Artist: Craig Taborn’s Junk Magic
Title: Compass Confusion
Label: Pyroclastic Records
Release Date: 10/30/20
Personnel: Chris Speed – saxophone; Erik Fratzke – bass; Mat Maneri – viola; David King – drums; Craig Taborn – piano, keyboard and synthesizer
Impression: Compass Confusion detonates at the junction of Partch Parkway and Autechre Avenue forming it’s own superhighway, and then curtly curtsies as the most satisfying listening experience of 2020.
More Info: Craig Taborn’s site , Pyroclastic Records and Compass Confusion page
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Artist: Mary Halvorson’s Code Girl
Title: Artlessly Falling
Label: Firehouse 12 Records
Release Date: 10/30/20
Personnel: Amirtha Kidambi – voice; Maria Grand – tenor saxophone, voice; Adam O’Farrill – trumpet; Mary Halvorson – guitar; Michael Formanek – bass; Tomas Fujiwara – drums, beer cans on track 2; Robert Wyatt – voice on tracks 1, 3, 5
Impression: Just when we were convinced the core of Mary Halvorson’s Code Girl couldn’t be improved upon, along comes the improbable and inspired inclusion of Robert Wyatt on guest vocals, one of so few utter delights of 2020 – though technically recorded in 2019, so maybe 2020 is actually all bad – only November will tell.
More Info: Mary Halvorson’s site and Firehouse 12 Records site
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Buy Here: Bandcamp
Artist: Joshua Van Tassel
Title: Dance Music Volume II: More Songs For Slow Motion
Label: Backward Music
Release Date: 09/11/20
Personnel: Joshua Van Tassel – Ondea, Therevox, piano, vibraphone, field recordings, electronics; The Venuti String Quartet: Drew Jurecka – Violin Rebekah Wolkstein – Violin Lydia Muchinsky- Cello Shannon Knights – Viola
Impression: Horrendous acts of hatred and villainy have begotten great beauty: Messiaen’s Quatuor pour la fin du temps, Picasso’s Guernica, and Basinski‘s The Disintegration Loops are now joined by Van Tassel’s Dance Music Volume II: More Songs For Slow Motion.
More Info: Joshua Van Tassel site
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Buy Here: Bandcamp