Borbetomagus
Encyclopedia
Borbetomagus are a free improvisation
/noise music
group. They are cited by critics as pioneers of aggressive improvised noise music.
players Jim Sauter
and Don Dietrich
joined with electric guitar
ist Donald Miller. Bass guitarist Adam Nodelman was briefly a member, and they have occasionally collaborated with others.
Their aggressive music has been described as "a huge, overpowering, take-no-prisoners mass of sound." One extended technique
they use is called "bells together" where Sauter and Dietrich place the bells (openings) of their saxophones against one other while playing.
While the core trio listed above has been responsible for most of Borbetomagus's music, they have collaborated with Swiss circuit bending
duo Voice Crack
, Dutch cellist Tristan Honsinger
, German double-bassist Peter Kowald
, and others. In 2006, they recorded a collaborative album with Hijokaidan
live at the Festival de Musique Actuelle in Victoriaville, Canada, and in 2007 their long out-of-print cassette Live In Allentown was released on CD with nearly twice as much material as the original. Sauter and Dietrich have also recorded a duo CD, and a collaborative CD with Sonic Youth
guitarist Thurston Moore
.
city of Worms
.
, as well as having a CD released by Osaka-based noise label Alchemy Records
.
They have been influential on many American rock, free jazz
, and noise musicians, such as Sonic Youth, Pelt, Thomas Ankersmit
, and Kevin Drumm
. Miller has worked with Pelt; he now resides in New Orleans, where he frequently collaborates live with Rob Cambre and others on E-Bow
ed guitars.
Free improvisation
Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the logic or inclination of the musician involved. The term can refer to both a technique and as a recognizable genre in its own right....
/noise music
Noise music
Noise music is a term used to describe varieties of avant-garde music and sound art that may use elements such as cacophony, dissonance, atonality, noise, indeterminacy, and repetition in their realization. Noise music can feature distortion, various types of acoustically or electronically...
group. They are cited by critics as pioneers of aggressive improvised noise music.
Biography
Borbetomagus formed in 1979 when saxophoneSaxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
players Jim Sauter
Jim Sauter (musician)
Jim Sauter is a saxophonist and founding member of New York City based improvisational group Borbetomagus....
and Don Dietrich
Don Dietrich (musician)
Don Dietrich is a saxophonist and founding member of New York City based improvisational group, Borbetomagus.Recently, he has become involved with the noise/free jazz "supergroup" The New Monuments .-References:...
joined with electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
ist Donald Miller. Bass guitarist Adam Nodelman was briefly a member, and they have occasionally collaborated with others.
Their aggressive music has been described as "a huge, overpowering, take-no-prisoners mass of sound." One extended technique
Extended technique
Extended techniques are performance techniques used in music to describe unconventional, unorthodox, or non-traditional techniques of singing, or of playing musical instruments to obtain unusual sounds or instrumental timbres....
they use is called "bells together" where Sauter and Dietrich place the bells (openings) of their saxophones against one other while playing.
While the core trio listed above has been responsible for most of Borbetomagus's music, they have collaborated with Swiss circuit bending
Circuit bending
Circuit bending is the creative customization of the circuits within electronic devices such as low voltage, battery-powered guitar effects, children's toys and small digital synthesizers to create new musical or visual instruments and sound generators....
duo Voice Crack
Voice Crack
Voice Crack was a Swiss electronic free improvisation group. Formed in late 1972 by Andy Guhl and Norbert Möslang, Voice Crack were initially a free jazz duo...
, Dutch cellist Tristan Honsinger
Tristan Honsinger
Tristan Honsinger is a cello player active in free jazz and free improvisation. He is perhaps best known for his long-running collaboration with free jazz pianist Cecil Taylor and guitarist Derek Bailey....
, German double-bassist Peter Kowald
Peter Kowald
Peter Kowald was a German free jazz musician.A member of the Globe Unity Orchestra, and a touring double-bass player, Kowald collaborated with a large number of European free jazz and American free-jazz players during his career, including Peter Brötzmann, Irène Schweizer, Karl Berger, Fred...
, and others. In 2006, they recorded a collaborative album with Hijokaidan
Hijokaidan
Hijokaidan is a Japanese noise and free improvisation group with a revolving lineup that has ranged from two members to as many as fourteen in its early days. The group is the project of guitarist Yoshiyuki "Jojo" Hiroshige its one constant member, who is head & owner of the Osaka-based Alchemy...
live at the Festival de Musique Actuelle in Victoriaville, Canada, and in 2007 their long out-of-print cassette Live In Allentown was released on CD with nearly twice as much material as the original. Sauter and Dietrich have also recorded a duo CD, and a collaborative CD with Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
guitarist Thurston Moore
Thurston Moore
Thurston Joseph Moore is an American musician best known as a singer, songwriter and guitarist of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside of Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label...
.
Name
Borbetomagus refers to the Celtic origin of the GermanGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
city of Worms
Worms, Germany
Worms is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Rhine River. At the end of 2004, it had 85,829 inhabitants.Established by the Celts, who called it Borbetomagus, Worms today remains embattled with the cities Trier and Cologne over the title of "Oldest City in Germany." Worms is the only...
.
Influence
They are considered widely influential on the Japanese noise music scene, as demonstrated by the re-release of their limited Live At Inroads cassette on CD by the Japanese label P.S.F. RecordsP.S.F. Records
P.S.F. Records is a Japanese record label specialising in underground psychedelic and folk music, and free improvisation. P.S.F. are named after the 1985 High Rise record Psychedelic Speed Freaks and were established in Tokyo by Hideo Ikeezumi with the philosophy "I only release to what I like,...
, as well as having a CD released by Osaka-based noise label Alchemy Records
Alchemy Records
Alchemy Records is the name of three different record labels:* Alchemy Records , based in San Francisco* Alchemy Records , based in Osaka* Alchemy Records , based in London...
.
They have been influential on many American rock, free jazz
Free jazz
Free jazz is an approach to jazz music that was first developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Though the music produced by free jazz pioneers varied widely, the common feature was a dissatisfaction with the limitations of bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz, which had developed in the 1940s and 1950s...
, and noise musicians, such as Sonic Youth, Pelt, Thomas Ankersmit
Thomas Ankersmit
Thomas Ankersmit is a musician and installation artist based in Berlin and Amsterdam. Initially an improvising saxophonist, his activities expanded to include live electronic music and installation pieces based on architectural acoustics and infrasound...
, and Kevin Drumm
Kevin Drumm
-Biography:Emerging from the city's improvised music scene, in the 1990s he became one of the world's pre-eminent prepared guitar players. Since then his work has expanded to include electroacoustic compositions and live electronic music made with laptop computers and analog modular synthesizers...
. Miller has worked with Pelt; he now resides in New Orleans, where he frequently collaborates live with Rob Cambre and others on E-Bow
E-Bow
The EBow or ebow is a hand-held, battery-powered electronic device for playing the electric guitar, invented by Greg Heet in 1969...
ed guitars.
Discography
- Borbetomagus (Agaric, 1980)
- Work On What Has Been Spoiled (Agaric, 1981)
- Borbetomagus (Agaric, 1982)
- Live at InRoads (Sound Cluster, 1982)
- Industrial Strength (Leo 113, 1983)
- Barbed Wire Maggots (Agaric, 1983)
- Borbeto Jam (Cadence, 1985)
- Bells Together (Agaric, 1985)
- Zurich (Agaric, 1985)
- New York Performances (Agaric, 1986)
- Live in Allentown (LowLife, 1986)
- Seven Reasons For Tears (Purge 027, 1987)
- Fish That Sparkling Bubble (Agaric, 1987) with Voice CrackVoice CrackVoice Crack was a Swiss electronic free improvisation group. Formed in late 1972 by Andy Guhl and Norbert Möslang, Voice Crack were initially a free jazz duo...
- Barefoot in the Head (Forced Exposure, 1990) with Thurston MooreThurston MooreThurston Joseph Moore is an American musician best known as a singer, songwriter and guitarist of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside of Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label...
- Snuff Jazz (Agaric, 1990)
- Asbestos Shake (Agaric, 1991) with Voice CrackVoice CrackVoice Crack was a Swiss electronic free improvisation group. Formed in late 1972 by Andy Guhl and Norbert Möslang, Voice Crack were initially a free jazz duo...
- Buncha Hair That Long (Agaric, 1992)
- Coelacanth (Agaric, 1992) with Shaking Ray LevisShaking Ray LevisThe Shaking Ray Levis is an ongoing collaboration of musicians with a common interest in free improvisation. The project was conceived and led by the Chattanooga, Tennessee-based team of Dennis Palmer and Bob Stagner. They use storytelling, synthesizers, samplers and percussion to achieve their...
- Experience the Magic (Agaric, 1993)
- L'Atlas Des Galaxies Etranges (Non Mi Piace, 1993)
- Live in Tokyo (Alchemy, 1997)
- Songs Our Mother Taught Us (Agaric, 2003)
- Both Noise Ends Burning (Les Disques Victo, 2007) with HijokaidanHijokaidanHijokaidan is a Japanese noise and free improvisation group with a revolving lineup that has ranged from two members to as many as fourteen in its early days. The group is the project of guitarist Yoshiyuki "Jojo" Hiroshige its one constant member, who is head & owner of the Osaka-based Alchemy...
- À Go Go (Agaric, 2009)
External links
- Official website
- http://www.myspace.com/borbetomagus
- Interview for the Perfect Sound Forever webzine
- Overview and discography at Piero Scaruffi's website
- Trouser Press entry
- MP3 Interview