(Ampersand Etcetera) (Eh?31) presents a few issues for the reviewer. Those annoying parentheses in the group name; all the quotation marks (around the album title and the track names); two pieces("all the money is gone"parts 1 and 2) are presented as 3 cd-tracks (see epiphany below); a lineup which is three people for one track and 7 for the other, and there are 5 people on the cover photo (which probably isn't them). Reviewers whinge over. DBH is at core Rhody/Hubbard/Wright on trumpet, sax and percussion - and recorded the second part in the studio. Part 1 is a live recording which adds 4 more members on bass, percussion, violin/recorder and trombone.[Looking at the cover I suddenly realised the title track is the live piece and the 2 studio ones are the 2 parts of "all the money is gone"]. They present harsh aggressive improv. I sometimes draw diagrams of the music while I review it - crescendi, cycling etc - and the live title track was a square wave. Periods of almost silence, some gentle percussion or puttering suddenly changes to manic noise as the ensemble all make as much high pitched atonal noise as possible, pummeling away before dropping again. The trio is less based on extremes - the music (sound?) barrels along with few quiet spots or full-on assaults and more variety in terms of tempo and combinations (ie there are some slightly slower parts and a few solos etc), but it nevertheless has the impact that forcefully played trumpet/sax/percussion would have when the plan with the brass is not to look for sweet or mellow notes. The density of the music is accentuated by the recording to one-track tape. After playing this you are likely to answer 'eh?' to any questions as it demands loud volume and your ears may very well be bleeding. Played at the right time to the right people this works, but it is definitely not background music! - Jeremy Keens
(Ragazzi) (D)YNAMIC (B)ROWN (H)IPS in Bloomington, Indiana, kurz D.B.H., schwelgen bei Wave the Old Wave (eh?31, CD-R) in Ayleresker Fire Music, die auch so lo-fi daher kommt wie ein Bootleg aus Slug's Saloon. Justin Rhody, Clare Hubbard & Keith Wright an Trompete, Saxophon & Drums geben sich als urige Kellerasseln des Free Jazz, die für eine herrliche Kakophonie ihr letztes Hemd hergeben. Wenn D.B.H. (diameter at breast height) verstärkt mit Slideposaune, Geige & Blockflöte und Kontrabass zu Sechst antreten, wird das Ganze etwas verplinkter und grobmaschiger, aber immer wieder mit Schüben von The-Time-is-Now-Herzblut aus den aufgeschlitzen Handgelenken. - rdb
(Smother) Recorded live onto a one-track tape deck at the Midwest Page to Prisoners project in Bloomington, Indiana in mid 2007, “Wave the Old Wave” is spastic freeform jazz that doesn’t care about melody one iota. Using a trumpet, saxophone, slide trombone, violin, recorder, upright bass, and various percussion, Dynamic Brown Hips record massive amounts of chaos and lots of noise. This is not for the timid or weak-willed. - J-Sin
(SodaPop) La Eh? altro non è se non una costola della Public Eyesore, etichetta che oltre a dare alla stampe una serie di matti mica da ridere si è sparata anche qualche disco interessante in passato. Il boss della label a monte di qualche uscita non propriamente azzeccata e crisi stile ’29 che regna sovrana, non ha mollato e continua con questa sussidiaria che non è tanto assurda o strana come moniker quanto più nelle uscite. Assurde e fini ma anche assurde e fracassone,i DBH che non sono inglesi e che sono separati dagli eroi di City Baby Attacked By Rats da sole due lettere, fanno parte di quel filone free che aveva già trovato posto sia sul vecchio catalogo Public Eyesore che su questa etichetta. Nonostante la foto di copertina li faccia sembrare un manipolo di rockers in stile Who, o Fuzztones queste due sessioni per un totale di tre pezzi, nonostante le differenti line up ci offrono un gruppo free jazz fracassonissimo e rozzo, ma anche muscolare e capace di fare silenzio. Non si tratta del classico gruppo da jam a getto continuo, soprattutto nella prima delle formazioni, infatti nonostante si tratti della più affollata gli spazi quando ci sono si fanno sentire. I fiati e la batteria dettano legge forse anche per causa della registrazione lo-fi che a tratti mi fa venire in mente Thelonious Monk registrato live nel cesso di casa mia. Il cocktail è così ruvido come registrazione da aver persino una patina di vecchio, fossi stato in loro avrei fatto un pensiero a passarlo per una registrazione anni '70 di qualche musicista famoso, esattamente come Mutinity At The Bbay, il live dei Dead Kennedys che tutti sanno benissimo trattarsi in realtà di una cover band guidata da Glen Anzalone (http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Danzig), ma Jello era più sexy e più vendibile e sulla copertina di Maximum Rock And Roll faceva la sua porca figura, per questo vostra madre si masturbava cantando California Uber Alles e Glen Anzalone da quel giorno fu costretto a cambiare nome riuscendo a destare molto più interesse. - Andrea Ferraris
(Touching Extremes) An improvising septet including sax, percussion, trumpets, slide trombone, violin, recorder and upright bass. The album was recorded to a one-track tape, and it shows. Distortion creeping everywhere, especially when the music gets loud. And believe your old curmudgeon, it does pretty frequently. The photograph of schizophrenia: subdued mumbling elucubrations, then all of a sudden - pow! Blasted horns, yelping traffic jamming, loaded trips to incurable dissonance. Vociferous mess to reach the narrow door of some sort of significance, most everybody going head-on and promptly being splattered against the wall. Did I understand correctly? A prison performance? Well, the inmates applaud at the end. For sure this sounds better than echoing hollering amidst the clatter of heavy gates. Responsibility should not be accepted for damaging relationships with your psychiatrist, definitely not prepared to accept this kind of maudlin expressiveness. Unambiguous stuff, hardly eliciting a second try yet alive and kicking. Probably funnier to play than to listen to it, but not a complete joke. Better still, it is not a joke full stop. I don't really know what it is. Slanted aural excitement that won't make you addicted. - Massimo Ricci
(Music Extreme) Cool experimentation with sax, trumpet, bass, violin and countless other instruments and devices is what this amazing outfit delivers here. Here we have interesting sax lines contrasting with spontaneous drumming and with wild instrumental improvisation. Here, everything is pure spontaneity and pure improvisational skills, showing good musicianship. And this good musicianship is evident when this guys, despite being experimental and boundaries breaking with their music, never lose coherence, making everything sound original and compact. I specially like the live tune where there are more musicians interacting and where they show a lot of cohesion and coherence in a live environment. Lovers of originality, I recommend this recording. - Federico Marongiu
(Sea of Tranquility) This is a live recording made onto a one track tape deck at the Midwest "Pages To Prisoners" project in Bloomington, Indiana. Presumably it was part of their punishment; the FDA really could have had 'em all out in five minutes at Waco if they'd had this instead of Jethro Tull. The two parts of the track seem to have nothing to distinguish them from one another. Instrumentation is a mix of brass and strings and the style could loosely be called experimental jazz. Violin strings are scraped while trombone, trumpet and sax are honked apparently at random, occasionally coming together into a grating sound which would set dogs howling and cats running for cover. The work ebbs and well.. unebbs (I just can't bring myself to say 'flows') and the drum and bass provide some context at times. However we frequently return to the constipated brasswork and excoriating strings. If you have a pet loving relative you particularly dislike, get her this for Christmas. Truly awful. - Richard Barnes
