{"id":51,"date":"2018-01-31T23:02:34","date_gmt":"2018-01-31T22:02:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wybuchniepanika.vxm.pl\/?page_id=51"},"modified":"2018-01-31T23:02:34","modified_gmt":"2018-01-31T22:02:34","slug":"reviews","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/martinkuchen.com\/index.php\/reviews\/","title":{"rendered":"Reviews"},"content":{"rendered":"

New review on Enola (in dutch) on\u00a0“Bauchreder”<\/strong>\u00a0<\/a>, released on Cathnor records in 2015.<\/p>\n

Review of\u00a0“Injuries”<\/strong>\u00a0<\/a>at the All about Jazz-site<\/p>\n

Review of “…and everything inside came down as dust..<\/strong>\u00a0<\/a>.” at Brian Olewnick\u00b4s Just outside blog<\/p>\n

And\u00a0“Injuries”<\/strong>\u00a0<\/a>5 star review on Stef\u00b4s Freejazzblog<\/p>\n

Review of\u00a0“…and everything inside came down as dust…”<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

From Stef\u00b4s Freejazzblog<\/p>\n

Angles 9 \u2013 In Our Midst (Clean Feed, 2013) ****<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Dan Sorrells<\/p>\n

One of last year\u2019s highlights was Angles 8\u2019s sprawling By Way of Deception, an album that introduced an expanded line-up and featured liner notes by Free Jazz blog founder Stef Gijssels. After two previous releases on Clean Feed, By Way of Deception showed that there was still room for bandleader Martin K\u00fcchen\u2019s vision to grow, with pianist Alexander Zethson greatly expanding the group\u2019s rhythmic foundation, and Eirik Hegdal\u2019s additional saxophone further broadening the band\u2019s sonic palette.<\/p>\n

On Clean Feed\u2019s latest venture into the LP resurgence, Angles has expanded yet again, adding trumpeter Magnus Broo back into the fold after his absence on By Way of Deception. (It should be noted the band has grown even more since this recording, appearing at Jazzfestival Saalfelden this summer as a 10-piece with an additional drummer). A single LP, In Our Midst feels like a quick update, an intermediate document that serves as a snapshot of the band as it continues to evolve.<\/p>\n

In Our Midst opens with a new eponymous track, a smoldering piece that builds a typically wistful melodic theme over slow-motion afrobeat rhythms. Angles\u2019 music has always been deceptively simple and completely unsubtle at first blush. In reality, it\u2019s meticulously crafted, emotive music that\u2019s continually reborn as the musicians explore the possibilities in songs they have become intimately familiar with (K\u00fcchen doesn\u2019t write anything down\u2014the group learns and internalizes the music through K\u00fcchen\u2019s demonstrations). Angles has in spades what many improvising groups have trouble conjuring: visceral emotional impact. It\u2019s a music that aims to deliver to the listener even the smallest notion of its creator\u2019s incredible passion. Huge rhythmsand dulcet counterpoint, playfulness and humor juxtaposed with plaintive melody, the fact that all of their albums have been live concert recordings: all of these serve as direct conduits of music-making passion. An Angles tune is designed to elevate musician and listener together to a shared, ecstatic plane. Foremost, it is a music of feeling.<\/p>\n

One of the many pleasures of following Angles over the years has also been hearing the wayK\u00fcchen\u2019s pieces have developed along with the band. The overlap in tunes on previous albums continues here: In Our Midst\u2019s other offerings include \u201cEvery Woman is a Tree\u201d from their debut, and the title track from last year\u2019s By Way of Deception. \u201cEvery Woman is a Tree\u201d has a fairly standard jazz tune structure, and has served as one of few vehicles for extended soloing by K\u00fcchen. Here, it takes on an all-new intensity, beginning with an angular piano vamp before ramping up to the head. The band now has many more possibilities behind the long solo in the mid-section: first, a monstrous bearing-down on the hypnotic beat; then multi-octave rephrasings of the main theme; finally, out-and-out improvised mayhem. The song sounds more urgent and cathartic than ever before. Similarly, \u201cBy Way of Deception\u201d feels far more primal, the band muscling through the first portion of the song like brutes on a rampage.<\/p>\n

On one level, you could say In Our Midst is more of the same from Angles. To my mind, that will continue to be a reason to get excited. But it\u2019s a sentiment that oversimplifies: these songs may be familiar, but like the very best musical acts, Angles makes them feel new each time they\u2019re heard.<\/p>\n

From LIRA nr 1\/2014<\/p>\n

En frisk fl\u00e4kt \u00f6ver jazzlandskapet\u00a0Angles 9 In our midst CLEAN FEED<\/strong><\/p>\n

UT\u00d6KAD FRIHET. Fr\u00e5n sex till nio man \u2013 altsaxofonisten Martin K\u00fcchen ut\u00f6kar sitt ambiti\u00f6sa Angles-projekt. H\u00e4r finner vi Mattias St\u00e5hl p\u00e5 vibrafon. Johan Berthling p\u00e5 kontrabas med polaren An- dreas Werliin bak kaggarna och cymbalerna. Goran Kajfe\u00ca p\u00e5 kornett. Mats \u00c4leklint bl\u00e5ser flyglarm i trombonen. Jag t\u00e4nker inte r\u00e4kna upp dem alla, men tillsammans skapar de en musik i samklang med tiden. \u00d6verallt vi blickar m\u00f6ts vi av oroligheter och oegentlig- heter. Av f\u00f6rtryckets brutalitet och av f\u00f6rf\u00f6riska budskap. D\u00e5 kr\u00e4vs ett vaket sinne, en \u00f6ppen attityd. En uppkopplad men frikopplad m\u00e4nniska. Som \u00e4nd\u00e5 m\u00e5ste sl\u00e5 sig samman med andra likasinnade, lika frisinnade, f\u00f6r att f\u00f6r\u00e4ndra och f\u00f6rb\u00e4ttra. D\u00e5 tj\u00e4nar Angles 9 utm\u00e4rkt som soundtrack. F\u00f6r det h\u00e4r \u00e4r frisinnad jazz som bl\u00e5ser friska vindar \u00f6ver det svenska jazzlandskapet. Ja, \u00f6ver det internationella jazzland- skapet, katten. Nio man. Det inneb\u00e4r \u00f6kad frihet, \u00f6kad sammanh\u00e5ll- ning, \u00f6kad styrka. Att Angles 9 tar avstamp i estetiken kring Charlie Hadens Liberation Orchestra visste vi sedan tidigare. Nu tar de ytterligare steg f\u00f6r att frig\u00f6ra sig fr\u00e5n f\u00f6rebildens skugga. Det \u00e4r instrumental musik, utan s\u00e5ng. Men du h\u00f6r. Du m\u00e4rker. Du k\u00e4nner vart det bl\u00e5ser. Tre l\u00e5nga sp\u00e5r, p\u00e5 becksvart vinyl. Men de rymmer s\u00e5 mycket hopp, s\u00e5 mycket kraft. TIMO KANGAS<\/p>\n

From Stef\u00b4s Freejazzblog<\/p>\n

Martin K\u00fcchen: Hellstorm \u2013 Man erkennt langsam das Elend, das \u00fcber uns gekommen ist (Mathka, 2012) *****<\/strong><\/p>\n

Exactly two years ago, on December 18, 2010, Swedish altoist Martin K\u00fcchen recorded “Hellstorm”, in an audienceless church in Sweden. The result is so excellent that two reviewers were competing to give their opinion.<\/p>\n

By Stef<\/p>\n

“Hellstorm – Man erkennt langsam das Elend, dass \u00fcber uns gekommen ist” is a quote from saxophonist Martin K\u00fcchen’s father’s diary, written at the end of the Second World War. It means “the misery that has fallen upon us, is slowly being recognised”.<\/p>\n

K\u00fcchen’s passion and compassion and rage with the ways of humanity are known and mentioned in the reviews with Trespass Trio and Angles. Now he does it alone, using multiple instruments : baritone saxophone, radio, alto saxophone, electronic tampoura and even electric toothbrush, assisted by Jakob Riis who mixed and mastered. Simple tools to rage against war, but his cry is a powerful one.<\/p>\n

The music was recorded live in Allhelgonakyrkan, the All Saints Church in Lund, Sweden, on the 18th of December, 2010. Not that this is a live setting or so. They just went into the church on a snowy day two years ago and recorded the music in one take. Then they left.<\/p>\n

The end result is one of those rare records that make you weep with sadness. It is beautiful in its simplicity, in the cry of the single voice, sometimes quenched, often howling, yet melodiously, lyrically, using every possible timbral possibility to make the feelings richer and truer, as a real human voice would.<\/p>\n

The incredible sadness that permeates the whole album is relatively unique, including the abandon with which K\u00fcchen is willing to expose his own feelings in what some might call brutally sentimental. I have tried to find comparable voices, but I get no further than Frank London’s “Invocations” or Lou Reed’s “Berlin”, but the former is more spiritual and the second more personal, yet the common denominator is the infinite sadness and powerlessness of the individual. The kind of sadness that makes you uncomfortable, but because of the music’s aesthetic beauty, you want to hear again, yet I can also guarantee that when you feel sad, it will give you comfort. This is no longer experimental music. This is the voice of an artist who knows how to go beyond the surface of technique to dig deep, and finds a language that everybody will understand. To K\u00fcchen’s credit, he always stays on the right side of good taste, which is the biggest challenge when going this far into emotional expressivity, and even more, he creates sounds you’ve never heard before, yet the underlying feeling is all the more familiar. A stellar achievement.<\/p>\n

By Martin Schray<\/p>\n

There have always been albums that discuss free music and Nazi atrocities – like John Zorn\u2019s Kristallnacht or even recently G\u00fcnter \u201cBaby\u201d Sommer\u2019s Songs for Kommeno and Martin K\u00fcchen\u2019s other new album Brother Beda. But while Sommer\u2019s well-intentioned lament fails because it is too pompous, K\u00fcchen\u2019s approach is much more private and subtle. This is already shown in the fact that it is a solo album with him on baritone saxophone, radio, alto saxophone, electronic tampoura, and electric toothbrush.<\/p>\n

Hellstrom tries to transcend the results of Nazi terror starting with \u201cAllemagne Anne\u00e9 Zero\u201d, a reminiscence of the Roberto Rosselini film of the same title which was shot in a bombed Berlin in 1948. Supported by electric tempura and radio static K\u00fcchen\u2019s high-pitched baritone literally cries out the whole grief people must have felt, you can see hollow-eyed people walking like ghosts through the ruins. All that was left was complete nothingness \u2026 devastation \u2026 disaster \u2026 hell. It is simple music, recorded in one take in a Swedish church on a cold winter\u2019s day. Hardly ever has there been so much sorrow and immediacy in music.<\/p>\n

But K\u00fcchen wants to show terror in context, he gives suffering a sound. The next track, “The Russia We Lost”, refers to a documentary which shows \u201cthe horrendous, hyper- destructive long period of Bolschevism\u201d as K\u00fcchen says in the liner notes. Again, now with K\u00fcchen on solo baritone, the music is of tangible sadness, but although it is full of emotion you can feel the chill of the Russian winter creeping through your bones. K\u00fcchen hardly cannot stand the fact that children are slaughtered, that people are losing their homes, starving, being killed by missiles all over the world. \u201cSarajevo\u201d just reminds us of the latest tragedy right in front of our door when more than 10,000 people were killed and large parts of the city were destroyed. It is music that shows history from a people\u2019s view (here especially the Bosnian people when he uses Arabian elements as key motives in the track). \u201c10,000 Years\u201d and \u201cRitual Defamation (to Laird Wilcox)\u201d are like one song. Now the atmosphere is changing, the tracks are more percussive and K\u00fcchen uses circular breathing. It is hard to bear these last two pieces because it seems that you can hear the piercing shrieks of dying people.<\/p>\n

Even if this review sounds completely depressing I highly want to recommend this album. I cannot recall when I heard music so moving. However, there is comfort in the way K\u00fcchen tries to fight his personal ghosts. He looks on the ruins as if he was contemplating his own broken history (he has Jewish ancestors who died in Auschwitz). And although we slowly recognize this huge misery that has come upon us (this is what the German part of the title means) we try to fight and keep going. Even if this seems to be a truism, it gives this album a deep humaneness.<\/p>\n

Hellstorm is available as a limited vinyl edition (but also as a digital download). If you have a record player, I can only recommend the LP, it sounds beautiful.<\/p>\n

You can listen to parts of the album and buy it here: http:\/\/mathka.bandcamp.com\/album\/hellstorm<\/p>\n

Angles<\/strong>
\n“Epileptical west \u2013live in Coimbra”<\/strong>
\n(Clean feed)<\/p>\n

Debutplattan var h\u00f6gklassig, spirituell, politisk jazz, och p\u00e5 Epileptical west g\u00e5r den svenska sextetten \u00e4nnu djupare in i samtidssv\u00e4rta och poetisk slagkraft. Det \u00e4r ett suver\u00e4nt band \u2013Johan Berthling, Kjell Nordeson, Mats \u00c4leklint, Mattias St\u00e5hl och Magnus Broo samt gruppledare Martin K\u00fcchen \u2013men \u00e4ven om individuella prestationer hugger till s\u00e5 \u00e4r det som kollektiv Angles sl\u00e5r det mesta av dagens frijazz. Musiken river upp s\u00e5r och pl\u00e5strar om p\u00e5 en och samma g\u00e5ng. Det frustar, brinner och afrobeatsv\u00e4nger. Martin K\u00fcchen har gjort mycket bra \u2013 men Angles \u00e4r nog hans allra vassaste band hittills.<\/p>\n

PM J\u00f6nsson\/GP<\/p>\n

Angles<\/strong>\u00a0Epileptical West – Live in Coimbra<\/strong><\/p>\n

Last year regular reader Wojtek asked me why I didn’t give the previous album by Angles, “Every Woman Is A Tree” a five star rating. And I reacted saying that I really had considered it, yet did not at the last moment. I will make up for this and give the band’s new release the maximum rating, because every track on the album is equally strong and compelling, while the music is powerfully expressive, the playing exuberant and full of emotional depth.<\/p>\n

The band is the brainchild of Swedish saxophonist Martin K\u00fcchen, and further consists of Mattias St\u00e5hl on vibraphone, Magnus Broo on trumpet, Mats \u00c4lekint on trombone, Kjell Nordeson on drums and Johan Bertling on double bass.<\/p>\n

Like its predecessor, the music is one long wail of protest and anger against the madness of today’s world. In order to do that, the band falls back on African rhythms, grand themes, and tremendous playing. The wonderful first track could be coming from Bengt Berger’s “Bitter Funeral Beer”, (one of my all-time favorites) with its polyrhythmic drive, strong theme and wild interactions, yet which all fit into one whole.<\/p>\n

The second piece, “Today Is Better Than Tomorrow”, starts with slow vibes, and rumbling drums, as a gradual build-up for the glorious theme, introduced by K\u00fcchen, with the other horns echoing it, and driving it forward. It is of a hair-raising sadness.<\/p>\n

The title track starts full of disorientation and madness over a strong rhythmic backbone, with Broo’s trumpet leading the tune, then changing gear into a strong African rhythm, half-funky over which a compelling theme is woven, a solid base for the individual soloists to express their anger, and joy, then shifting back into chaotic madness, with the bass driving up the tempo to give Nordeson the chance to hammer away. “En Svensk Brownie”, is again a funky rhythmic delight, evolving into middle piece with the arco bass and percussion reminiscent of Hemphill’s Dogon A.D.<\/p>\n

To my great joy, they also play the title song of their previous album, an absolutely stunning, stirring, rousing composition, again a gloriously expansive piece, that is both sad and joyful, angry and inviting, full of powerful soloing. The long last track is quieter, subdued, with K\u00fcchen’s soloing beautifully soulful and bluesy, giving a great sense of compassion and hope at the same time.The piece becomes excited, then is crystalised around a sensitive arco bass solo by Bertling in the middle, then moving back to the main theme and related distress.<\/p>\n

And it is a live album, with an audience that shouts full of enthusiasm, not only after the tracks, but also when the band unexpectedly change gear, or fall back into a steady groove. Great!
\nAs you may read, I am excited. And more than just a little. This music gets you whole: soul, mind, heart and body
\n. If you buy only one album this year, buy this one!<\/p>\n

Stefs Freejazzblog<\/strong>\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Angles<\/strong>\u00a0Epileptical West – Live in Coimbra<\/strong><\/p>\n

Av: Thomas Millroth<\/p>\n

F\u00f6r 40-50 \u00e5r sedan, s\u00e5 l\u00e5ngt tillbaka, brann jazzmusiken, det var svedjebrand. Den svarta musiken gick parallellt med litteratur, politik och en \u00f6ppet unders\u00f6kande och ifr\u00e5gas\u00e4ttande attityd gentemot historieskrivning och ideologi. Det g\u00e5r inte se och h\u00f6ra den musiken utan den samtida kontexten, som ju ocks\u00e5 var dess styrka. En hel del kraft fann den ocks\u00e5 i en halvt ockult halvt andlig sf\u00e4r, som kanske \u00e4r sv\u00e5rsm\u00e4lt idag. Det \u00e4r d\u00e4rf\u00f6r det ocks\u00e5 varit s\u00e5 sv\u00e5rt, ja hart n\u00e4r om\u00f6jligt att g\u00f6ra om konststycket. I alla fall inom karbonjazzen. Iggy Pop och Patti Smith och alla punkare lyckades desto b\u00e4ttre \u2013 f\u00f6r de hade anledningen.<\/p>\n

Fortfarande idag finns en sida i den fria jazzen som vetter mot klich\u00e9n. Det \u00e4r v\u00e4l i sin ordning, men ocks\u00e5 r\u00e4tt tr\u00f6ttsamt att uppleva en musik som bara lyssnar p\u00e5 annan musik f\u00f6r att spegla den. Som om kontext och dekonstruktion aldrig hade existerat.<\/p>\n

Nu tar saxofonisten Martin K\u00fcchen tillsammans med vibrafonisten Mattias St\u00e5hl, trumpetaren Magnus Broo, trombonisten Mats \u00c4leklint, slagverksspelaren Kjell Nordeson och basisten Johan Berthling sig an uppgiften att stilm\u00e4ssigt r\u00f6ra sig n\u00e5gonstans i frijazzens br\u00e4nnpunkt som Angles.<\/p>\n

Albumet \u00f6ppnar med ett gungande beat, sugande melodier och fett sextettsound vars konturer g\u00f6rs skarpa av Berthlings best\u00e4mda bas, St\u00e5hls klirrigt nerv\u00f6sa vibrafon och Nordesons ytterst varierade rytmiska spel, ja, n\u00e4r de drar ig\u00e5ng sugs jag ob\u00f6nh\u00f6rligt in. Saken \u00e4r f\u00f6rst\u00e5s att kompet kan sv\u00e4nga ordentligt och bl\u00e5sarna vet hur man suger s\u00f6tma och m\u00e4rg ur en melodi.<\/p>\n

I lamenterande l\u00e5ngsamt tempo rullar musiken rytmiskt fram\u00e5t. Bl\u00e5sarna sjunger i extas. Broo \u00e4r som vanligt lysande. \u00c4leklint spelar som om han vore Roswell Rudd. K\u00fcchen spelar med bl\u00e5tonad desperation, och hans l\u00e5tar \u00e4r fyllda av m\u00f6jligheter f\u00f6r musikerna, och Angles blir en sextett av det personliga snittet d\u00e4r gruppen och materialet lyfter alla till n\u00e5got mycket mer \u00e4n en individ. Kollektiv och person sm\u00e4lter samman.<\/p>\n

Och musiken \u00e4r inte ett slags projekt, detta s\u00f6ndern\u00f6tta ord, att hylla den ena eller andra, buga \u00e5t ena eller andra h\u00e5llet. Vad jag skulle \u00f6nska dessa dagar vore en musik som t\u00e4nds av vad som \u00e4ger rum i tiden. Inte som pliktskyldiga dedikationer hit och dit, men en musik som v\u00e5gar uts\u00e4tta sig och f\u00f6rs\u00f6ka komma \u00e5t en struktur, som b\u00e4r upp k\u00e4nslor framkallade av historia, poesi, ideologikritik \u2013 ta allt fr\u00e5n Ship to Gaza till det allt brunare Mellaneuropa. Men jag menar inte alls n\u00e5got slags nyprogg med t\u00f6ntiga kamptexter. Hur var det nu? Det l\u00f6nar sig lyssna p\u00e5 New York Art Quartet, Feminist Improvising Group, Archie Shepp. Utan att g\u00f6ra likadant, f\u00f6r vi m\u00e5ste v\u00e4xa ur det beundrande luftgitarrsyndromet.<\/p>\n

K\u00fcchen st\u00e4ller musikens starka fl\u00f6de vid sidan av ett resonemang om l\u00f6gnen, att historien m\u00e5ste skrivas om, han sl\u00e4pper fram r\u00f6ster fr\u00e5n Baghdad och Gaza utan att ta till br\u00f6sttoner i konvoluttexten. Han st\u00e4ller fr\u00e5gor, arbetar med gl\u00f6dande paradoxer, d\u00e4r f\u00f6rst\u00f6relse st\u00e4lls mot v\u00e4lst\u00e5nd, och sj\u00e4lva musiken till\u00e5ts vara \u2013 paradoxal. V\u00e4lklingande, extatisk vred som n\u00e5gonsin Mingus eller Art Ensemble of Chicago.<\/p>\n

Det \u00e4r intelligent. Sk\u00f6nt att en musiker agerar lika smart som en textmedveten poet! Kritisk och omfamnande gentemot spr\u00e5ket. Det \u00e4r inte en musikmaskin det g\u00e4ller, det \u00e4r extasens och k\u00e4nslornas historia och anatomi. En anledning till musik, att borra sig in i tiden och l\u00e5ta den vara som ett eko. Tro och tvivla p\u00e5 strukturerna, bara vid tvivel spelar musikerna s\u00e5 bra som h\u00e4r. En medveten poetisk klarh\u00f6rd musiker som K\u00fcchen har lyckats skrapa sig ner till ett virrvarr av intryck som kan stillna i en enda politisk estetisk sekund. Patti Smith har skrivit om dagen d\u00e5 Coltrane dog. Jag minns den ocks\u00e5. Allt tystnade, det mesta omkring sj\u00f6nk undan, on\u00f6diga ilskor och meningsl\u00f6sa gester, oron \u00f6ver Vietnamkriget rev i br\u00f6stet, de svartas r\u00f6relse i USA ekade, och pl\u00f6tsligt rymdes allt i detta \u00f6gonblick. Och jag tror det var detta som slog likt ett bultande hj\u00e4rta i varenda svart musikgrupp tio \u00e5r fram\u00e5t sedan.<\/p>\n

K\u00fcchen har lyckats transplantera allt detta till idag.<\/p>\n

Men det \u00e4r ingen pastisch, ta mig Coltrane om inte det h\u00e4r \u00e4r en av de b\u00e4sta frijazzplattor jag h\u00f6rt p\u00e5 mycket l\u00e4nge.
\nDet \u00e4r Martin K\u00fcchens tur nu! Som l\u00e5tskrivare, solist och kritiskt och poetiskt t\u00e4nkande musiker.<\/p>\n

“The lie and the orphanage”<\/strong>(Mathka)<\/p>\n

First of all, is that, or is that not, the best CD sleeve image we\u2019ve seen anywhere for a while? Even the new Chamy\/Dorner album cover, which is rather brilliant, isn\u2019t as great as this one. The sleeve, which is roughly the size and shape of a 7\u2033 single\u2019s wraps around a normal size CD, the third solo album by the Swedish saxophonist Martin K\u00fcchen, titled The Lie & the Orphanage and released on the Polish Mathka label. Now I really like Martin K\u00fcchen, both as a person and as a musician, and this new disc, released two or three years after his last excellent solo Homo Sacer is just more confirmation of that fact. So given I really enjoy this CD, as I suspected I would, what more is there for me to say about it?<\/p>\n

I find myself trying to dissect the album, work out how it has been made, fathom out whether there is overdubbing at work here or not, second guess how each sound is created, spot where the pocket radio (which is the only listed form of instrumentation other than baritone and alto sax) appears\u2026 While this is my natural reaction, I can\u2019t help but feel it is the wrong way to listen, or subsequently write about this music. K\u00fcchen creates eight short-ish little soundworlds on this album that each serve as little systems in themselves, often quite circular and repetitive in form, a frequent reminder that we are (mostly) listening to a human being\u2019s breath cycling through a series of metal tubes here. K\u00fcchen is amazing to watch live, a mass of tensed muscles thrown into dramatic shapes, his sax, huge in size essentially untreated bar an assortment of whiskey bottle tubes thrust intermittently into the bell, and the pocket radio, often way out of site inside the instrument, switched on and off often with the help of a foot pedal. The techniques tend to get in the way of something like this. As I have written before its better to shut my eyes and not watch at concerts. Listening now I find myself picturing Martin playing when I should be just listening. The music lives and breathes and evolves and grows enough on its own without the visual links.<\/p>\n

Each of the pieces here then feels like a little ecosystem. If I cut the images of Martin out of my head I see colonies of ants scurrying to and \u2018fro, building little structures, running around in circles, fetching and carrying material from one place to another, the whole thing supporting itself. The pieces feel thoroughly organic in a similar way, air blown into one valve, a sound made, released through another, natural rhythms forming, but changing gradually as different valves are opened, different exit routes offered, and percussive, scraping elements are added. Then there is the radio, which is only ever used to provide hissing, vibrating sounds, we never hear it tuned to any station, so it works as an extra layer of constant sound, indeed often only identifiable by its consistency, the one element not tied to the natural pulse of human breathing patterns. Some tracks sound like mini clockworks, Warszawa, (I think the same track that appeared on one of the Compost and Height Split Series releases?) uses small speedily turning percussive sounds interspersed with gasps of air, others, like the incredible Named by an unnamed source, the opening track, complete with its massive belches of sound that begin the piece are fierce masses of tumbling sounds of assorted shapes, sizes and textures. There is a feeling of K\u00fcchen pushing himself, physically, right to the edge- forcing every last gasp of breath, holding on to each exhalation that little bit longer than is comfortable, forcing rapid rhythms that need every muscle twitching in time. I wonder how many pieces were attempted, how often this music fails and recordings are left on the studio floor? I think that on the whole, apart from the closing piece, which is listed as a multitracked work all of these pieces were played straight, in real time without overdubs. I may be wrong, but as unrealistic as this may sound if you listen tot he album I suspect it to be the case.<\/p>\n

Martin K\u00fcchen is also a highly political, emotional person. The tension in his music runs on through into the titles of the pieces- (Plausible Lies, An Eye for an Eye\/Congolese women (for John Sack), Other Losses (for James Bacque) Killing the houses, killing the trees) but it comes from K\u00fcchen\u2019s personal dissatisfaction with the world we live in. If elements of this music sound angry, ugly or aggressive then we hear Martin\u2019s disgust at modern Western society expressed in abstract ways. Its impossible (and ridiculous) to try and separate music as personal as this from the person that made it, but here, knowing the man as well as his music the link is clearer than ever. The Lie and the Orphanage then is far more than just a catalogue of extended techniques, as I so wrongly once described his first solo album. Its a work of great depth and surging emotion that tugs you into its web and tears you apart if you get in too deep. Great music indeed.<\/p>\n

Richard Pinell – The watchful ear<\/p>\n

The lie & the orphanage<\/strong>\u00a0(Mathka)<\/p>\n

Troisi\u00e8me enregistrement solo de l’hyperactif et \u00e9clectique su\u00e9dois Martin K\u00fcchen, The Lie & The Orphanage, paru sur le label polonais Mathka, se situe dans la m\u00eame lign\u00e9e que les pr\u00e9c\u00e9dents. Un disque encore et toujours aux fronti\u00e8res de l’exp\u00e9rimentation et des r\u00e9surgences ancestrales.<\/p>\n

Car si K\u00fcchen utilise uniquement des techniques \u00e9tendues, sa musique n’a rien \u00e0 voir avec celle de ses homologues saxophonistes qui poussent l’exploration de l’instrument \u00e0 ses extr\u00eames. Les techniques de K\u00fcchen servent une musique imm\u00e9moriale, bas\u00e9e sur le souffle et la percussion. Concr\u00e8tement, cela donne bien s\u00fbr une amplification des cl\u00e9s et des tampons, un souffle accentu\u00e9 et omnipr\u00e9sent: mais le but de K\u00fcchen n’est pas d’explorer l’instrument, cette exploration est mise au service d’un contenu beaucoup moins aust\u00e8re que les recherches froides men\u00e9es sur le timbre auxquelles nous sommes habitu\u00e9s. Ici, le rythme est au premier plan, chaque composition se trame sur une pulsation primordiale, une pulsation sur laquelle peut se d\u00e9ployer la musique, dont l’absence serait d\u00e9vastatrice.<\/p>\n

C’est ensuite un souffle qui surplombe cette pulsation, parfois une m\u00e9lodie aux sonorit\u00e9s proches de la fl\u00fbte, parfois un simple son modifi\u00e9 par les cl\u00e9s, ou encore les cl\u00e9s seules, etc., les possibilit\u00e9s sont infinies.
\nK\u00fcchen nous plonge dans une musique imm\u00e9moriale, ancestrale, qui appartient aujourd’hui \u00e0 l’inconscient collectif.
\nL’approche est organique, des id\u00e9es simples se d\u00e9ploient non sans nous affecter profond\u00e9ment, car les compositions mises au point par ce jeune prodige sont extr\u00eamement \u00e9motionnelles, elles sont m\u00eames brulantes de sentiments: la haine du mensonge, la tristesse de l’orphelinat peut-\u00eatre, la m\u00e9lancolie, mais aussi et surtout la joie et l’\u00e9nergie propres aux rites et aux c\u00e9r\u00e9monies, l’espoir fond\u00e9 par la magie de la musique.<\/p>\n

The Lie & The Orphanage regroupe huit pi\u00e8ces assez courtes, chacune poss\u00e8de son propre caract\u00e8re, et toutes nous affectent diff\u00e9remment, K\u00fcchen nous guide dans des territoires musicaux et sentimentaux uniques (parce qu’inconscients?), mais qui sont n\u00e9anmoins tous ancr\u00e9s dans un paysage empreint d’humanit\u00e9 et de ritualisme.
\nDes compositions organiques, puissantes, riches (derri\u00e8re l’apparente monotonie de la pulsation se cache parfois des compositions rythmiques \u00e9tonnantes), et toujours cr\u00e9atives. Magnifique!<\/p>\n

Julien H\u00e9raud, 2011 http:\/\/improv-sphere.blogspot.com\/<\/p>\n

“The lie and the orphanage”\u00a0<\/strong>(Mathka)<\/p>\n

(…) Suffice it to say that this is an outstanding recording, something everyone reading this should hear.<\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

It could be a walrus. Some very large, ungainly, semi-aquatic creature expelling air through a hole layered with tissue and fat and hairs. But then multiple apertures open at once and the creature just spouts information, chaotic from one angle, streamlined from another. Effluvia momentarily expelled, the beast lies down and breathes in short, percolating gasps, quiet but insistent. The pressure builds, however, surging in near-regular waves, causing the organ-walls to quiver, liquid to shudder, wind-drying them, forcing them to grind to a stuttering halt. Gasping again, more desperate and asthmatic, the inhaler partially blocked by fibers, the meager air whistling as it’s sucked in, exhaled. At last, the whole bubbling, churning, motoric organism shifts into gear, half-beast, half-machine, navigating through viscous fluid, eating, excreting, copulating as it makes its way from pool to pool.<\/p>\n

These were my initial thoughts on hearing Martin K\u00fcchen’s solo album, before seeing the cover image! I was pleased that my imagery at least resided in the proper class, mammalia. K\u00fcchen’s work had always connoted something extremely organic to me, combined with a strong sense of ground, of dirt and well-trodden floors. On “The Lie & The Orphanage”, he evokes both of those sensations in spades, grinding, wheezing, gutturally rumbling with extreme corporeality and determination, eliciting sounds that, even in this age of post-saxophonic exploration, are startlingly new. Much more importantly, they read as true, as deeply felt expostulations, all building to the astonishingly visceral, multi-tracked finale. Strong, vital work.<\/p>\n

Brian Olewnick – Olewnick.blogspot.com<\/p>\n

“The Lie & the orphanage”<\/strong>\u00a0(Mathka)
\nAv: Thomas Millroth
\nEtt soloalbum p\u00e5 baryton och altsax + litet annat. K\u00fcchen skapar fr\u00e5n start ett rullande, pulserande, trampande sound som k\u00e4nns allt ot\u00e5ligare.
\nKlangen \u00e4r dov, n\u00e4stan hotfull, eller os\u00e4ker, som om han s\u00f6kte efter ljudkombinationer han visserligen finner, men ocks\u00e5 bara delvis snuddar vid. Jag kan t\u00e4nka mig att det \u00e4ven \u00e4r id\u00e9n. Att inte fastna i sina egna svallv\u00e5gor. Att inte f\u00e5 sista ordet.
\nHans musik porlar och rinner fram\u00e5t, men den \u00e4r ocks\u00e5 vass och kantig, snittytorna i musiken f\u00e5r den att v\u00e4lla fram. Nya bitar fogas ihop.
\nAlbumet framst\u00e5r f\u00f6r mig som en reflexion \u00f6ver l\u00f6gnens makt \u00f6ver v\u00e5rt spr\u00e5k och v\u00e5ra liv. Hur vi fogas in i sammanhang som kanske inte alls \u00e4r sanna. Och hur historien ocks\u00e5 v\u00e4ller in \u00f6ver oss, d\u00e5 den lyckas bryta de f\u00f6rd\u00e4mningar som byggts upp. Hela Europa \u00e4r fyllt. Se bara hur de centraleuropeiska staterna \u00e5ter fyller parlament och folks sinnen med rasism och sj\u00e4lvgodhet. Det \u00e4r ber\u00e4ttelser som sett ut p\u00e5 ett vis d\u00e5 det passade och ett annat senare. H\u00e4r ryms existentiella val. Som ocks\u00e5 blir t ex en familjs historia.
\nK\u00fcchen ber\u00e4ttar om sin tyske far, som \u201dvar den ende i familjen som slagits p\u00e5 Hitlers sida\u201d, han ber\u00e4ttar om f\u00e5ngl\u00e4gren f\u00f6r de tyska soldaterna, men antyder \u00e4ven en annan historia, de allierades \u00f6vergrepp. D\u00e5 r\u00f6r han sig med denna parallell ocks\u00e5 i musiken mot s\u00e5riga omr\u00e5den i minne och k\u00e4nslor. Han river sig ner genom s\u00e5rskorporna. Och jag minns vad min egen far ber\u00e4ttade om d\u00f6d, val, motst\u00e5nd. I holl\u00e4ndska motst\u00e5ndsr\u00f6relsen genomf\u00f6rde han under kriget ett bombd\u00e5d mot tyska officerare. Bomben exploderade, men vad han inte visste var att tysk trupp var n\u00e4ra, han kom undan bara f\u00f6r att se hur de grep alla civila och avr\u00e4ttade dem. D\u00e5 han ber\u00e4ttat detta teg han och v\u00e4grade n\u00e5gonsin mer ber\u00f6ra \u00e4mnet. Det finns s\u00e5 mycket l\u00f6gner kring allt detta, ensidigheter som ocks\u00e5 sk\u00e4r rakt in i v\u00e5r egen historia idag. Hos mig lika v\u00e4l som Martin K\u00fcchen.
\nDet alkemiska undret \u00e4r hur denna s\u00e5riga variga historia om d\u00f6d liv l\u00f6gn f\u00f6rvandlas till en t\u00e4t fl\u00f6dande, litet hackig musik som sp\u00e4nner mellan s\u00e5rkanter och bandage, som \u00f6ppnar ljudrum d\u00e4r det bara \u00e4r att g\u00e5 in och vistas, fascinerad. Det \u00e4r mycket rituellt, pockande, maniskt, s\u00f6kande.
\nHan har allts\u00e5 en anledning att l\u00e4gga denna solomusik t\u00e4tt inp\u00e5. Strukturer, variationer, klanger \u00e4r inte enbart f\u00f6r skojs skull. Likt ett spr\u00e5k m\u00e5ste de behandlas och betraktas. Instrumentet snittar upp v\u00e4ven \u2013 av l\u00f6gner, av f\u00f6rest\u00e4llningar, av val \u2013 och \u00f6ppnar f\u00f6r nya strukturer. Att pr\u00f6va p\u00e5.
\nUppgiften \u00e4r grannlaga och fr\u00e5gan \u00e4r ju ocks\u00e5 om musiken inte bara \u00e4r angel\u00e4gen utan ocks\u00e5 en angel\u00e4genhet.
\nDen har passion, l\u00e4ngtan, k\u00e4rlek, k\u00e5thet, sorg, sm\u00e4rta, ja, allt men uttryckt p\u00e5 ett vis fj\u00e4rran fr\u00e5n alla klich\u00e9er (= fibrerna i l\u00f6gnv\u00e4ven). Maniskt pulserande mitt i extasen har Martin K\u00fcchens spel vad som f\u00f6rr brukade kallas duende. \u00d6ronen och tankarna sl\u00e4pper inte denna musik i f\u00f6rsta taget.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New review on Enola (in dutch) on\u00a0“Bauchreder”\u00a0, released on Cathnor records in 2015. Review of\u00a0“Injuries”\u00a0at the All about Jazz-site Review of “…and everything inside came down as dust..\u00a0.” at Brian Olewnick\u00b4s Just outside blog And\u00a0“Injuries”\u00a05 star review on Stef\u00b4s Freejazzblog Review of\u00a0“…and everything inside came down as dust…” From Stef\u00b4s Freejazzblog Angles 9 \u2013 In … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Reviews”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-51","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinkuchen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/51","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinkuchen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinkuchen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinkuchen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinkuchen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/martinkuchen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/51\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinkuchen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}