Mikołaj Trzaska & Daktyle - Transient Riot (Antenna Non Grata, 2025)

By Nick Ostrum

Recorded live in concert in 2024, Transient Riot is the latest release from Polish reedist Mikołaj Trzaska, who has been well documented on this blog. On it, he is joined by fellow Polish group Daktyle, a duo consisting of Marek Sadowski on various percussion and electronics and Maciej Jaciuk on daxophone, bass-box, sidrax synthesizer, loops, and other electronics.

Although experimental jazz of all sorts seems to be leaning toward electronics these days, the addition of Daktyle still adds something novel to this outing. Some of this might be because live performance is the heart of the Daktyle project. The notes to one of their few releases, DKTLE, emphasizes their reliance on “electronics and prepared live instrumentation,” which is an excellent way to describe the dialectic between preparation and in-the-moment decision and deployment. The duo is unpredictable and engaging throughout, laying out a carpet of beats here, liquid ambient wrinkles there, restive percussion and abstract slashes of noise elsewhere. But they also often provide the textures and rhythm (or beats or loops) over which Trzaska plays. If you have heard him play before, you will likely recognize his approach. He can go on a tear, but never for too long. Often, he waits and listens, sprinkling some stray notes until he finds space for his plangent and soulful wails.

Although the title might denote something aggressive and violent, an eruption that quickly burns itself out, Transient Riot is anything but. It is open and free flowing – though I should add that the album itself has an impeccable and directive flow. At the same time, it is somewhat constrained. One gets the sese that Sadowski and Jaciuk could run amok if they wished, but they don’t. Conversely, they could content themselves with some juicy ambient backdrops but are too interested in the details and detours to do that. The same goes for Trzaska. Much like Joe McPhee, with whom he has played before, he focuses on constructing wafting and mournful phrases. He harnesses rather than discharges energy. Sadowski and Jaciuk respond in kind. There is no real riot here, but there is a lot of bluesy abstraction and EAI dissonance. And that’s certainly good enough for me.

Available as CD and download on Bandcamp: 

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Tatsuya Yoshida/Martin Escalante –The Sound of Raspberry (Wash and Wear records, 2025) *****

By Fotis Nikolakopoulos

This release (out on vinyl for all of us vinyl lovers) is, probably the biggest surprise of 2025 so far. And certainly one of the best. The makers are the legendary noise drummer, founder of the Ruins, Tatsuya Yoshida and Mexican powerhouse saxophonist Martin Escalante. They both contribute different kinds of noises to the sounds you will absorb –mostly by their voices…

Even though I have devoured a lot of noise releases through the years, I have come to the belief (maybe this is progress, maybe not) that I prefer to listen to any kind of music made by acoustic instruments, rather than the usual pedals with effects, a laptop and some electronics (all of them or separately) set up we find when listening to noise music live.

The ethos of noise music is there though. And not just that. This music is amazing not only because it has the cathartic quality of noise. Both players adjust to each other’s playing and also add, every second after second, extra pathos and energy. They also play –powerful drums and an aggressive but not angry alto saxophone- in unison, creating a wall, a mass of sound that bewilders and fascinates you. But also make you wait and want more, even though all tracks are short (like a rapid image that appears and, immediately disappears in order to be replaced by the next) clocking under four minutes.

I particularly enjoyed and was, kind of, baptized to the sheer volume of it while laughing with their “don’t take us serious” approach utilizing their voices , and some electronics by Yoshida, in order to add some humor. Oh, but they are not just playing (or “playing”…), they are so serious in creating an alternative noisey space that will make the demons of the outside world, of reality, go away. This record is totally recommended for anyone not interested in the same boring labels or genres.

Listen:

 

@koultouranafigo

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