A dual contact microphone recording of a temporary wind harp.

Recorded 15 February 2021 at Walltown Crags, Northumberland, UK.
54°59'24.0"N 2°30'46.0"W
Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/GLVb4qVRaCbDXk8y9

Part of the Hidden-by-the-Wall Open Remix project:
soundcloud.com/zoviet-france/sets/hidden-by-the-wall-open-remix/

© 2021 This recording is made available under creative commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/)

Wind Harp, Walltown Crags

Why?

"Total abstraction could be a scenario contrary to greenhouse gas emissions. Where the icebreaker crosses the cold, white Antarctica. You are seeing one of the most curious and wonderful couples or duos that inhabit this world. The emperor penguin displays his love and devotion by looking for the most precious stone to give to his partner. He does so by burying his palm in the snow, probing and exploring. Sounds of a wind that freezes the eyelids, a simple and minimalist sound, that wakes me up to a not very sustainable reality with its warmth. I want to continue sleeping, and listen to this melody."

Snow Palms (@snow_palms) are David Sheppard and Matt Gooderson (@mattgooderson) a minimalism duo that make music by beginning not with a concept, but with a process. Their contemporary classical sound world takes elements from 1960s Minimalism, the sound palettes of exotica and ambient, and the traditional instruments of Africa and Southeast Asia. At their core, Snow Palms excavate kinetic and resonant architectures that oscillate between the acoustic and the electronic; in the patterns and processes of systems in tandem with the vibratory energy of the universe.

https://www.instagram.com/snow_palms/
https://snowpalms.bandcamp.com/

HOCast #67 - Snow Palms

1. Pauline Oliveros, Stuart Dempster, Panaiotis "Deep Listening " 2LP
2. Alina Kalancea "Impedance" 2LP
3. Ned Lagin "Seastones" LP (feat. Jerry Garcia)
4. Harry Bertoia "Glowing Sounds" LP
5. ELEH "Harmonic Twins" LP
6. Alessandro Cortini "Forse" CD Box set
7. Eliane Radigue "Chry-Ptus" 2LP
8. NYZ "Millz Medz" LP
9. Shasta Cults LP
10. Alina Kalancea "Impedance" 2LP

IMPREC/Important Records:  Late 2020 / Early 2021

OTOROKU is proud to present the first vinyl reissue of Blue Notes for Mongezi, one of the most passionate celebrations of a life in music ever laid to tape. Recorded in late 1975 by Blue Notes, then reduced to a quartet - Dudu Pukwana on  alto sax, whistle, percussion, and vocals; Johnny Dyani on bass, bells, and vocals; Louis Moholo-Moholo on drums, percussion, and vocals; and Chris McGregor on piano, and percussion - and issued the following year by Ogun, the album is a kairos; the first commercial release by one of free jazz’s seminal ensembles, captured them 13 years after their founding - at the height of their powers - delivering an explosive dirge dedicated to Mongezi Feza, their former bandmate and friend. 

Blue Notes were founded in Cape Town in 1962 and stand among the most important ensembles in the history of jazz. Artistically brilliant and groundbreaking - gathering, within a few short years, a devoted following that included Don Cherry, Steve Lacy, Abdullah Ibrahim, Dexter Gordon, Kenny Drew,Keith Tippett, Evan Parker, John Stevens, and numerous others - they were also the first widely visible multiracial band in South Africa.

As a mixed race band under South African apartheid; this group of friends and like-minded artists - Chris McGregor, Mongezi Feza, Dudu Pukwana, Nikele Moyake, Johnny Dyani and Louis Moholo-Moholo -  existed within a context that viewed their mere existence as a dangerous and subversive act. In 1964, as the pressure mounted, they joined an exodus of musicians leaving for Europe, eventually settling in London during the following year. Sadly, not long after arriving and facing continued economic peril, the group buckled. Johnny Dyani left to join Don Cherry’s band. Moholo-Moholo and Dyani followed suit and joined Steve Lacy on tour, and the remaining members morphed into a number of ensembles that eventually grew to become Chris McGregor's Brotherhood Of Breath.

In late 1975 however, Mongezi Feza - in the midst of a fruitful period collaborating with Dudu Pukwana, Johnny Dyani, and Okay Temiz - suddenly passed away at the age of thirty from pneumonia. Nine days later, on the 23rd December, following the memorial service to their friend, Pukwana, Dyani, McGregor, and Moholo-Moholo gathered in a rehearsal room in London and set out to play. Fittingly, no discussion took place before or during the session. The music was left to say it all.  

The resulting double LP coalesced into four long-form movements that occupy a side each, collectively unleashing an onslaught of free jazz fire, fluidly covering a remarkable range of moods and tactical approaches across it’s length. For anyone encountering the Blue Notes for the first time, the album must have felt like being blindsided by a brick, adding a profound sense of credence to Moholo-Moholo’s belief that free improvisation was intrinsically linked to the Pan-African temperament. In the band’s hands, the idiom sounds like nothing else and exactly as it should. 

A frenzied funeral dirge, a cry, and catharsis, the record rises and falls between playful and joyous movements of deconstructed song, rhythmic and vocal tribalism, and churning, instrumental free expression. It indicates not only a possible future for musical expression - as all truly avant-garde music does - but also the very roots of music itself, illuminating, through abstraction, the far-flung, ancient roots currently carried by the New Orleans “first line” march to the grave. It is a decidedly African vision of free jazz, coalescing as a collective expression of celebration and loss on a cold London day. It is a masterpiece unfolding in real time - out on a limb and laden with risk - created by four of the most talented voices the idiom has known.  

---

DUDU PUKWANA / alto sax, whistle, percussion, vocals

CHRIS McGREGOR / piano, percussion

LOUIS MOHOLO / drums, percussion, vocals

JOHNNY DYANI / bass, bell, vocals and most of the words

ROKURE005 - Blue Notes For Mongezi "First Movement"

The Twenty-ninth rev.251005

korg ms20; SQ1; Volga beat ; Casio mt 800: Roland cube 30 ; boss rrv 10 : tascam m08;  prodipe tt 1

balade pour tout le monde

TR100 - Maggie Nichols - Shadow and Light Source Both

To honor the recent passing of composer Harold Budd, this special edition of Wayward in Limbo features a live recording of a very special concert by Harold and Seattle bassist Keith Lowe. 

The performance took place at the Good Shepherd Center Chapel in Seattle on June 11, 2009 to celebrate the release of Harold's book of poetry, "Colorful Fortune." It was co-presented by Nonsequitur and publishers Heavenly Monkey Editions (Vancouver) and MoonLiner Books (Seattle). Thanks to Rob Angus for the beautiful recording, and to Keith Lowe for agreeing to share it with us.

And thank you, Harold, for gracing this world with your beautiful music. You are appreciated and missed.

Wayward in Limbo #89 – Harold Budd & Keith Lowe

Dont Use Headphones

Arcane Patterns on Noods Radio from February 25 2021 w/ Kl.ne & a guest mix by DJ Raph from Nairobi, Kenya. DJ Raph is an outstanding producer and sound artist that magically combines field recordings with contemporary club sounds. His mix is called "The Clearing":  a longing for gathering out in the woods under an open sky and no virus particles in the wind. 

Artwork: Laura Mascarenhas

Tracklist:
https://noodsradio.com/shows/arcane-patterns-w-kl-ne-dj-raph-25th-february-21

Noods Radio Resident Page:
noodsradio.com/residents/arcane-patterns

Arcane Patterns #29 on Noods Radio w/ Kl.ne & Guest Mix by DJ Raph

As you can imagine we are under huge pressure at the moment and are working flat out to ensure Cafe OTO survives this. The impact of this situation is extremely acute for small venues like ours and we need all the support we can get to pull through. Please donate what you can, if you can. Thank you. 

Cafe OTO opened in April 2008 with the aim of providing a home for creative new music that exists outside of the mainstream. It comprises one large cafe/performance space open during the day serving food and drink with an evening programme of live music almost seven nights a week. 

OTOROKU is part of OTOProjects - a not-for-profit Community Interest Company (CIC) that has been set up to manage the programme at Café Oto. Any profits from OTOROKU are put back into supporting what we do and will help us to continue programming the best musicians and performers from all over the world.

www.cafeoto.co.uk

TR100 - Maggie Nichols - Shadow and Light Source Both

cafeOTO