Just when you think that there is little hope as the world is being
dominated by demented, authoritative rulers with reptilian tendencies, three
European bands (with one American), equipped by decades-long experience of
the Dutch The Ex, may convince you that resistance is the best defense, in
music, in lyrics, in thought and action.
This is a match made in heaven. Norwegian Paal Nilssen-Love Circus –
vocalist-dancer Juliana Venter, trumpeter Thomas Johansson, alto sax player
Signe Emmeluth, accordionist Kalle Moberg, bassist Christian Meaas Svendsen
and Nilssen-Love on drums, cymbals and gongs – released its debut album
Pairs of Three (PNL, 2022) and suggested an ecstatic mix of rhythms and
melodies from the Northeast part of Brazil and Ethiopia juxtaposed jazz and
free improvisation. But Nilssen-Love wanted to shake up its pre-arranged
sets. And there is no better choice for such a mission than The Ex
guitarists – Terrie Hessels (aka Terrie Ex, who recorded three duo albums
with Nilssen-Love), Andy Moor (who with Terrie Ex, Ken Vandermark and
Nilssen-Love are the Lean Left quartet) and Arnold de Boer.
Turn Thy Loose was recorded live at Amsterdam’s Bimhuis in February 2024.
The ecstatic outcome affirms that Nilssen-Love instincts were right on spot.
Nilssen-Love had only one rule: anyone can play – or fuck -any part of any
song at any time, and play as free as possible. I was fortunate enough to
experience this uplifting, manic clash of sounds at the Music Unlimited
festival in Wels, Austria, last November, but unfortunately there will only
be a few opportunities to experience this massive rhythmic beast in the near
future.
Almost immediately, you feel that you are part of a wonderful treat. The
music moves all over the place, and the musicians never have a grasp of what
awaits around the next corner. The Ex Guitars introduce a raw, punkish edge
to Nilssen-Love’s irresistible rhythmic patterns and Circus’ eclectic,
colorful celebration of sounds. One moment you may dream on the sensual
melodies of Brazilian Nazaré da Mata, on the next one you will jump and
scream the stupid lyrics of obscure Scottish punk band The Stretchheads’ “I
should be so Lucky”; you may blush by Venter’s seductive lyrics of Circus
live favorite, the cathartic “Pussy Pussy Cha Cha”, but will join her when
she shouts “resistance is defence” (and most likely put thai piece on repeat
as soon it is over); and make sure you crank up the volume on the band’s new
mosh pit dance piece, “Calls: Let They Free!”, calling for the freedom of
Julian Assange, recommending Zulu’s Ubunto philosophy (sometimes translated
as “I am because we are”. Venter was born in South Africa), and remembering
the late South African ant-apprtheid hero Steve Biko.
70 minutes of ecstatic, joyful noise by one of the greatest bands around.
Archer – Sudden Dusk (Aerophonic, 2025)
Sudden Dusk is the debut of the free improvising quartet Archer – guitarist Terrie Ex,
Chicagoan sax hero Dave Rempis (on soprano, tenor and baritone saxes) and
the Norwegian rhythm section of double bass player
Jon Rune Strøm
(who plays with Nilssen-Love in his Large Unit, and the Frode Gjerstad Trio)
and drummer Tollef Østvan (who with Strøm also act as the rhythm section of Universal Indians with Joe McPhee, and
Friends & Neighbors). Sudden Dusk was recorded during the second,
American tour of Archer (following a tour in Norway in 2023) at
Constellation in Chicago and The Sugar Maple in Milwaukee in April 2024.
Ex’ rhythmic urgency, his complete irreverence to form or narrative, coupled
with a wild imagination and a Dadaist, provocative sense of humor, make him
the wild card of any outfit, and especially of Archer, with his restless
determination to deconstruct and dispose of improvisatory tropes. Rempis’
Brötzmann-like blasts of sound, his explorations of texture and timbre and
broad sonic arsenal make him the perfect foil to match that of Ex. Strøm
provides muscular bass lines while Østvang completes this powerful beast and
pushes its interplay with great momentum.
The three pieces move seamlessly between unrestrained, manic energy where Ex
and Rempis are busy in spiraling, tenacious dogfights, to surprisingly
contemplative and soulful parts, where Archer investigates subtleties of
tone and timbre. But as Rempis summarizes Sudden Dusk, it is “a carefully
calibrated balance between the pent up energy of baited breath, and the slow
release of a long exhale”.
The Ex – If Your Mirror Breaks (The Ex, 2025)
The Ex, like Nilssen-Love circus, is also a kind of dance band, and most
likely you may find that it is almost impossible to keep your body or soul
intact while listening to its new album If Your Mirror Breaks. The Ex just
celebrated its 45th anniversary and matured beautifully from an angry punk
band into an impossible-to-label, powerful quartet. The new album is
released after seven long years since the last album, 27 Passports (Ex,
2018), but, fortunately, it finds the quartet – Hessels, Moor, de Boer and
drummer-vocalist Katherina Bornefeld, recharged and in top form, ready for
new adventures.
The album erupts like a collection of ten short-story songs that offer
surrealist daydreams, calls to action, ominous warnings and bursts of
vitality tapped into the pulse of time. The album is dedicated to the late
Steve Albini (who recorded four albums of The Ex), and mastered by Bob
Weston (who played with Albini in Shellac). The cover artwork is by Hessels’
partner, Emma Fischer.
Anyone who has experience The Ex, live or on record, will recognize
immediately the buzzing, fierce and uncompromising riffs of Ex and Moor, the
possessed vocal delivery of de Boer, and Bornefeld’s unique drumming with
the distinct cowbell sound. If Your Mirror Breaks brings The Ex’
intoxicating, intense recipe to perfection. Guy Peters, The Ex’ biographer,
is absolutely right when writing that this album is for the ages, as it
“reflects the conflicting ideas and moods of its time, while pushing
forward, convinced there’s always a more viable alternative around the
corner”.
If Your Mirror Breaks begins with The Ex’ poetic take on Walt Whitman’s
“Beat! Beat! Drums!” poem from 1861, with the call: “Beat beat drums, before
the judge / Beat beat drums, into the church”. It reflects the doubt and
insecurity of the current distressful times (“Monday Song” and “Wheel”), but
favors love (“The price of love is the price of life / And that’s what
people should realise” in “The Evidence”, inspired by the documentary film
Meeting the Man: James Baldwin in Paris) and passionate compassion (
Bornefeld sings “New life force unfolds for those who flow / with the song
of their souls. Always” in “Wheel”). It ends with the joyful thrust of
“Great!”, and instantly becomes part of your daily musical diet.
