Brandon Seabrook's Epic Proportions - brutalovechamp

May 24, 2023

Label: Pyroclastic Records, 2023

Personnel - Brandon Seabrook: guitar, mandolin, banjo; John McCowen: contrabass clarinet, Bb clarinet, alto and bass recorder; Marika Hughes: cello; Henry Fraser: contrabass; Eivind Opsvick: contrabass; Chuck Bettis: electronics, voice; Nava Dunkelman: percussion, glockenspiel, voice; Sam Ospovat: drum set, gongs, vibraphone, chimes.

Untamable guitarist Brandon Seabrook takes a new direction as, according to his own words, he tries to slow things down and open things up. Known for the inventiveness and tension put into his playing, the guitarist delivers eight new striking compositions that, together, and within their spirit of freedom, form an unconventionally gripping post-modern opus.

With sterling contributions from seven talented musicians, Seabrook starts this journey with a savory mix of eclectic influences and strong contemporary affiliation. “brutalovechamp” opens with recorder and mandolin, having contrapuntal cello movements joining the classical-themed festivity. The atmosphere is initially pressurized by a prog-rock attitude, but then an exciting funk imposes, carved out by motivic guitar incisions. Drummer Sam Ospovat enjoys some time unaccompanied before an odd-metered vamp materializes with aboriginal-like sounds mixed with alt-rock and classical elements.

“I Wanna Be Chlorophylled” is split into two parts. The first, “Corpus Conductor”, incorporates an intricate guitar-laden texture (not devoid of Hendrixian maverick quality) and eerily cinematic bowed bass infusions by Henry Fraser. The octet returns to the point of departure prior to falling into a languid rock progression that encourages a winding guitar solo. The second part, “Thermal Rinse” is slow, taciturn and introspective in its cello+bass inception. Seabrook infuses it with fast guitar crotchet in the final stage, and there are these chiming legato notes creating a droning effect.

Whereas “The Perils of Saint-Betterment” places crisp mandolin strumming at the center of its fluid motion, and opens space for the venturesome contrabass clarinet of John McCowen, “Gutbucket Asylum” reaches a climactic peak with dissonance, frenzied vocals by Nava Dunkelman, speedy guitar picking, and driving percussion.

Notched by bowed banjo, “Libidinal Bouquets” would have given a perfect score for one of Guy Maddin’s weird odysseys on film, while “Compassion Montage” is characterized by operatic vocals from Dunkelman and Chuck Bettis.

brutalovechamp radiates energy with rippling intensity, being Seabrook’s affirmation as a skilled composer. This is a work of focused commitment and ambition.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - brutalovechamp ► 02 - I Wanna Be Chlorophylled I: Corpus Conductor ► 06 - Gutbucket Asylum

Brandon Seabrook Trio - In the Swarm

May 16, 2022

Label: Astral Spirits Records, 2022

Personnel - Brandon Seabrook: guitar, banjo; Cooper-Moore: diddley bow; Gerald Cleaver: drums, electronics.

For In the Swarm, the avant-garde guitarist, banjoist and improviser Brandon Seabrook reunited with his trio mates Cooper-Moore and Gerald Cleaver, on diddley bow (a single-stringed American instrument characteristic of the Deep South) and drums, respectively, with whom he forms an incredibly rhythmic triangle. These experimenters have already made a few marks on contemporary jazz, and here, just like in the previous Exultations (Astral Spirits, 2020), they catch your ear with creative explosions and an unflinching experimentalism stretched to the brink of psychedelic rock, electronica, and avant-garde jazz.

Most of the tracks ignite fire, granting access to new worlds of sound that are unquestionably genuine. Take the example of the title cut, which opens the record with an enthralling krautrock rhythm, edgy low-pitched vibes, and an offbeat banjo dissertation full of rhythmic intention. There’s also “Vibrancy Yourself”, a rousing post-punk number designed with chewy, danceable diddley bow grooves and distorted guitar with different tonal qualities. Cleaver is absolutely brilliant throughout, and if he stuns with the sextuple feel proposed on “Subliminal Gaucheries” (where we almost hear a blues at the bottom of the atmospheric reverberations), then he shows pulsing power and unerring precision on “Crepuscule of Cleaver”. Ushering in this patterned grid of metrical iteration, we have glitchy, stereo beams and serrated guitar noise.

“Adrenaline Charters” may seem disjointed at first, before our ears assimilate the rich pavement that holds the finger-busting work from Seabrook on banjo. “Seething Excitations” could have been a samba if it wasn’t for the hard-kicking drum set and darker tones. “Aghastitude” is shrouded in acerbic rebelliousness as it promotes a relentless motion that fits the experimental and industrial catalogue of Laibach and Einsturzende Neubauten. There’s a delirious guitar rapture here with lots of magnetism involved. In any case, the trio’s material transcends influences and generates something unique.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - In the Swarm ► 03 - Vibrancy Yourself ► 04 - Crepuscule of Cleaver

Kuba Cichocki / Brandon Seabrook - Brisk Distortions

December 2, 2021

Label: Self released, 2021

Personnel - Kuba Cichocki: piano; Brandon Seabrook: electric guitar.

The Polish pianist Kuba Cichocki joins forces with the American guitarist Brandon Seabrook in this ferocious, highly improvisatory collection of duets enveloped in a bubble of kinetic energy.

Three of the 21 tracks tracks have the signature of Cichocki, and the opener, “Scribbles” is one of them. Melodically strenuous, expressive and hectic, the music speeds up with an impressive left-hand piano continuum and steep accents. This sort of angular vitality is briefly put on halt for atmospherics but it’s transported to the following number, “Push”, where the stabbing guitar of Seabrook plays with timbre and effects. This is also clear on “Solid”, where torrents of cascading piano notes collide with frantic guitar pointillism and chordal fluxes.

While “Bounce” is driven by contrapuntal rhythmic figures, “Field Trip” clearly leans on warped folk before presenting some ambient washes and playful interplay. Cichocki’s “Rays” seems to have been drawn from danceable electronic music with quiet pauses in-between frictions and a nod to traditional jazz. The responsiveness of the duo here can be compared to “Chitchat (aka The Gloves)”, an ad lib that gets denser in the final section via the eruptive and disruptive distortion of the guitar.

Jagged but interesting, “Spikes” feels like we’re hearing toy music made with percussive prepared piano - sometimes emulating miniature artificial fireworks - and guitar dissonance. In turn, “Vabling” is a bustling, pressurized chamber of timbral and pitch combinations where you can expect murmuring and mantra-like activity.

The briskness is put to rest on the short-lived “Bubbles” and also on the concluding piece, “Breathe Out”, whose gentler temperament comes shrouded in nearly cherubic beauty.

Cichocki and Seabrook are admirably daring in their condensed, hard-nosed duo playing.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Scribbles ► 05 - Field Trip ► 21 - Breathe Out

Brandon Seabrook - Exultations

July 2, 2020

Label: Astral Spirits, 2020

Personnel - Brandon Seabrook: guitar; Cooper-Moore: diddley bow; Gerald Cleaver: drums.

Brandon Seabrook, a guitarist of rhythmically inventive force, boasts a curious style in which he effortlessly draws from the avant-garde, free improvisation, experimental and indie rock genres, including punk and math rock. Exultations emphasizes his energetic chops on top of the structurally rhythmic riches provided by kindred spirits Cooper-Moore, a dexterous pianist here exclusively dedicated to the diddley bow, and Gerald Cleaver on drums.

Powerful aural transmissions occur throughout a mesmerizing record that opens with “Flexing Fetid and Fecund”, a sinewy and muscled noise-rock exertion involving athletic drumming and distorted diddley bow slaps. Faithful to his strenuous, agitated vocabulary, Seabrook expands the freedom to “Dark Bogs”, a mechanical, somewhat droid-guided march where he engenders out-of-the-box textures and opens new communicative channels with both digital-oriented proficiency and industrial sonic conception.

Cooper-Moore and Cleaver often adhere to a sort of krautrock precision, and if “Behavioral Tub” implants electronic music influences in the experimental affairs, then the wildly inventive “Along Comes Diddley” proposes a fluttery funk feel conveyed by breakneck guitar actions spilled out with abandon, fire and flair. Whereas the former piece is permeated with carefree guitar noodling, fiery fretwork easily morphing into ostinatos processed by spacious effects, and drum rudiments fleshed out over a droning texture; the latter provides pointillism and synth-guitar clouds over a blistering rhythmic ambiance.

Trapped in a post-punk trance appended with glitchy sounds, “Cudgel Majik” differs considerably from both “Essential Exultations”, an atmospheric tour with some diaphanous minimalism, and “Absurdities in Bondage”, where the trio finds a special way to swing. Still, all pieces share the rigidly interlocked rhythms of Cooper-Moore and Cleaver in addition to Seabrook’s manifold strengths, which include the ability to mutate his playing from sharply angular to quizzically atmospheric.

The originality and inventiveness of the trio translate into unconventional textures that make this experimental work starkly fascinating.