Malcolm Catto Interview....

This interview was a bit last minute and so was done by email. That initially bummed me out, I've been keeping my vinyl greedy eye on Mr Catto for quite some time, at least since he flummoxed me with his breaks (breakbeats that is not the turgid music style so beloved by our trans-Tasman cousins) album on Mo Wax, if not before. Thankfully he was generous with his answers via the interweb, I don't bother posting some of the email interviews up here but this'un is well worth it.

Hanyways his name in the credits and on the pots and pans, is invariably a portent of a soon come, fiscal exchange and happy challenging listening in my book.. what more can I say. Read on, links and stinks at the t'other end.

How did the project come about?

The project came about after a session, which myself, Jake and Lloyd recorded about a year ago for Gerald .The session was subsequently released on the Jazzman label, although me and Jake felt at the time a little cornered into playing straight Swing / Jazz, which by our own admission was something we had neither really played before or expressed an interest in. However Lloyd was encouraging enough and seemed genuinely pleased with our efforts. Two things were apparent to us on that first meeting with Lloyd, firstly his undoubted musical abilities and secondly the ease in which he could overdub various exotic Eastern instruments over the top of each other. We had several hours of recorded material that was not wholly representative of the Heliocentrics collective, but material we knew would both benefit greatly from and compliment Lloyd’s musical style. We selected and sent Lloyd 10 backing tracks which were mainly Jazz or World orientated as a starting point and he initially seemed quite excited by the project though not without certain reservations.

How was the experience of working with Lloyd, he seems a singular man!

Lloyd, Jake and myself are all fairly pig headed and there were times when the clash of musical ideologies left us all feeling a tad compromised and mentally drained. However, there is know doubt a great deal of common fertile ground between us, particularly in our appreciation of Modal Jazz and World music which was easily enough to get us through. Lloyd was a lot happier when we moved onto creating music from scratch having got the backing tracks out of the way as a kind of musical security if needed. We definitely learnt a lot from Lloyd during those sessions and went along with most of his ideas even to the point of attempting some New Orleans Jazz. Lloyd on the other hand has stronger moral issues with music than us and when we get off into our thing like say “Lloyds diatribe”, we would at the end of the track find that if Lloyd had not indeed left the building, he had certainly left the room.

Was it very different to working with Mulatu? (we went to Australia to see him play with your saxophonist James Arben, and it was excellent btw)

Very different, Mulatu is perhaps Lloyds’ nemesis in that he is very open to experimenting and electronics etc, and except for a few of his own compositions he gave us carte blanche with complete freedom to produce the LP as we saw fit. With “OST” however there was very little production but a lot of editing as Lloyd is opposed to all things electronic and on the whole we tried to capture the sessions with a sort of Blue note transparency and purity, this comes across better on the CD.

Did the project stretch the Heliocentrics?

Yes, it made us think in different terms about music and our process in creating it. We have ended up perhaps with something more traditional and easier on the ears than we would have done with fewer restrictions, but by the same token there is a subtlety and certain beauty that pervades the release that we must attribute to Lloyds’ guidance.

Overall “OST” encompasses much of both musical parties, creating, as is the point of collaborative projects, something that neither of us could or would have done alone. It’s a bit like a mutually good deal where both parties feel slightly cheated: if one of us felt we had got totally the record we wanted it might have been one sided.

Lloyd was really enthusiastic about the other material that wasn't released yet, how did the selection process work out?

Quinton who jointly runs Strut records had the very last say on what went on or off, though Lloyd and ourselves fought our corners for tracks we wanted on till the last. From our perspective there is a lot of heavier and darker material that Lloyd would not allow on that we wanted to include and some more traditional acoustic numbers he wanted on that we didn’t, for example the ‘New Orleans Jazz abomination’.

Lloyd was very complimentary about you all, especially you and Jake, but he said 'you learned quick, but forgot slow' referring to what he calls 'jittering hip hop and rock' -I thought it was a beautiful turn of phrase but what's your feelings on that statement? (it's all exceedingly smooth to my ears)

We were certainly not Lloyds’ ideal band, Jazz chops being pretty thin on the ground and what with our heavy use of electronics etc, though I guess he can do exactly the thing he wants with his guys in Salt Lake. There are quite a few of us and influences start from the 1930’s blues through to Drum and Bass. Lloyd music stopped on 1960, he is a living historical musical snapshot, a bit like the cars in Cuba. But because of that, unlike many of his more seasoned counterparts, he evaded the horrors of late 70’s & 80’s fusion and the likes of slap bass, gated drums etc, and consequently has an integrity rarely seen in musicians who consistently feel the need to be ‘modern’.

What else do you have coming up for yourself and the Heliocentrics?

We are working on our own album, experimenting with different sounds and home-made instruments. There are many musicians we would love to collaborate with in the future including possible further work with Mulatu, and Lloyd if he is up for it!

Heliocentrics are
Malcolm Catto – drums & piano
Jake Ferguson – bass & Thai guitar
Mike Burnham – modular synth & effects
Jack Yglesias – flutes, percussion & santur
Adrian Owusu – guitars, oud & percussion
James Arben – clarinet, tenor & baritone sax
Ray Carless – alto, tenor & baritone sax
Max Weissenfeldt – vibes & percussion
Khadijatou Doyneh(K2 Wordplay) – vocals
Neil Yates - Trumpet
Byron Wallen - Trumpet
Ollie Parfitt - Keyboards
James Allsopp - Saxes, Bass Clarinet
Shabaka Hutchings - Saxes, Clarinet

Still rate this album big time, check Conch.

This is what we're talking about upstairs.


BUY LLOYD MILLER & THE HELIOCENTRICS 'O.S.T.' locallly, hinternationally, digitally.......NOWWWWWWWWWW!

Heliocentrics on the web at Now Again
Heliocentrics myspace

Check the next post (Lloyd MIller interview Part One) to hear a track from the album.

2008'S FINEST EP HORS D'OEUVRES

As a bit of warm up to the upcoming and thoroughly scary (and time consuming) 100 renkingest tracks and probably around 40 or so olfactory albums, of 2008 here's an allegorical toe in the water with my top 5 EP's (or EP type things) of particular noteworthiness. Aside from the fact that this helped whittle down my 100 songs list from its 20+% over-budgetness, all of these five have remarkable quality control, to the extent that I could have picked pretty much any track from each. Undoubtedly two of the most mostest EPs that emerged in 08 were from The Naked And Famous, but I have excluded Round Trip Mars gear from these here charts because it's hard enough slimming these lists to a mildly managable amount, it's a bit like choosing between children, and kinda weird because I listen to RTM stuff more than anything else through its various stages. Hanyways on with the five..no particular order, was hard enough getting em down to this.

Various - Bersa Discos Volume 1 (Bersa Discos)
Based between Buenos Airies and California (San Diego from memory), the Bersa Discos crew of Oro 11 and Disco Shawn have represented solidly with four vinyl EPs of flambeed nuevo-cumbia. This first'un is the pick of the bunch for me, even though it faced stiff competition from the ZZK 12", that accompanied their sterling compilation dealing in similar hooha. El Hijo De La Cumbia has an ostentatious name that he more than lives up to, and Daleduro dishes out the damage relentlessly. The wax understandably looks somewhat sold out, but it's still available digitally (see below) for people with fingers and ting.
(Buy the mptrees)
(Daledurospace)
(Bersaspace)

DALEDURO - BOMBON ASESINO

Uncle O - Uncle O (I'm A Cliche)
Uncle O sounds like somewhat of a legend amongst the musical denizens of Paris. He's put together excellent comp series like 'Champion Sound' and 'Shaolin Soul', and he brings a whole heap of flavour and veteran vibes to the nine, all too brief, tracks on this release for Cosmo Vitelli's shockingly good I'm A Cliche label. There's delicate electro, gentle doof and Kraftwerkian machine doodles as well as a whole heap more high grade malarkey. 'Avalanche' thoroughly absorbed me for a while, what a tune!
(Buy)
(ImAClichespace)

UNCLE O - AVALANCHE


MRR/ADM feat Malcolm Catto - ? (MRR/ADM)
MRR - ADM are Mike Raymond Russell and Adam Doug Manella, also formerly known as MHE recording for the Sound In Color label. On this 10" they're joined by British sticksman/ex-Mo Wax artist/current Heliocentric and noted record collector Malcolm Catto for half of the tracks,  apparently alongside some other folk. It's all a bit sketchy, as the truly exquisitely packaged, red vinyl 10" release comes with pretty much zero information bar 'featuring Malcolm Catto'. Who cares it's spooky, soundtracky, synth-laden psychosis of top-shelf calibre, and the kind of freak shit that could only come from California and Gaslamp Killer associates. Now very much a collectors item (check Discogs for a gulp) it was one of the years most expensive small purchases (from Melbourne's top ranking Northside Records) and worth every cent.

(SoundInColorspace)
(DirtyDrumswebsite) Apparently it's them, they keep it shady. Two drum kits to bang out on your keyboard..tis fun.

MMR - ADD - TWO (Approx Title)


CLAUSE FOUR - BLUE ON BLUE (DC RECORDINGS)
It's true that I'm a longstanding, unabashed J Saul Kane fanboy, but it is undeniable that DC Recordings have had a sterling year, possibly their best ever. Tom Giles' EP under the Clause Four moniker was one of many highlights, stretching out the possibilities of wonky, glitchy beats biz into all sorts of areas. This 12" was justifiably stuck to the turntables for a good spell this year and it's one that just gets better with repeat plays, as ever the artwork from La Boca is extraordinarily good. More please.
(Buy) while you can...
(ClauseFourspace)

CLAUSE FOUR - VERSION #2

Shocking Pinks - Emily (DFA)
I think the 'Emily' EP would have to be be my pick of the bunch, though the vinyl version doesn't actually feature the title track in any form. The choice of remixers is almost spotless, and it's the sort of double 12" package that recalls the glory days of that divine vinyl indulgence. I'll be going into the Large Hadron Collider of a mix from Expanding Head Band in the 100 tunes palaver coming up but, aside from Nathan Fake's somewhat meh remix, it's all quality. Lee Douglas takes 'Cutout' to the outer stratosphere on his lengthy workout, while Detroit's Echospace/Deepchord again distinguish themselves from the post Basic Channel/Rhythm & Sound crowd, with a brace of unfathomably deep belters. I'm hoping that Mr Harte is over the health issues that kept him from the last SP gig in Auckland, the set they played on the genius pre-BDO, line-up with SJD and The Clean at the dirty old KA last January was ear-crumbling fire indeed.

(Buy)

(Shocking Pinkspace)

SHOCKING PINKS - DRESSED TO PLEASE (DEEPCHORD REMIX)

We'll be starting on them bigger lists real soon...