Houseplant (album)
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Houseplant (album)
''Houseplant'' is the fifth album by drummer Jim Black's AlasNoAxis featuring clarinetist/saxophonist Chris Speed, guitarist Hilmar Jensson and bassist Skúli Sverrisson recorded in 2008 and released on the Winter & Winter label.Winter & Winter discography
accessed November 27, 2014


Reception

In his review for , Dave Lynch said "it would be inaccurate to describe ''Houseplant'' as stifled music -- the nearly epic title track might even be heard as soundtracking the titular foliage’s dream of escape, complete with the walls tumbling down -- but at the very least Black, even with his often economical and even understated drumming here, seems intent on exploring how deeply held emotions can be e ...
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Jim Black
Jim Black is an American jazz drummer who has performed with Tim Berne and Dave Douglas. He attended Berklee College of Music. Career His band AlasNoAxis includes Hilmar Jensson on electric guitar, Chris Speed on tenor saxophone and clarinet, and Skúli Sverrisson on bass guitar. The music is in some ways closer to post-rock than jazz, concentrating on rhythmic shifts and ensemble texture rather than featured solos. Since 2000 Winter & Winter has released several of the band's albums. Pachora includes Black, Speed, Sverrisson, and Brad Shepik on tambura and electric saz. This band plays music that is rhythmically diverse and inspired by Balkan rhythms. Black participated as drummer 12 in the Boredoms 77 Boadrum performance on July 7, 2007 at the Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park in Brooklyn, New York. He is also one-third of the group BBC (Berne/Black/Cline) with alto saxophonist Berne and Nels Cline of Wilco. The group released the album ''The Veil'' in 2011. Discography ...
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Winter & Winter Records Albums
Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultures define different dates as the start of winter, and some use a definition based on weather. When it is winter in the Northern Hemisphere, it is summer in the Southern Hemisphere, and vice versa. In many regions, winter brings snow and freezing temperatures. The moment of winter solstice is when the Sun's elevation with respect to the North or South Pole is at its most negative value; that is, the Sun is at its farthest below the horizon as measured from the pole. The day on which this occurs has the shortest day and the longest night, with day length increasing and night length decreasing as the season progresses after the solstice. The earliest sunset and latest sunrise dates outside the polar regions differ from the date of the winter s ...
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Electric Bass
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck The neck is the part of the body on many vertebrates that connects the head with the torso. The neck supports the weight of the head and protects the nerves that carry sensory and motor information from the brain down to the rest of the body. In ... and Scale length (string instruments), scale length, and typically four to six string (music), strings or Course (music), courses. Since the mid-1950s, the bass guitar has largely replaced the double bass in popular music. The four-string bass is usually tuned the same as the double bass, which corresponds to pitches one octave lower than the four lowest-pitched strings of a guitar (typically E, A, D, and G). It is played primarily with the fingers or thumb, or with a plectrum, pick. To be heard ...
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Electric Guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic guitar exist). It uses one or more pickups to convert the vibration of its strings into electrical signals, which ultimately are reproduced as sound by loudspeakers. The sound is sometimes shaped or electronically altered to achieve different timbres or tonal qualities on the amplifier settings or the knobs on the guitar from that of an acoustic guitar. Often, this is done through the use of effects such as reverb, distortion and "overdrive"; the latter is considered to be a key element of electric blues guitar music and jazz and rock guitar playing. Invented in 1932, the electric guitar was adopted by jazz guitar players, who wanted to play single-note guitar solos in large big band ensembles. Early proponents of the electric guitar on ...
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Tenor Saxophone
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while the alto is pitched in the key of E), and written as a transposing instrument in the treble clef, sounding an octave and a major second lower than the written pitch. Modern tenor saxophones which have a high F key have a range from A2 to E5 (concert) and are therefore pitched one octave below the soprano saxophone. People who play the tenor saxophone are known as "tenor saxophonists", "tenor sax players", or "saxophonists". The tenor saxophone uses a larger mouthpiece, reed and ligature than the alto and soprano saxophones. Visually, it is easily distinguished by the curve in its neck, or its crook, near the mouthpiece. The alto saxophone lacks this and its neck goes straight to the mouthpiece. The tenor saxophone is most recognized for it ...
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Laptop
A laptop, laptop computer, or notebook computer is a small, portable personal computer (PC) with a screen and alphanumeric keyboard. Laptops typically have a clam shell form factor with the screen mounted on the inside of the upper lid and the keyboard on the inside of the lower lid, although 2-in-1 PCs with a detachable keyboard are often marketed as laptops or as having a "laptop mode". Laptops are folded shut for transportation, and thus are suitable for mobile use. They are so named because they can be practically placed on a person's lap when being used. Today, laptops are used in a variety of settings, such as at work, in education, for playing games, web browsing, for personal multimedia, and for general home computer use. As of 2022, in American English, the terms ''laptop computer'' and ''notebook computer'' are used interchangeably; in other dialects of English, one or the other may be preferred. Although the terms ''notebook computers'' or ''notebooks'' or ...
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Drum Kit
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player ( drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks, one in each hand, and uses their feet to operate a foot-controlled hi-hat and bass drum pedal. A standard kit may contain: * A snare drum, mounted on a stand * A bass drum, played with a beater moved by a foot-operated pedal * One or more tom-toms, including rack toms and/or floor toms * One or more cymbals, including a ride cymbal and crash cymbal * Hi-hat cymbals, a pair of cymbals that can be manipulated by a foot-operated pedal The drum kit is a part of the standard rhythm section and is used in many types of popular and traditional music styles, ranging from rock and pop to blues and jazz. __TOC__ History Early development Before the development of the drum set, drums and cymbals used in military and orchestral m ...
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Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the database was first made available on the Internet in 1994. AllMusic is owned by RhythmOne. History AllMusic was launched as ''All Music Guide'' by Michael Erlewine, a "compulsive archivist, noted astrologer, Buddhist scholar and musician". He became interested in using computers for his astrological work in the mid-1970s and founded a software company, Matrix, in 1977. In the early 1990s, as CDs replaced LPs as the dominant format for recorded music, Erlewine purchased what he thought was a CD of early recordings by Little Richard. After buying it he discovered it was a "flaccid latter-day rehash". Frustrated with the labeling, he researched using metadata to create a music guide. In 1990, in Big Rapids, Michigan, he founded ''All Music Guide' ...
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Improvised Music
Musical improvisation (also known as musical extemporization) is the creative activity of immediate ("in the moment") musical composition, which combines performance with communication of emotions and instrumental technique as well as spontaneous response to other musicians. Sometimes musical ideas in improvisation are spontaneous, but may be based on chord changes in classical music and many other kinds of music. One definition is a "performance given extempore without planning or preparation". Another definition is to "play or sing (music) extemporaneously, by inventing variations on a melody or creating new melodies, rhythms and harmonies". ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' defines it as "the extemporaneous composition or free performance of a musical passage, usually in a manner conforming to certain stylistic norms but unfettered by the prescriptive features of a specific musical text." Improvisation is often done within (or based on) a pre-existing harmonic framework or chord p ...
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Winter & Winter Records
Winter & Winter is a record label in Munich, Germany that specializes in jazz, classical and improvised music. It was founded by Stefan Winter following the demise of his JMT Records label. Since 1997 Winter & Winter has released records by Dave Douglas, Paul Motian, Jim Black, Fred Frith and Uri Caine and rereleased albums from the JMT catalogue, including recordings by Steve Coleman, Cassandra Wilson, Greg Osby, Django Bates, and Paul Motian. Discography {, class="wikitable sortable" , - !Year released !Catalogue No. !Artist !Title !Notes , - , 1997 , 910 001 , Paolo Beschi , ''Bach Cello Solo I, II, III'' , , - , 1997 , 910 002 , Gary Thomas , ''Found on Sordid Streets'' , , - , 1997 , 910 003 , Marc Ducret , ''Détail'' , , - , 1997 , 910 004 , Uri Caine , '' Urlicht / Primal Light'' , , - , 1997 , 910 005 , Big Satan , '' Big Satan'' , , - , 1997 , 910 006 , La Gaia Scienza , ''Schubert Trio I'' , , - , 1997 , 910 008 , Paul Motian , '' Sound of Love'' , ...
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Skúli Sverrisson
Skúli Sverrisson (born 23 October 1966) is an Icelandic composer and bass guitarist. He has worked with musicians Wadada Leo Smith, Derek Bailey, Lou Reed, Jon Hassell, David Sylvian, Arto Lindsay, and composers Ryuichi Sakamoto, Jóhann Jóhannsson, and Hildur Guðnadóttir. He is known for his work as artistic director for Ólöf Arnalds, recordings with Blonde Redhead, and as musical director for Laurie Anderson. Skúli released duo albums with Anthony Burr, Oskar Gudjonsson, and Hilmar Jensson. He has been a member of Pachora, Alas No Axis, the Allan Holdsworth group, and the Ben Monder group. His solo works include ''Seremonie'' in 1997 and ''Sería'' in 2006. ''Seria'' was chosen Best Album of the Year by the Icelandic Music Awards. Skúli plays dobro, double bass, and charango, in addition to bass guitar. He has composed music for the Icelandic Dance Company (Open Source), the National Theatre of Iceland (Volva), and films and installations such as ''Welcome'' an ...
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