UK’s Musique Machine just reviewed DIRK SERRIES’ Solo Acoustic Guitar Improvisations II/III, released on A New Wave Of Jazz last May. The double vinyl is still available from our bandcamp store.

“3 out of 5 stars. Solo Acoustic Guitar Improvisation II/III is a double vinyl release taking in twenty-six tracks of darting ‘n’ jagged improv from Belgian’s Dirk Serries. The material references genres like the blues, angular jazz, scarping ‘n’ raw folk, acoustic HC punk, and even demented no-wave funk- but it really creates its own rapidly shifting and jarring sonic universe. The release appears on Belgian’s New Wave Of Jazz, which is also run/ curated by Serries. The two 140 gram slabs of black vinyl are present in a single card slip- this features on one side a write-up about the material by Guy Peters, and on the other the track listing/ basic production details- all the tracks were mono recordings captured with a mic 50CM from the guitar. With the texts in light grey against a plain white backdrop. The release is ltd to 200 copies, and can be purchased directly from bandcamp.  The twenty-six tracks each have runtimes between one and near five minutes- and really the material remains fairly rapidly jagging and manic throughout. We open up with the seesawing slide, strum and brief pauses of “Chroma”. There’s tight pluck meets high-pitched scrub ‘n’ pick of “Modal”. We have the jagged neck fiddle ‘n’ violently muted slide of “Sematic”, or darting-to-tolling bass discord meets manic pick ‘n’ chime of “Elegiac”. Moving onto the second disc we have wondering twang meets constricted pluck of “Sense”. There’s stop-start strum, pick, and neck scrub of “Dyad”. Or the angular bow meets jarring rub ‘n’ fiddle of “Graph”. With the second disc playing out with the fumbling neck buzz meets twang ‘n’ grate of “Molecule”. Serries take on acoustic guitar-based improv is both manic and eventful- it’s a release that gives you little time to breathe or ponder. But if you are after raw yet inventive improv Solo Acoustic Guitar Improvisation II/III will certainly invigorate and reward” Musique Machine – UK

Eyal Hareuveni wrote a lovely review of HYDRA ENSEMBLE’s VISTAS on SALT PEANUTS. Check it out. The album is available here.

The Hydra Ensemble is a pan-European quartet featuring Croatian cellist Lucija Gregov, Swiss cellist Nina Hitz, Portuguese double bass player Gonçalo Almeida and Dutch electronics wizard Rutger Zuydervelt (known also as Machinefabriek), All are working in the Netherlands and all with different musical backgrounds and interests but determined to stress how intertwined some presumably distinct music genres have become in their daring free improvised dynamics. The music of the Hydra Ensemble constantly and effortlessly shape-shifting between chamber contemporary music, free improvisation, sonic exploration, experimental electronics and anything between, and highlights the versatility of the four musicians.

«Vistas» is the sophomore album of this quartet, following «Voltas» (Inexhaustible Editions, 2021), and it was recorded live at the Worm club in Rotterdam during the Covid-19 pandemic (without an audience, but streamed live) in April 2021. The first «Vistas» is a cinematic and unsettling, chamber drone piece. Almeida’s double bass sets its pulsating heartbeat, Gregov and Hinz’s cellos build the tension with heavy, resonant layers of sound and texture, and Zuydervelt acts as agent provocateur with his disruptive yet subtle and clever palette of electronics.

The following pieces deepen the dark, melancholic spirit of «Vistas» and its fragile, patient and detailed dynamics. On the third «Vista», Zuydervelt’s electronics charge the sonic searches of Almeida, Gregov and Hinz with their intense demonstration of extended bowing techniques with suggestive tension. The tension intensifies even more in the trance-like, mysterious ritual of the fourth «Vista». The fifth and the last «Vista» offers a more playful and optimist interplay with the ironic electronics of Zuydervelt, emphasizing again the fascinating, open sonic vision of this ensemble.

Our four new releases are featured on the fantastic FREE JAZZ WITH FRED radio show, hosted by our friend and support Fred Kellogg, on KAOS FM (Olympia, Washington USA). Listen to the radioshow here. The album are available on bandcamp.

MOORS MAGAZINE just reviewed SERRIES/THOMPSON/VERHOEVEN’s TODAY AND ALL THE TOMORROW. Read it here below. The album is still available for our bandcamp store. Thanks.

“Dirk Serries en Daniel Thompson op akoestische gitaar, dat levert al een opmerkelijk duo op, want deze twee eigenzinnige en buitengewoon avontuurlijke gitaristen weten je als luisteraar altijd weer te verrassen, onder meer doordat ze geluiden uit hun gitaar weten te toveren die je niet voor mogelijk had gehouden. In dit geval komt daar Martina Verhoeven bij, dit keer niet als pianiste, maar op de contrabas, en dat levert een bijzonder indrukwekkende combinatie op, want die contrabas werkt hier bijna als de centrifugerende kracht waar de twee gitaristen omheen werken. Je zit hier als luisteraar eigenlijk steeds op het puntje van je stoel, want dit trio speelt soms bijna fluisterend ingetogen, om even later onvoorwaardelijk los te barsten op een manier die af en toe doet denken aan de tekenfilm-versie van rock ‘n’ roll, want humor is in deze muziek nooit ver weg. Want hoewel je deze muziek gerust avant-garde mag noemen kun je ook horen dat de spelers met heel veel plezier samen zitten spelen, en er mag zeker gelachen worden. Kortom, een heerlijk plaatje, waarin weer eens alle mogelijkheden van de contrabas en de akoestische gitaar op een verbazingwekkende manier geëxploreerd zijn, terwijl er ook nog eens geweldige muziek gemaakt werd. En ook dit is weer een groeiplaatje, zo’n album dat bij elke draaibeurt beter wordt, omdat steeds meer op zijn plek valt. Voor iedereen met open oren een absolute aanrader.”