Aural Vision

Rip It Up, Issue 108, 1 July 1986, Page 6

Aural Vision

From the nucleus of the Primitive Art Group has evolved a core of musicians who are behind much of the experimental and improvisational music in Wellington — and the formation of Braille Records, an independent label that has already released eight albums.

Braille Records was formed by a Wellington collective last year to release the Primitive Art Group’s album Five Dread Dropdown. Shortly afterwards, Braille released three more records, by Jawclap, Black Sheep and Jungle Suite. This month, four more albums have emerged from the Braille stable. But behind all these releases is a collective of about 10 musicians who interchange to form different groups to explore new musical areas. Stuart Porter, one of the people behind Braille, and who has been in the Primitive Art Group, Black Sheep and now Family Mallet, explains: “We’re a fairly close knit combination of musicians. Most of the them are involved in several groups; some of the groups we form last a long time, some don’t. Usually if they put out a record, they've deve-

loped an identity.” The four new releases by Braille are the work of the collective over the last year; the groups are the Family Mallet, Four Volts, Rabbit Lock, and a solo album by David Watson. All the records were recorded with the assistance of Arts Council grants via their “New Recording Grants” and “New Commissions Fund” schemes. The Wellington Media Collective is responsible for the production of the colourful record sleeves, which were screenprinted to save costs on the 300 unit print run of each album — but the results are quite individualistic works of art.

“Even though we're putting the four albums out together, they are quite radically different LPs," says Porter. “There’s a strong emphasis on free collective improvisation,

though not necessarily to jazz standards but from a variety of musical traditions. There’s a lot of humour in all the LPs, and playing with voices and rhythms — the music’s not squeaky pop or free jazz.”

Here’s a rundown of the four interconnecting groups:

Something's Burning is by the four-piece Four Volts, a group which combines the collective’s usual interest in improvisation with covers of such classic tunes such as ‘Light My Fire’, ‘Stormy Weather’ and ‘These Boots Were Made For Walking’. A popular live act, according to Porter, they have toured the North Island with Rabbit Lock.

Backbone is by Rabbit Lock, a three-piece with “invited guests” from the collective. “They perform a variety of styles,” says Porter. “Acoustic, country (they use banjos, even), blues and underground funk.”

Bosch's Bottom is a posthumous release by Family Mallet, a trio that performed together for three years using various brass and woodwind instruments. “It’s mostly original material that ranges from free Dixieland jazz to carnival music and nursery rhymes.” David Watson’s solo LP Reference is “a culmination of the music he’s been doing for the last five years,” says Porter. “He uses guitars, banjo and organ for his improvisations, with a lot of improvisations, using overdubs and electronic equipment such as samplers. It’s a very electric sound; much of it is very free.” The four records have been released now as several of the members of the collective are going overseas. “It also seemed a good idea to put them out as a package to make more impact,” says Porter. “Now we want to consolidate the label and get the eight LPs working for us. We hope to get an overseas distributor to take them up.” In New Zealand, the Braille records should be in the major record stores. If you have trouble finding them, write to: Braille Records, P 0 Box 11-816, Wellington.

CB