HurdAudio Rotation: Bones, Kingdoms and Wings

Bone: Uses Wrist Grab. 2003. Cuneiform Records: rune 176.

Nick Didkovsky: guitar
Hugh Hopper: bass
John Roulat: drums

Remote multi-tracking (Didkovsky and Hopper still had not shared the physical proximity of playing with one another at the time of this release) that reconciles a brainiac restlessness with a hard edge. The collaborative sound that ultimately emerges from Uses Wrist Grab is an updated take on progressive rock impulse. And it's one that absolutely requires taking the whole thing in in one sitting. Perhaps a couple of times through just to get the ears acquainted with the jagged edges and sharp corners of these compositions. It says something that hearing such rigorous composition that rocks this hard is so disorienting. Plenty of guitar front and center in this one.

Cristian Amigo: Kingdom of Jones. 2007. Innova: 671.

Cristian Amigo: composer, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, lap steel, prepared tiple, pianos, synthesizers, beats, loops, processes, programming, soda cans, miscellaneous percussion, soundscapes, voice, lyrics
Izzi Ramkissoon: bass, laptop, processes
Guillermo Cardenas: percussion, trance
Wojciech Kosma: samples
Philip Blackburn: samples
Jeff Schwartz: upright bass
David Martinelli: drums
Andy Connell: clarinet
Robert Reigle: alto saxophone
Jonathan Grasse: electric guitar
Manoocher Sadeghi: santur
Nikos Brisco: guitar, Tibetan prayer bowl

Guitar is occasionally front and center in this one. Or off to the side or completely submerged beneath the wide ranging stylistic textures Cristian Amigo is willing to fashion. When the acoustic guitar comes to the foreground for the "Guitar Gestures" pieces one is treated to the mad chops of this sound artist when focused upon his instrument. These are embedded within a larger frame of sounds that embrace dance even as grooves come and go fleetingly at times. At each turn the sonic space is thoughtfully devised as it steers well clear of predictable turns. A sonic language without borders that carves out its own sense of form. And a thoughtful creative voice clearly operating beneath all of it.

Killick Erik Hinds/Dennis Palmer/Bob Stagner: A.S.A.P. Wings. 2007. Solponticello: SP-019/SRR CD-005.

Killick Erik Hinds: h'arpeggione
Dennis Palmer: synthesizers, drum samples, moogerfoogers
Bob Stagner: drums, found objects

This trio marks an incarnation - and recorded documentation - of the Shaking Levis collective. Which pulls together improbable strains of American sounds to arrive at a folksy free improvisation. The raw materials of sound folded into an inviting concoction that compromises neither the challenging quality of experimental music or the approachability of roots-based music. In short, these guys are having fun and it sounds like it.

Raw Nerve

Bone/Doctor Nerve @ Orion Sound Studios, Baltimore, MD
Saturday, February 17, 2008

Bone
Nick Didkovsky: guitar
Hugh Hopper: bass
John Roulat: drums

Doctor Nerve
Nick Didkovsky: guitar
Leo Ciesa: drums
Yves Duboin: soprano saxophone
Rob Henke: trumpet
Ben Herrington: trombone
Jesse Krakow: bass
Michael Lytle: bass clarinet
Kathleen Supove: keyboard

Nick Didkovsky has chops. He also has a strong bent toward harried complexity via odd time signatures and algorithmic creations. And yet he has an uncanny musical instinct for plying these twin demons toward the service of creating a grand sound. The music of Bone - a recent trio collaboration with fellow progressive rock veterans Hugh Hopper and John Roulat - and Doctor Nerve deftly avoid the pitfalls of self-indulgence and complexity for complexity's sake. That he arrives at this sound without compromising its cerebral underpinnings or losing sight of the Dionysian appeal of jagged grooves and sharp-edged, compact solos is a testament to a creative instinct that gives Didkovsky's compositions and performance unusual cross-over potential.

If the Floristree is the secret, abandoned industrial space converted into Baltimore's young hipster, BYOB venue where the recent smoking ban cannot be enforced then Orion Sound Studios is the warehouse space for Charm City's hip old-timers. Tucked deep within a semi-industrial neighborhood, the converted loading dock/recording and rehearsal space has a surprisingly warm sound thanks to extensive acoustic treatments found on the walls and in the rafters. Equally surprising is the thriving cultural eco-system drawn together by a passion for progressive art rock musics. Armed with camping chairs, coolers and decibel-dampening ear plugs this was an audience prepared to devour the Nick Didkovsky experience.

One of the reasons for Doctor Nerve's longevity is the wide range of techniques Didkovsky applies to his creations. This is particularly true with the way he makes use of his horn section as the players alternate between realizing tight, orchestrated charts and free improvisation. At one point the band leader set aside his guitar and conducted his large group from in front of the stage. His combination of hand signals and forceful timing cues sculpted a sound that was often both ugly and sublime. As their set shifted early from a handful of Doctor Nerve standards to a long stretch of new material it became clear that this ensemble remains as vital and committed as ever.