''Unsquare'' is a 2008
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
by
Maybe Monday
Maybe Monday is an American experimental music, experimental electroacoustic improvisation music ensemble comprising guitarist Fred Frith, koto (musical instrument), koto player Miya Masaoka and saxophone, saxophonist Larry Ochs (musician), Larr ...
, a
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
based
experimental
An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...
electroacoustic improvisation
Live electronic music (also known as live electronics) is a form of music that can include traditional electronic sound-generating devices, modified electric musical instruments, hacked sound generating technologies, and computers. Initially the pr ...
music ensemble featuring guitarist
Fred Frith
Jeremy Webster "Fred" Frith (born 17 February 1949) is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser.
Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock ...
,
koto
Koto may refer to:
* Koto (band), an Italian synth pop group
* Koto (instrument), a Japanese musical instrument
* Koto (kana), a ligature of two Japanese katakana
* Koto (traditional clothing), a traditional dress made by Afro-Surinamese women
* K ...
player
Miya Masaoka
Miya Masaoka (born 1958, Washington, DC) is an American composer, musician, and sound artist active in the field of contemporary classical music and experimental music. Her work encompasses contemporary classical composition, improvisation, ele ...
and
saxophonist
The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...
Larry Ochs. It is their third album and includes guest musicians
Gerry Hemingway
Gerry Hemingway (born March 23, 1955) is an American drummer and composer.
Hemingway was a member of the Anthony Braxton quartet from 1983 to 1994. He has also performed with Ernst Reijseger, Anthony Davis, Earl Howard, Leo Smith, George E. ...
,
Carla Kihlstedt
Carla Kihlstedt (born 1971) is an American composer, violinist, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist, originally from Lancaster, Pennsylvania and currently working from a home studio on Cape Cod.
She is a founding member of Tin Hat Trio (1997, ...
,
Ikue Mori
(born 17 December 1953), also known as Ikue Ile, is a drummer, electronic musician, composer, and graphic designer. Mori was awarded a "Genius grant" from the MacArthur Foundation in 2022.
Biography
Ikue Mori was born and raised in Japan. She sa ...
and
Zeena Parkins
Zeena Parkins (born 1956) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist active in experimental, free improvised, contemporary classical, and avant-jazz music; she is known for having "reinvented the harp". Parkins performs on standard harp ...
. ''Unsquare'' was recorded at East Side Sound Studio in New York City on November 18, 2006, and was released by
Intakt Records
Intakt Records is an independent record label, based in Zürich.
History
The label was founded in 1986 by Patrik Landolt.Margasak, Peter (September 2013) "Intakt's Landolt Takes Long-Term Approach to Avant-Garde". ''Down Beat''. p. 16. In the ea ...
in Switzerland in January 2008.
Reception
In a review of ''Unsquare'' at ''
All About Jazz
''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...
'', Kurt Gottschalk called Maybe Monday "a ridiculously strong trio", and described their collaboration with Hemingway, Kihlstedt, Mori and Parkins on this album as "a dizzying, fascinating set of music".
[ Clifford Allen wrote at ''Bagatellen'' that Maybe Monday are not unlike the British free improvisation group ]AMM Amm or AMM may refer to:
Entertainment Music
*AMM (group), British free improvisation group
Television
*Amy's Mythic Mornings, an educational show on APTN Kids
Video games
* Automated MatchMaking, in the context of the Warcraft III Ladder system ...
. He noted that which instruments are producing which sound is not important – it is the combination of those sounds that matters, the "subsuming of the parts to the whole".[ Allen added that "to parse ''Unsquare'' would be a disservice to the breadth of its canvas – this is a very rich recording of electro-acoustic improvisation."][ Jason Bivins wrote in '']Cadence
In Western musical theory, a cadence (Latin ''cadentia'', "a falling") is the end of a phrase in which the melody or harmony creates a sense of full or partial resolution, especially in music of the 16th century onwards.Don Michael Randel (1999) ...
'' that the inclusion of the four guests "unsettl dthe group in just the right ways and thicken dthe sound provocatively".[ He was impressed that they did this "without weighing the music down or sacrificing space".][ Bivins described ''Unsquare'' as a "very fine record".][
Reviewing ''Unsquare'' in '']DownBeat
' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...
'', Bill Shoemaker was initially concerned that the presence of guests on Maybe Monday's third album would upset the "alluringly precarious elegance and intensity" of their earlier work.[ But he was pleased at how "keenly ensemble-minded" the guests are, and that they appear to have "infallible instincts for when less is more and when more is much more".][ The album's pieces "pivot between sparseness and density, altering a consistently bracing mix of acoustic and electronic elements".][ Shoemaker felt that the way the instruments connect, "the twacks of koto and low-register harp; the gravelly drones of guitar and laptop; the smudges of reeds and bowed strings", explains the growing interest in electro-acoustic improvisation.][
]
Track listing
All tracks composed by Maybe Monday
Maybe Monday is an American experimental music, experimental electroacoustic improvisation music ensemble comprising guitarist Fred Frith, koto (musical instrument), koto player Miya Masaoka and saxophone, saxophonist Larry Ochs (musician), Larr ...
.
Sources: Liner notes
Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes.
Origin
Liner notes are desce ...
,[ ]Discogs
Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...
.[
]
Personnel
*Fred Frith
Jeremy Webster "Fred" Frith (born 17 February 1949) is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser.
Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock ...
– electric guitar
*Miya Masaoka
Miya Masaoka (born 1958, Washington, DC) is an American composer, musician, and sound artist active in the field of contemporary classical music and experimental music. Her work encompasses contemporary classical composition, improvisation, ele ...
– 25 string koto
Koto may refer to:
* Koto (band), an Italian synth pop group
* Koto (instrument), a Japanese musical instrument
* Koto (kana), a ligature of two Japanese katakana
* Koto (traditional clothing), a traditional dress made by Afro-Surinamese women
* K ...
, electronics
* Larry Ochs – sopranino and tenor saxophones
;Guests
*Gerry Hemingway
Gerry Hemingway (born March 23, 1955) is an American drummer and composer.
Hemingway was a member of the Anthony Braxton quartet from 1983 to 1994. He has also performed with Ernst Reijseger, Anthony Davis, Earl Howard, Leo Smith, George E. ...
– drums, percussion, voice
*Carla Kihlstedt
Carla Kihlstedt (born 1971) is an American composer, violinist, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist, originally from Lancaster, Pennsylvania and currently working from a home studio on Cape Cod.
She is a founding member of Tin Hat Trio (1997, ...
– electric and acoustic violins
*Ikue Mori
(born 17 December 1953), also known as Ikue Ile, is a drummer, electronic musician, composer, and graphic designer. Mori was awarded a "Genius grant" from the MacArthur Foundation in 2022.
Biography
Ikue Mori was born and raised in Japan. She sa ...
– electronics
*Zeena Parkins
Zeena Parkins (born 1956) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist active in experimental, free improvised, contemporary classical, and avant-jazz music; she is known for having "reinvented the harp". Parkins performs on standard harp ...
– electric harp, electronics
Sources: Liner notes
Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes.
Origin
Liner notes are desce ...
,[ ]Discogs
Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...
.[
]
Sound and artwork
*Recorded at East Side Sound Studio, New York City on November 18, 2006
*Mixed at Ruminator Audio, San Francisco
*Mastered at Headless Buddha Mastering Lab, Oakland, California
*Marc Urselli – engineer
*Monte Vallier – mixing
* Larry Ochs – mixing, producer, liner notes
*Myles Boisen – mastering
*Intakt Records
Intakt Records is an independent record label, based in Zürich.
History
The label was founded in 1986 by Patrik Landolt.Margasak, Peter (September 2013) "Intakt's Landolt Takes Long-Term Approach to Avant-Garde". ''Down Beat''. p. 16. In the ea ...
– producer
*Emilie Clark – cover art
*Jonas Schoder – graphic design
Sources: Liner notes
Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes.
Origin
Liner notes are desce ...
,[ ]Discogs
Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...
.[
]
References
External links
''Unsquare''
at Intakt Records
Intakt Records is an independent record label, based in Zürich.
History
The label was founded in 1986 by Patrik Landolt.Margasak, Peter (September 2013) "Intakt's Landolt Takes Long-Term Approach to Avant-Garde". ''Down Beat''. p. 16. In the ea ...
''Unsquare'' reviews
at Intakt Records
{{DEFAULTSORT:Unsquare
2008 albums
Free improvisation albums
Intakt Records albums
Fred Frith albums