Member Since: 26/11/2007
Band Website: myspace.com/thefirstoriginalsilence
Band Members: Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth)
Terrie Ex (The Ex)
Jim O`Rourke
Mats Gustafsson (The Thing),
Paal Nilssen-Love (The Thing, Atomic)
Massimo Pupillo (Zu).
Influences: PITCHFORK REVIEW
Original Silence
The First Original Silence
[Smalltown Superjazz; 2007]Those inclined toward improvised music can usually find something worthwhile in all forms of it. But even the most blindly faithful recognize when a session shoots so high that it sounds more like a rocket than a record. The First Original Silence is that kind of instant attention-grabber. Original Silence use the same tools as many improv groups: rolling percussion, squawking horns, guitar feedback, and scraggly electronic noise. But these six sound-crushers have added some sort of performance-enhancing drug, injecting their sound with energy rare to any music, improvised or otherwise.That shouldn't be a surprise given the pedigree of the participants. High-level improv is routine for sax player Mats Gustafsson and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love (both from free jazz dynamo the Thing), guitarist Terrie Ex of the Ex, bassist Massimo Pupillo of Zu, and guitarist Thurston Moore and Jim O'Rourke (on electronics here) of whatever it is they do. But improv history is littered with mediocre records made by well-heeled musicians unable to get out of each other's way.Original Silence avoid such pitfalls by committing to improv-rock, the kind that actually sounds like experimental rock music rather than just rock musicians noodling. This is due mostly to the heavy gravitational force of Nilssen-Love and Pupillo, whose metallic rhythms swing between structure and freedom. The closest parallel to their bombastic stomp is the hammering lurch of Norwegian trio Noxagt; in fact, much of The First Original Silence sounds like Noxagt gone free-jazz, an enticing prospect to be sure.Recorded during a 2005 tour of Italy, the album gets off to a ferocious start, grafting Minutemen-like bounce to Gustafsson's guttural horn playing. "If Light Has No Age, Time Has No Shadow" continues to hurtle forward from there, remaining insistent and vigorous through 15 minutes of tonal changes. Most impressive is how the musicians never step on each other; their fluid exchange of sonic positions almost feels conducted. When Pupillo backs down, Moore or Ex fills in with cutting string-work, only to slip underneath O'Rourke's squiggly slashes, which in turn make way for Gustafsson's full-body bellows.The 45-minute closer "In the Name of the Law" is understandably not as high-speed. It does have stretches of mass hysteria, especially a crazed section starting around eight minutes in, where a nearly-4/4 beat, wailing guitar noise, and Gustafsson's Albert Ayler-esque squalls evoke the Stooges' "L.A. Blues". But even the most placid moments crackle. Stretches of electronic whirr, minimal guitar clang (reminiscent of Evol-era Sonic Youth), and thick atmosphere all emit an electric charge. Even the final 15 minutes, a nearly rhythm-less denouement, has enough plot points to keep you turning the sonic pages.Long improv tracks have become such a cliché that they often seem doomed to fail. But Original Silence attacks these two epics like sprints instead of marathons, and The First Original Silence proves you don't have to stop playing to catch your breath.-Marc Masters, May 02, 2007
Sounds Like: ORIGINAL SILENCE: GREAT TIME OUT LONDON REVIEW!
"This wryly titled offering from Thurston Moore, Jim O`Rourke and two members of Nordic free-jazzers The Thing, among others, is a 60-minute(two-track) slab of awesomely intense, wholly improvised avant noise. It represents the appeal of extreme improv from Boredoms to SunnO))) - thus at what at first might appear as an impenetrable wall slowly opens up to reveal perversely beautiful wormholes of melody, rythm and texture. Not for the faint-hearted or the fragile-eared - or those in shared housing, perhaps - but still hugely thrilling" (4/6 Time Out London)ORIGINAL SILENCE: BBC REVIEW
"There is nothing remotely ‘silent’ about Euro/US alliance Original Silence. Raw noise, sonic shocks, chaos and cacophony abound. But silence: no. Leaving behind all notions of melody, this is a turbo charged collision between punk-metal and free jazz: a super-band, concocted by Swedish saxophonist Mats Gustafsson, which is defiant in its lack of compromise. The Oslo-based Smalltown Superjazz is one of the most exciting indie labels in jazz. Yet Original Silence might be their most daring project yet – a group who bring together influences as disparate as Albert Ayler and The Stooges. Alongside Gustavsson on sax, the band unites Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston More with avant-jazz drummer Paal Nilssen-Love, metal bassist Massimo Pupillo (The Zu) and guitar slinger Terrie Ex (The Ex). Over two extended, free-jams (one at 14 minutes, the other over 45) the members stretch into blisteringly ugly improvisation. Easy to admire, difficult to listen to, the audience at this live recording in Italy in 2005 must have had stamina galore. The opener, '‘If Light Has No Age, Time Has No Shadow'’ sets out the group’s free-jam agenda promisingly: surreal, distorted sound effects and guitar jabs compete alongside kitwork from Nilssen-Love and strangled sax screeches from Gustafsson. Initially, these simultaneous experiments feel like a hardcore cousin of Acoustic Ladyland. Intense yet incoherent, however, they lack musicality and frequently veer into self-indulgence. Nilssen-Love is an excellent drummer and brings the most music to the set. Yet the corrugated iron guitars, multiphonic sax and effects-laden noise are tough going. Even as the epic second track, '‘In the Name of the Law'’, breaks into more subtle, thoughtful exchanges (after 20 minutes), and as Gustavsson works lyrical Coltrane-laden wails into the mix, the experience is more an act of endurance than pleasure. The musical equivalent of nails scratching a blackboard, or a heavy-metal twist on free-jazz’s most otherworldly excursions? Either way, Original Silence is not for lily-livered listeners." (BBC)
Record Label: SMALLTOWN SUPERSOUND
Type of Label: Indie