Coastal The Field Mice

Spleen Arcana is born from the ashes of past musical projects led by Julien Gaullier, a self taught multi-instrumentalist from France who composes music at home since 1994. Inspired by vintage progressive rock and musical heroes like Marillion, Anathema, Radiohead or Mike Oldfield, Julien decides to release a first album on his own, playing any instruments he could get his hands on and starting to record every note he wrote with the equipment he found around him. Helped later by David Perron on the drums and Marie Guillaumet for additionnal vocals. Years passed, songs evolved, sound changed, some equipment even broke. The result of this chaotic musical adventure, called The Field Where She Died, is a raw but sincere first album coming from a long passionate process.

Battle of the Field was recorded by the Albion Country Band in 1973, but it wasn't released until 1976. The delay didn't really matter, since the group's music – traditional English folk played on electric instruments – is essentially timeless. The group wasn't quite as skilled as Fairport Convention, but they were nevertheless extraordinarily talented, and this arguably remains their finest moment.

New York-based composer and producer Kelly Moran’s intricate, experimental pieces transcend the piano’s more traditional and classically-imposed school of thought. On her forthcoming new album for Warp, Moran augments her pianistic abilities to superhuman levels in order to create a new strain of her singular experimental piano compositions. Hypnotic and emotive, the coming project solidifies Moran’s role as one of the leading contemporary composers for the piano, constantly pushing the instrument’s creative and sonic boundaries in the realms of classical and electronic music.

With his riveting performance in the inaugural Sequesterfest online festival in April 2020, Ken Vandermark inspired the Black Cross Solo Sessions. Already in the early days of lockdown, making good on the promise – or threat – of protracted off-road time, Vandermark had dedicated himself to the creation of a new book of works for solo reed instruments, which he debuted that day. The result of this watershed moment for the Chicago-based improvisor and composer was a body of works that reassert his seriousness and test his ability to reflect and reevaluate. The compositions, which are platforms for invention, are dealt with in relatively economical, almost stripped-down fashion, ringing with a kind of bell-like clarity and focus. Most tracks are on the shorter side, straight to the point, featuring the rippling intensity that is a Vandermark hallmark, but with an altogether reborn sense of purpose.

Jenny Scheinman - Crossing The Field (2008) {Koch Records KOC-CD-4590}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 339 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 139 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 26 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2008 Koch Records / Jenny Scheinman | KOC-CD-4590
Jazz / Modern Creative / Avant-Garde / Modal Music / Violin

Violinist Jenny Scheinman's instrumental companion recording to her eponymously titled vocal-emphasized effort of the same time period in 2008 is both an opposite reaction to pop styles and an extension of orchestral music with modern-day twists and turns. It reflects her time working with electric guitarist Bill Frisell, who appears on this date, and also gives a bigger picture of her classical influences via a huge string ensemble, while hinting at the modern creative jazz where her violin voicings take a firmer grip at the core.