Monday 20 December 2010
Bird Head Son Tour.. Complete!
We've been writing the next record over the last few months, and are due to enter the studio very soon.. More on that later.
There's lots of clips and interviews etc.. on the Spasm Band blog: http://spasmband.blogspot.com/
Here's a photo of The Spasm Band taken in Lille at the end of the tour:
l-r: Anthony Joseph, Colin Webster, Oscar Martinez, Michel Castellanos, Andrew John, Christian Arcucci
New addition..
I've wanted a bari for ages, and now I have one. This one used to belong to a fantastic saxophonist and improvisor David O'Connor - so it's got pedigree!
It's made a couple of live appearances already with Webster/Holub/McLaren and Wart Biter, and in the studio with Chik Budo. Looking forward to playing it on gigs and some new recordings in the new year.
Tuesday 30 November 2010
Composition for ArtReview Short Film
Find more videos like this on artreview.com
Wart Biter @ The Gluerooms
Tuesday 19 October 2010
JAZZ SNOB: EAT SHIT
It's easy to see with the Wilkinson/Edwards/Noble line-up that what you're dealing with is the very best of British 'free jazz' and improvised music. Not much more to say about it than that! More about this fantastic trio, plus audio and video clips on their myspace:
www.myspace.com/wilkinsonedwardsnoble
This will be the first performance by my trio in several months. Since the recording session in March we've been rehearsing and the music is starting to shape itself into a dark, brooding and raucous beast. Looking forward to playing live!
Monday 20 September 2010
Raise The Hallows
Especially for halloween, Max from Transient Constellations and myself have brought together a selection of London's finest noise, improv, and hardcore artists for a night of ghostly interference, demonic chanting, dismembered instruments, and otherworldly sonic explorations!
DIATRIBES w/ Colin Webster
http://www.myspace.com/diatribesimprovisors
http://www.myspace.com/colinwebstermusic
TEMPERATURES
http://www.myspace.com/temperaturestheband
DJ TENDRAW
http://www.myspace.com/djtendrawandthegypsiesdog
BOLIDE
http://www.myspace.com/bolideawkwardstra
LION LIES DOWN
http://www.myspace.com/lionliesdown
Friday 3 September 2010
Anthony Joseph & The Spasm Band @ Passing Clouds
Wednesday 1 September 2010
Firebox presents Afreaka Show (AKA Black is Beautiful)
FIREBOX PRESENTS AFREAKA SHOW (AKA BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL)!!!!
A group of some of London's finest improvisers, collectively known as 'Fire Box', converge to present a series of musical journeys. Starting from spaced-out jazz vamps and moments of silence the performers take the listener into a world of spontaneous musical happenings. Taking inspiration from the likes of Sun Ra, Derek Bailey, Miles Davis and Ornette Coleman.
Firebox will pay tribute on this evening to anti-apartheid activist S...teve Biko, who died in police custody 33 years ago. Steve Biko formed the Black Conciousness Movement in South Africa, empowering and mobilising the black urban population, and is credited with coining the phrase "black is beautiful".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Biko
Performers on the night are:
Shura Greenberg: Double Bass
Craig Tamlin: Drums
Gareth Wilkins: Fender Rhodes, Synths
James Marsh: Alto Sax
Colin Webster: Tenor Sax
David O'Connor: Baritone Sax
This event is free entry, and bar is open til late
Friday 30 July 2010
Summer!
Since May The Spasm Band has been fairly busy touring with our new line-up, with Michel Castellanos on drum kit and Jozef Berk on congas/timbales. The majority of the shows have been festival dates around Europe, including France, Belgium, Czech Rep, Norway, Slovenia, and we played at Mawazine Festival in Morocco. As usual we had very little time to check out any of the countries we played in.. There were a few highlights: Bergen was spectacular, and the Nattjazz festvial was excellent. The Mawazine festival stage was really impressive, probably one of the biggest I've ever played - I was just gutted we didn't get to try any amazing Moroccan cuisine! The most recent tour took us to the South of France for three shows - not a bad place to tour in July! The tour ended with a great show in a quarry near Montpellier - deep resonance from the rocks on all sides.
Here is a link to footage of our set at Les Suds festival in Arles.
In between Spasm Band tours I had a couple of festival gigs with Chik Budo. In June we played the biggest of them all - Glastonbury. Sadly we weren't booked on the mainstage, but the DogFacedGeisha's bar had it's own charms. The venue was tucked away in an area called Block 9 - a spectacular post-apocalyptic film-set, complete with burnt out cars and trains, plus a gay disco and a dubstep arena! We were lucky enough to have passes for the whole weekend, and stayed to the end (to see Stevie Wonder!). We also had a fantastic gig in July at a great little festival in Devon called Wattsfest. Definitely recommend it!
Chik Budo also currently have a free download available from the website. Go and get it here.
Thursday 13 May 2010
Scuppered!
So instead the last month or so has mainly been spent in the studio. The Spasm is in the process of writing our next album, and incorporating some new material in the live set. I've also been working on new Chik Budo material - there's some new tracks up on the myspace.
I'm also currently finalising the mixes of the trio recordings I did in march with Mark Holub and Toby McLaren. I've pulled a number of short trio and duo pieces from session that are being mixed by Alex Bonney, and should be unleashed on the world soon.
The unexpected lack of gigs has also meant I've had a chance to see some gigs here in London. Peter Brotzmann was at The Vortex with his band Hairy Bones - Massimo Pupillo (from Zu) on bass, Toshinori Kondo on trumet, and Paal Nilssen-Love on drums. Their set was one of the most intense and powerful I've ever seen from what is essentially an acoustic band. Peter Brotzmann was also inspiring to see (and hear) in the flesh. His demeanour, physicality, and presence are so strongly tied to the sounds he produces. I also liked seeing him shred about 4 reeds in 45 minutes, and each time he put on a new reed he'd file it down with a 4-inch flick-knife before he played it!
I also managed to catch a gig by Ken Vandermark at Cafe Oto. His rhythm section for the night was Paal Nilssen-Love and John Edwards - which has to be one of the strongest and inventive you'll find anywhere in Europe right now. Plenty to be inspired by.
Monday 12 April 2010
Wart Biter @ Transient Constellations
Tuesday 23 March 2010
Mad March
l-r: Mark Holub, Me, Toby McLaren @ Shiftworks Studio
Monday 1 February 2010
Charles Hayward Trio + Wart Biter
Charles Hayward is a legendary drummer, known for his work with This Heat, Massacre, and Camberwell Now. He's joined by saxophonist Tomas Challenger (Ma, Red Snapper, Loop Collective, and bassist Nick Doyne-Ditmas. Their music can be described as ultra-telepathic shape bending acoustic improv, veering from the rootsy, to the abstract, to genuinely euphoric highs.
Wart Biter is Colin Webster on saxophone, Toby McLaren from Led Bib on synthesiser, and the double-headed beast of a rhythm section that is Gum Take's Tooth's Tom Fugelsang on drums - which trigger Jussi Brightmore's rig of synths and effects. Wart Biter combine expansive abstract sonorities, with abrasive improv and primal slabs of noise.
Sunday 24 January 2010
There Is No Time: Anthony Joseph and The Spasm Band
There is no time : Anthony Joseph & The Spasm Band from anthony joseph on Vimeo.