The Leaf Lab

Laurence Pike continues in a rich creative vein with the release of Prophecy, his third solo album in as many years. Inspired to write and record in response to the evastating wild fires in his native Australia, the percussionist, composer and producer has created a work for our times. Adopting the working formula of 'one take' studio performances for drum kit and sampler; channelling the moment through Pike's singular, organic use of electronics, and intuitively constructed arrangements. There is an instinctive and emotional resonance here, driven by his reaction to the climate emergency.

"In Each And Every One" är Polar Bears femte album och det första nya sedan 2010 års storsäljare "Peepers". Plattan är producerad/mixad av bandledaren Sebastian Rochford och är ett nytt kapitel i Polar Bears framfart som ett av de mest spännande och progressiva banden i sin generation.

Holy Spring is the second solo album by Australian percussionist, drummer and composer Laurence Pike - an "article of faith", expressing the sense that "the ritual of performance can transcend the confines of style, structure and concept to connect with something universal." The name of the album is beautifully ambiguous, evoking a wellspring, but also rebirth, and more besides. It sounds constantly, effervescently fresh, just as it should when its creation was a series of surprises to its own creator. The listener, just like the musician, are privy to what Pike describes as "the music simply playing itself. Improvisation has played a role throughout Pike's long and diverse career in music. Whether as part of PVT, Triosk or Szun Waves, or collaborating with Liars, legendary jazz pianist Mike Nock, DD Dumbo or the mighty Bill Callahan, he has long been a responsive musician for whom sensitive listening leads to spontaneous invention.

Holy Spring is the second solo album by Australian percussionist, drummer and composer Laurence Pike - an "article of faith", expressing the sense that "the ritual of performance can transcend the confines of style, structure and concept to connect with something universal." The name of the album is beautifully ambiguous, evoking a wellspring, but also rebirth, and more besides. It sounds constantly, effervescently fresh, just as it should when its creation was a series of surprises to its own creator. The listener, just like the musician, are privy to what Pike describes as "the music simply playing itself. Improvisation has played a role throughout Pike's long and diverse career in music. Whether as part of PVT, Triosk or Szun Waves, or collaborating with Liars, legendary jazz pianist Mike Nock, DD Dumbo or the mighty Bill Callahan, he has long been a responsive musician for whom sensitive listening leads to spontaneous invention.

Distant Early Warning is the debut solo album by Australian drummer, percussionist and composer Laurence Pike. For the best part of two decades Pike has operated at the cutting edge of the electronic and jazz music worlds, releasing albums to critical acclaim and touring the world with his bands PVT (formerly Pivot), Triosk and Szun Waves, and featuring on numerous albums, tours and soundtracks as a collaborator. On Distant Early Warning he carves himself a moment of reflection. The calm in the eye of the storm. An ominous portent as the rocks appear on the horizon. Originally conceived as a technological and spiritual jazz suite for drums, Distant Early Warning is a series of solo performances for kit and sampler recorded live in a single day. "For a long time I've been feeling there's a central part of my musical voice that didn't have an outlet," Pike says. "So this album is definitely a product of inner necessity."

Pike Laurence: The Undreamt-Of Centre (Forest..) [Vinyl LP]

Matthew Bourne follows 2017's Isotach album, and recent collaborations with Keeley Forsyth and Nightports, with a collection of prepared piano pieces. Irrealis was recorded in a single session, each take played as live without any overdubs. Having taught himself the basics of prepared piano by throwing confectionary into his school's instrument, elements of these experimentations played a key role in Bourne's early performances. This culminated in an infamous performance piece which saw the explosive musical demolition of an upright piano with a sledgehammer. Far from the staid academic process the discipline is often approached with, Irrealis sees a restless improvisational musician explore the possibilities of his instrument with a box of nuts, bolts and Blu-Tak, and a sense of playfulness and spontaneity.