New Batch – Astral Spirits
8.21.18 by Ryan Masteller

As you should be aware at this point, if an Astral Spirits batch shows up in your mailbox, you stop what you’re doing, no matter what it is, and turn your full attention toward that new batch. (In my case it was helping my father-in-law carry a heavy bookshelf – he was pretty pissed when I dropped my end and ran toward the approaching mail truck.) Somehow, the Austin tape (and, cough, record) label has made it all the way to batch number 17, as if it were old enough to drive around its friends now or something in its 1976 T-top Pontiac Firebird. Monofonus Press obviously gets shotgun. Is that Holodeck in the back seat? Doesn’t matter. Seventeen’s a good number for an honest jazz label these days.

Did I say jazz? I uh – you know it’s jazz. Don’t look at me like that, like you were expecting something different. This is only the most far-out, forward thinking jazz, and you KNOW it’s in your best interests to wipe that smirk off your face. What, you think this is something tragic, like jazz funk? No sir, not even a little bit. You need to tune in right now in order to have your mind blown. It might be so intense that you end up losing your sight, like so many jazz musicians as they get older.

Sorry for the video links – I’ve been on a Mighty Boosh kick. I’unno.

Drummer Andrew Barker’s back fresh off his “Polyhedron” tape with Daniel Carter, this time fronting – well, lending his surname to – the Barker Trio. He’s joined on tenor and soprano saxophones by Michael Foster and on bass by Tim Dahl, and when they’re not laying waste to whatever practice space they inhabit or whatever recording studio they enter, pushing the limits of chaos within improvisation, they’re riding a groove, feeding off each other as they try to maintain the tenuous mind-meld they’ve achieved. And maybe that mind-meld isn’t so tenuous after all – I mean, they rip through almost seventeen minutes of the title track of “Avert Your I” without even pretending to care about their health or well-being. I mean, seriously guys, do a little warming up first! Some lunges, jumping jacks, a few pushups or something. And that’s the norm. Even in the more cavernous sections of this tape, like “Spacial Needs” [sic] where everybody pulls back, and those electronics mentioned in the liner notes come into play, there’s a level of mischievous abandon, like they’re building a structure out of glass bells, but they know they’re going to knock it over any second. And then they knock it over. And it’s awesome.

Signe Dahlgreen doesn’t need a drummer or a bassist, though – that’s right, she doesn’t need ANYBODY. Which is sort of surprising, because this is the first solo release (in conjunction with Insula Music) by the Swedish saxophonist, and she just steps out into the middle of the spotlight shining down from my imagination on the imaginary stage that I imagine she’s standing on in front of all the imaginary bigwigs of all the jazz record labels from time immemorial. I mean, bravo, Signe Dahlgreen, bravo – that’s impressive stuff right there. It takes chutzpah to step out on your own, cojones, sheer strength of will. And then to control your instrument with such precision, to guide it through intense exercises, rhythms, drones, patterns, and virtuosic nimbleness, holding back at times, careening at others – I think we’ve got a winner here. Now, the only question is, what the heck is a “Kunki Snuk”?

Speaking of winners, speaking of maybe one of the most surprising and excellent recorded pieces of music I have come upon this year, speaking of brash musicians getting brasher by the second, speaking of this cauldron of bubbling friendship and free jammage, speaking of the diabolical takeover of my afternoon by a bunch of hairy psych freaks – wait a second, there’s no need for name-calling. There IS a need to involve yourself almost immediately and certainly fully with “Ronda,” a collaborative effort between Chicago free-rockers Mako Sica and “legendary percussionist” Hamid Drake (and also a joint release with Feeding Tube Records). Over two separate recording sessions, the Fab Four (patent pending) hit a groove together, which is not super surprising considering some of these tracks are expansions upon Mako Sica tunes, although others were formed from the primordial goo of improvisation. Like all the best freeform psych rock, the pieces that comprise “Ronda” stretch out seemingly forever, nailing vibe after vibe as they shift and sway in the clutches of master handlers.

Charles Barabé may seem like an interesting addition to the Astral Spirits roster, and you would be right on the money with that assessment. I had some variation of the following thoughts once I saw his tape among this batch: Would this even work here? Will the Astral Spirits audience understand? The electronic artist doesn’t scream “jazz!” or “improv!” like many others among the ranks, but let’s see where this goes… I was not alone, as the bigwigs at Astral Spirits pretty much went through the exact same cognitive exercise when Barabé approached them to do a release. (See, we’re peas in a pod!) But one listen to “De la fragilité” had them (and me) not really worrying about anything anymore – they just happened to be in the possession of a damn fine cassette tape. The six “Mouvements” that make up “De la fragilité,” while being distinct from each other in certain ways, flow into one another with absolute intention, the delicate electronics and musique concrète manifesting into palpable mood. As viewed through the lens of modern classical performance, they fit right in with the most forward-thinking releases on the Astral Spirits catalog. Who knew, but Charles Barabé has found a surprising new home for his music!

The Barker Trio and Signe Dahlgreen tapes come in editions of 150, and Barabé and “Ronda” are in editions of 175. As usual, the house design stuns. Never deviate from it!