Chapter 4 coming in October.
― shared unit of analysis (unperson), Wednesday, 19 June 2019 11:19 (four years ago) link
I saw Matana in a church in east London yesterday evening. It was mostly a modular synth set with a few bits of organ and some (not enough!) bluesy sax. It wasn't entirely successful: the bed she set up wasn't that interesting and the weird sound mix meant we couldn't really hear her. Some of this was intentional 'drowning' of voices (I think) but it was an odd set-up. There was a section where she started a call-and-response, with the audience intoning 'our souls'; this being east London, it quite quickly became 'arseholes', which detracted from the mood a bit. Who knows - perhaps it was meant to be a Derek and Clive tribute?
Short version: lovely venue, a pleasure to be in her company, not entirely successful.
― Life is a meaningless nightmare of suffering...save string (Chinaski), Saturday, 5 October 2019 19:47 (four years ago) link
https://matana-roberts.bandcamp.com/album/coin-coin-chapter-four-memphis
friday!
― j., Thursday, 17 October 2019 05:17 (four years ago) link
I like what I've heard from it
― Dan S, Thursday, 17 October 2019 05:32 (four years ago) link
so ready for this!
― ( X '____' )/ (zappi), Thursday, 17 October 2019 07:23 (four years ago) link
I'm listening to Gris Gris by Dr. John for the first time in a while and I'd forgotten just how much Coin Coin Chapter 1 calls back to this record. "Danse Kalinda Ba Doom" is the obvious one but there are bits from "Danse Fambeaux" in there as well.
― Vanishing Point (Chinaski), Saturday, 4 September 2021 09:46 (two years ago) link
― Derek and Clive Get the Horn Street (Boring, Maryland), Saturday, 4 September 2021 14:38 (two years ago) link
I'm not going mad right - the references are pretty obvious?
― Vanishing Point (Chinaski), Sunday, 5 September 2021 13:26 (two years ago) link
I’ll be able to give a close listen once the long weekend is over…
― Derek and Clive Get the Horn Street (Boring, Maryland), Sunday, 5 September 2021 15:27 (two years ago) link
It's not an exact quote, but I think you're right that 'I Am' refers to Kalinda- it makes too much sense to be a coincidence.
― The 25 Best Songs Ever Ranked In Order (Deflatormouse), Sunday, 5 September 2021 16:11 (two years ago) link
Coin Coin Chapter Five: In the Garden... is coming out at the end of this month and it's fucking incredible.
https://matana-roberts.bandcamp.com/album/coin-coin-chapter-five-in-the-garden
Pretty stunning list of personnel:
Matana Roberts (composer / horns / harmonicas / aux percussion / vocal / wordspeak)Mike Pride (drums / aux percussion / vocal)Matt Lavelle (alto clarinet / pocket trumpet / tin whistle / vocal)Stuart Bogie (bass clarinet / clarinet / tin whistle / vocal)Cory Smythe (piano / vocal / tin whistle)Mazz Swift (violin / vocal/ tin whistle)Darius Jones (alto sax / tin whistle / vocal)Ryan Sawyer (drums / aux percussion / vocal)Gitanjali Jain (text collage)Kyp Malone (synths)Jaimie Branch (Courage 1983-2022)
I can't even describe it. Listening to it on headphones is like having your brain hijacked and hearing someone whisper their (nightmarish) story directly into your mind. I'm including it in my Stereogum column though it is in no way a "jazz" record — it's ultra complex theatrical art that has a few saxophone solos.
― read-only (unperson), Monday, 11 September 2023 21:32 (seven months ago) link
It's a stunning record, perhaps the best in the series to date. To declare an interest, I wrote the promotional copy, so I had the privilege of hearing it early and talking to Matana in depth about it. But I can honestly say that it's an incredible piece of work. The interplay between Matana and Darius Jones is incredibly powerful - he brings the really raw, expressive stuff, while Matana is more lyrical. It's interesting you say it's not a jazz record as such. Matana was keen to emphasise its roots in new music practice, the influence of Cage, Cunningham, Amacher et al. Hopefully that's something that they'll get to elaborate on in forthcoming interviews.
― Composition 40b (Stew), Monday, 11 September 2023 21:49 (seven months ago) link
can't wait
― deep wubs and tribral rhythms (Boring, Maryland), Monday, 11 September 2023 23:35 (seven months ago) link
Love their new album and loved the Tone Glow interview: https://toneglow.substack.com/p/tone-glow-108-matana-roberts
― I would prefer not to. (Chinaski), Sunday, 19 November 2023 17:51 (four months ago) link