dark, colourful, very much a refined, rather alive (not quite so blistering this time around) space rock thing and if that is your thing then once again all done rather well. What more needs to be said?

Bandcamp / Facebook / Previous Organ coverage

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