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Grappling With The Orange Porpoise

by The Chemical Expansion League

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Gatefold sleeve, artwork by Adam Bohman

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1.
Rose Petals & Rocket Propellant 04:08
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2.
Concrete, Concussion & Cranberries 03:57
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3.
Marzipan Manipulations 05:49
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4.
Squirting Groceries 05:22
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5.
Seagull Semaphore Slump 02:45
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6.
Adolescent Steamroller Stomp 06:05
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7.
Sherbet Flavored Hysteria  05:26
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8.
Financial Celery Expletive Binge 03:59
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9.
Broken Thermos Flask Fiasco 04:41
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10.
Gangrene Gagging Clause 06:19
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about

Wrestling with the Orange Porpoise is the title of the new and first cd of The Chemical Expansion League which includes Adam Bohman, legendary improviser with amplified objects and poet (surrealist according to Steve Beresford) to whom his colleagues very often leave complete freedom to invent group names, album and song titles. He is in good company here with the two friends with whom he organizes the Horse Improv Club . For each concert and for the Grappling cover, Adam creates a colorful collage (poster).. In this Grappling with Orange Porpoise, the trio of the Horse Improv Club joined the German double bass player Ulf Mengersen, who had the mix performed by Dietrich Petzold in Berlin. From one piece to another, there is great readability: we can clearly distinguish the musicians. The friction of the double bass with the bow, the lunar interventions of the soprano sax of Adrian Northover, the thoughtful and measured breath of the tenor of Sue Lynch and the scratches, whistles, friction of all kinds of Adam Bohman on the surface of objects glued or ligated on his table cross peacefully, float in space, the musicians alternating their phases of play and silence so that there are two or three of the four members of the Chemical Expansion League busy playing in same time. Which is a bit normal: when you do expansive chemistry, you have to dose the ingredients and add them one by one with care and meticulousness, otherwise you risk an explosion. Those who confuse free improvisation with generalized mess where everyone is playing all the time at the same time should read up a bit or listen to the Chemical Expansion League compact. The ten improvisations recorded here have sleeping titles (NB in ??London, given the distances, this might happen to you if you go to listen to Adam late in the south of the city). Bohmanesque inspiration. I'll quote a few for your edification: Seagull Semaphore Slump, Adolescent Steamroller Stomp, Financial Celery Expletive Binge, Broken Thermos Flask Fiasco. We wonder if the titles have something to do with their music. The music of the wrestling orange porpoise is more reminiscent of the phlegmatic cormorant which motionlessly awaits its time to seize its prey. What matters to the three "conventional" instrumentalists is playing with the right dynamics so that even every objectist's sound can be heard clearly. Credit card torture, the screeching of amplified clothespins, springs stroked with a light bulb, bow on a Belgian abbey beer cup, screeching of guitar strings attached to a plastic box, etc ... Ulf Mergesen a prepared his double bass, Adrian Northover, soprano and alto sax, also plays wasp synthesizer and melodica, Sue Lynch, on tenor sax, double on flute or clarinet. Adam Bohman, a follower of pure noise, is credited with prepared strings, in addition to amplified objects, either strings (guitar, violin, elastic, but also tomato slicer or springs) that he scratches delicately, peacefully, one or two at a time. The other three have all the sensitivity required to evolve by searching for sounds with a dynamic, a feeling and stretches of notes that make our ears lean on the scratchings, crackles and rubbing of their colleague poet. The blowers' notes seem to escape out of space like in Adolescent Steamroller Stromp. Adrian Northover's mix is exemplary. Beautiful moments of poetry, the chemistry of the quartet works.

orynx-improvandsounds.blogspot.com/2020/08/neil-metcalfe-john-edwards-marcello.html

credits

released February 21, 2021

Adam Bohman - Prepared Strings and Objects
Sue Lynch- Tenor Sax/Clarinet/Flute
Adrian Northover - Alto & Soprano Sax/Wasp Synthesizer/Melodica
Ulf Mengersen - Bowed and Prepared Double Bass
Mix and sleeve design Adrian Northover
Artwork by Adam Bohman
Recorded at Oxo Studios, London 05.08.18 & 04.11.18.
Mastered at Tonus Arcus Studio, Berlin by Dietrich Petzold

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Adrian Northover image

Adrian Northover London, UK

Adrian Northover is based in London, and plays alto and soprano saxophone, and is also involved in sound production.
He can currently be heard playing on the London club scene with a wide range of musicians, He has played at the Montreal Jazz Festival, Sound Symposium, Victoriaville, Leipzig Jazz Festival, Tallin Festival, Arkangel Jazz, Freedom Of The City, Bari Jazz and many others. ... more

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