Mich Gerber - Mystery Bay (1997)

«Mich Gerber nous délivre un premier album unique. Une musique venue d'ailleurs qui ne se danse que sur la Lune comme dirait l'autre... Des parcours languinant de contrebasse mélancoliques, une rythmique mi-percu mi-contrebasse sacadée. Le tout vous faisant "tripper à mort". Des airs orientaux, tribaux, pour ce Suisse dont l'avenir était les grands orchestres symphoniques. Un revirement total pour nous produire cet album pur.» (dMute)

«Originally, Mich was interested in Fine Arts and went to the College of Art to learn Theatre Painting. Attracted by the visual effect of the double bass he decided to buy it just to have one of these wooden sculptures at home, and began playing around on it a little bit. He soon found out that he liked the vibe of the double bass and his fascination for this instrument grew. He played it more and more until he decided to go to a conservatory after he finished his education as a theatre painter. After his graduation from the conservatory in 1983 he played a few years in the classical Symphony Orchestra of Bern. He then left to play in various bands, experiencing all manner of styles from improvised music to Jazz, free Jazz, from Rock onto hardcore, and then in an Avant-garde classical orchestra with hardcore tendencies. Then at that point he made up his mind to pursue a solo career. Mich had developed quite an unusual style for a double bassist. His debut album, Mystery Bay, was filled with melancholic, middle eastern sounding melodies interspersed with smooth techno beats as well. His second album and his most recent Amor Fati melts tradition into modernity by melding the sounds of the double bass with DJ 'scratching'.» (Global Bass, read the interview)

Another exhaustive profile here

Official site (de/en/fr): http://www.michgerber.ch/

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Pale Nudes - Wise to the Heat (1995)

«Amy Denio, Wadi Gysi, Mitch Gerber and Will Dowd in a post- (ec) Nudes. More 'acoustic' and much less experimental than the (ec) Nudes, but smoothly listenable. Well recorded and the addition of contrabasse is a plus. Usual good performance from Tone Dog Dowd.» (Chris Cutler, Squidco)

«Strange and experimental but full of hooks--that defines almost everything Amy Denio touches, and certainly this disc. With some slightly mellower songs and a little more acoustic-sounding than most of Amy Denio's solo work (though really not very different from her solo work), this is a really lovely collection of songs. Amy Denio's sound (accordion, sax, her vocal techniques) is all over this, though. Highly recommended.» (Ectoguide)

«Denio (rhymes with ‘Ohio’ or ‘gennaio’) is a multi-instrumentalist composer and singer based in Seattle, WA. Home-taper since the Dark Ages of Analogue, she started her label Spoot Music in 1986, with the release of her first cassette, ‘No Bones.’ Since then, she’s recorded & released other cassettes, LPs and 35 CDs created solo and with an array of international musicians.

She has been creating & producing soundscores for dance, theater and film since 1983. She has received commissions to compose and produce soundscores for Berkeley Symphony, Italian National Radio, New York Festival of Song, Die Knodel, Victoria Marks, Pat Graney Dance Company, and many other inspired artists. […]She has toured solo and has played with various groups and musicians such as the Tiptons Sax Quartet, Kultur Shock, Francisco Lopez, Danny Barnes, Relache Ensemble, Curlew, Fred Frith, Tone Dogs, Matt Cameron, Bill Frisell, Chris Cutler, Guy Klucevsek, Pauline Oliveros, Pale Nudes, Danubians, Hoppy Kamiyama, Ronin, Il Parto delle Nuvole Pesanti and has played with Chuck D's Fine Arts Militia. […]A pacifist & practicer of non-violence, she is a member of the American Civil Liberties Union.» (Read more)

Thanx to Toby for this post

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I Mericani - Death Folk (1996)

An incredibile Switzerland-based group between Folk and Avantgarde, Zappa and Carosone. Another fine offering from my friend Giuliano.

«I Mericani comenzaron en 1992 como una banda exclusivamente acústica (violín, banjo, acordeón, saxo, contrabajo y percusiones). Los primeros años fueron una enriquecedora experiencia a través de las diferentes ambiciones musicales de sus miembros. Simultáneamente, empezaron a tocar por las calles para escapar del aburrido sonido de un local de ensayo.
El tamaño de este grupo cambia constantemente con la colaboración de numerosos artistas internacionales. Tienden a ser naturales, conscientes, coherentes y estimulantes. Sus puestas en escena son performances para todo tipo de público. Música enérgica, tradicional y pop psico-folk incitando a la danza. Conciertos sin tregua dedicados a cada espectador.
Más de 700 conciertos desde 1992 en Suiza, Italia, Francia, Slovenia, Croacia, España, Alemania, Austria y Canadá avalan esta banda, así como un montón de composiciones y actuaciones para radios, TV, películas, teatro, danza y perfomances.» (Atiza)

«Legendarny CD, legendarnej i kultowej formacji przekręconej muzyki folkowej, weselnej i kabaretowej. Zmysłowe swawole, ekspresyjne eskapady, szalone pomysły, hipnotyzujące napięcia emocjonalne, przekorna liryka, wirtuozeria, magia.» (Ars2)

«Open group svizzero che ha prodotto della musica sinceramente impossibile a descrivere: un grosso lavoro di esplorazione e scoperta della musica popolare, arricchito di un’irrefrenabile voglia di divertimento e (soprattutto) di dissacrazione. I musicisti, tra cui Steve Buchanan sono tutti eccezionali, capaci di passare con disinvoltura dalla tradizione ticinese a Renato Carosone. Non un’altra jazz/folk/punk band: molto di più, molto di diverso, molto di meglio.» (A)

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