This Friday sees the release of a new solo LP from Daniel Blumberg whose past work has seen him make up part of acts such as Cajun Dance Party and Yuck, while also collaborating with the likes of Low, Lambchop and more.
The album, entitled Minus, sees him look to improvisational, free-music techniques, teaming up with a band to record the album which consists of violinist Billy Steiger, double bassist Tom Wheatley and drummer Jim White (of Xylouris White). He also enlisted the production talents of longtime Scott Walker collaborator Peter Walsh.
Above is a live video captured at London’s Cafe Oto, the focus point for a community of London musicians with which Blumberg has worked exclusively over the last five years or so, making music as GUO with Seymour Wright and performing with Neil Hagerty’s The Howling Hex.
Across 20 minutes, Blumberg and his band perform two tracks from the upcoming album. One of those, ‘Madder’, is the album’s 13-minute centrepiece. "’Madder’ is the blueprint of the album, lyrically and musically and is the most extreme song on the record both melodically and dynamically," Blumberg explains. "You can hear the interplay between the musicians really clearly: me, Billy Steiger, Tom Wheatley and Jim White. They each have such unique voices and this shows the exceptional range of dynamics they have as individual players, as well as what happens when those voices combine in the same room."
Minus is set for release on May 4 via Mute, and can be pre-ordered here. You can purchase the live record from which the above two tracks are taken here.
Blumberg will play a number of live dates in support of the album’s release, including shows at Brighton Festival (May 17), Cafe Oto (June 1 and July 9) and Totnes’ Sea Change festival (August 25).
Homepage photo courtesy of Steve Gullick
