R E V I E W S
Z O M E S
Reviews on ZOMES album Near Unison:
http://www.musicomh.com/reviews/albums/zomes-near-unison
http://bandwidth.wamu.org/drone-duo-zomes-baltimore-near-unison/
http://www.tinymixtapes.com/music-review/zomes-near-unison
Reviews on ZOMES album Near Unison:
http://www.musicomh.com/reviews/albums/zomes-near-unison
http://bandwidth.wamu.org/drone-duo-zomes-baltimore-near-unison/
http://www.tinymixtapes.com/music-review/zomes-near-unison
Silence Blossoms
Reviews on Silence Blossoms Debut album:
May 18 - 2014
http://www.marlbank.net/gigs/1737-silence-blossoms-to-debut
June 11 - 2014
http://www.kendaljazz.com/silence-blossoms/
July 1 - 2014
http://thejazzbreakfast.com/2014/07/01/silence-blossoms-silence-blossoms/
July 13 - 2014
http://jazzviewscdreviews2.weebly.com/silence-blossoms.html
Aug 29 - 2015
http://July 13 - 2014 http://jazzviewscdreviews2.weebly.com/silence-blossoms.html
Sep 9 -2014
http://www.svd.se/kultur/musik/brittisk-svenska-trion-silence-blossoms-debuterar_3899272.svd
Reviews on Silence Blossoms Debut album:
May 18 - 2014
http://www.marlbank.net/gigs/1737-silence-blossoms-to-debut
June 11 - 2014
http://www.kendaljazz.com/silence-blossoms/
July 1 - 2014
http://thejazzbreakfast.com/2014/07/01/silence-blossoms-silence-blossoms/
July 13 - 2014
http://jazzviewscdreviews2.weebly.com/silence-blossoms.html
Aug 29 - 2015
http://July 13 - 2014 http://jazzviewscdreviews2.weebly.com/silence-blossoms.html
Sep 9 -2014
http://www.svd.se/kultur/musik/brittisk-svenska-trion-silence-blossoms-debuterar_3899272.svd
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Z O M E S
Reviews on Zomes music video LOVEFUL HEIGHTS:
May 1 - 2013
http://www.emusic.com/17dots/2013/05/01/daily-download-zomes-time-was/
May 3 -2013
http://adhoc.fm/post/zomes-loveful-heights-video/
Reviews on Zomes and the album Time Was:
March 26 - 2013
http://www.bowlegsmusic.com/track-of-the-day/zomes-cave-mountain-streambowlegs-premiere-30204
April 01 - 2013
http://www.imposemagazine.com/bytes/time-is-zomes
April 01 - 2013
http://www.tinymixtapes.com/chocolate-grinder/listen-zomes-cave-mountain-stream
April 04 - 2013
http://www.emorageimagazine.com/old/musique/32/zomes-2575
April 06 - 2013
http://experimediamag.net/post/47211615413/zomestime
April 16 - 2013
http://www.allmusic.com/album/time-was-mw0002495363
April 17 - 2013
http://soundsxp.com/artman2/publish/albums/Zomes_-_Time_Was.shtml
April 18 - 2013
http://www.tinymixtapes.com/music-review/zomes-time-was
April 25 - 2013
http://consequenceofsound.net/2013/04/album-review-zomes-time-was/
Reviews on Zomes music video LOVEFUL HEIGHTS:
May 1 - 2013
http://www.emusic.com/17dots/2013/05/01/daily-download-zomes-time-was/
May 3 -2013
http://adhoc.fm/post/zomes-loveful-heights-video/
Reviews on Zomes and the album Time Was:
March 26 - 2013
http://www.bowlegsmusic.com/track-of-the-day/zomes-cave-mountain-streambowlegs-premiere-30204
April 01 - 2013
http://www.imposemagazine.com/bytes/time-is-zomes
April 01 - 2013
http://www.tinymixtapes.com/chocolate-grinder/listen-zomes-cave-mountain-stream
April 04 - 2013
http://www.emorageimagazine.com/old/musique/32/zomes-2575
April 06 - 2013
http://experimediamag.net/post/47211615413/zomestime
April 16 - 2013
http://www.allmusic.com/album/time-was-mw0002495363
April 17 - 2013
http://soundsxp.com/artman2/publish/albums/Zomes_-_Time_Was.shtml
April 18 - 2013
http://www.tinymixtapes.com/music-review/zomes-time-was
April 25 - 2013
http://consequenceofsound.net/2013/04/album-review-zomes-time-was/
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S I L E N C E B L O S S O M S
Review: Roads Less Travelled: EFPI Manchester Showcase at The Forge(LJF)
(18th November, The Forge, Camden. Review and photos by Melody McLaren)
One of the joys of the London Jazz Festival is that you can get pushed out of your musical comfort zone, if you allow it to happen. Everyone has a choice: stick with your favourites or trust the brother-/sister-hood of musicians to take you on a journey to someplace you’ve never been before.
Such was the case with Silence Blossoms, the Swedish trio who opened the EFPI Manchester showcase at The Forge in Camden on Sunday. Sam Andreae (a Manchester export returning to his home country for the group’s UK debut), Gus Loxbo and Hanna Olivegren have been travelling along the borderlands of music, exploring the sonic possibilities of an array of everyday objects - portable radios, saws, hand-held fans – as well as synthesizers and other forms of electronica. Listening to them blend all these with more conventional instruments (double bass, tenor sax, guitar and drums) as well as their voices, I suddenly realised that many of the everyday devices in my own kitchen – the dishwasher, dryer, coffee grinder – had rhythmic and harmonic possibilities that I had never considered. But this wasn’t just random noise. The entire panoply of devices, instruments and voices had been commandeered to support storytelling, with conventional themes of love and loss conveyed in an altogether unconventional way.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2012
The Sound of Silence
Silence Blossoms, Freedom Principle at the Sand Bar, Manchester. Tuesday 20th November 2012
A milk frother is not generally known for its rhythmic properties. Nor have walkie-talkies established themselves as a means to simultaneously bow and amplify a double bass as far as I'm aware. Nevertheless, these were just two of the many innovative approaches to sound generation brought forth by Sweden and Macclesfield's 'Silence Blossoms'. Comprising Gus Loxbo on double bass, guitar, voice, frother and walkie-talkies; Hanna Olivegren on voice and synthesiser, and a repatriated (at least for now) Sam Andreae on tenor sax, voice and electronics, this curious trio take poetry as the basis of most of their pieces. The words are under-layered with various blends of folksy harmony, lo-fi white noise, environment textures and a little free jazz abstraction.
There's a danger of novelty leading to boredom with this kind of approach, but Silence Blossoms steered well clear of this territory, delivering a more or less perfect blend of sweet harmony and art noise. The stuttering echoes and earthy folk tones of first track 'Lady White' led into 'Not Waving But Drowning', probably the most conventional piece of the set. There was some lovely soulful playing from Andreae on sax here, accompanied by Loxbo's warm rounded double bass and Olivegren's deep sparse vocal. Some wonderfully vulnerable vocal harmonies from Olivegren and Andreae on final track 'King of Everything' rounded things off perfectly. This really worked.
Review: Roads Less Travelled: EFPI Manchester Showcase at The Forge(LJF)
(18th November, The Forge, Camden. Review and photos by Melody McLaren)
One of the joys of the London Jazz Festival is that you can get pushed out of your musical comfort zone, if you allow it to happen. Everyone has a choice: stick with your favourites or trust the brother-/sister-hood of musicians to take you on a journey to someplace you’ve never been before.
Such was the case with Silence Blossoms, the Swedish trio who opened the EFPI Manchester showcase at The Forge in Camden on Sunday. Sam Andreae (a Manchester export returning to his home country for the group’s UK debut), Gus Loxbo and Hanna Olivegren have been travelling along the borderlands of music, exploring the sonic possibilities of an array of everyday objects - portable radios, saws, hand-held fans – as well as synthesizers and other forms of electronica. Listening to them blend all these with more conventional instruments (double bass, tenor sax, guitar and drums) as well as their voices, I suddenly realised that many of the everyday devices in my own kitchen – the dishwasher, dryer, coffee grinder – had rhythmic and harmonic possibilities that I had never considered. But this wasn’t just random noise. The entire panoply of devices, instruments and voices had been commandeered to support storytelling, with conventional themes of love and loss conveyed in an altogether unconventional way.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2012
The Sound of Silence
Silence Blossoms, Freedom Principle at the Sand Bar, Manchester. Tuesday 20th November 2012
A milk frother is not generally known for its rhythmic properties. Nor have walkie-talkies established themselves as a means to simultaneously bow and amplify a double bass as far as I'm aware. Nevertheless, these were just two of the many innovative approaches to sound generation brought forth by Sweden and Macclesfield's 'Silence Blossoms'. Comprising Gus Loxbo on double bass, guitar, voice, frother and walkie-talkies; Hanna Olivegren on voice and synthesiser, and a repatriated (at least for now) Sam Andreae on tenor sax, voice and electronics, this curious trio take poetry as the basis of most of their pieces. The words are under-layered with various blends of folksy harmony, lo-fi white noise, environment textures and a little free jazz abstraction.
There's a danger of novelty leading to boredom with this kind of approach, but Silence Blossoms steered well clear of this territory, delivering a more or less perfect blend of sweet harmony and art noise. The stuttering echoes and earthy folk tones of first track 'Lady White' led into 'Not Waving But Drowning', probably the most conventional piece of the set. There was some lovely soulful playing from Andreae on sax here, accompanied by Loxbo's warm rounded double bass and Olivegren's deep sparse vocal. Some wonderfully vulnerable vocal harmonies from Olivegren and Andreae on final track 'King of Everything' rounded things off perfectly. This really worked.
