Mercurial Balm

Name: Mercurial Balm
Price: 16 USD
Availability: BackOrder

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Release Date: 5th Nov 2012
Catalogue No: 3709440
Label: ECM
Length: 53 minutes

Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days

Thomas Strønen, Iain Ballamy, Christian Fennesz: Nebular

Work length5:54

$1.10

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$2.05

Food, Iain Ballamy (saxophones), Christian Fennesz (guitar), Thomas Strønen (drums)
Recorded: 2011
Recording Venue: Rainbow Studio, Oslo

Thomas Strønen, Iain Ballamy, Christian Fennesz: Celestial Food

Work length4:24

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Food, Iain Ballamy (saxophones), Christian Fennesz (guitar), Thomas Strønen (drums)
Recorded: 2011
Recording Venue: Rainbow Studio, Oslo

Thomas Strønen, Iain Ballamy, Christian Fennesz: Ascendant

Work length6:00

$1.10

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Food, Iain Ballamy (saxophones), Christian Fennesz (guitar), Thomas Strønen (drums)
Recorded: 2011
Recording Venue: Rainbow Studio, Oslo

Thomas Strønen, Iain Ballamy, Christian Fennesz: Phase

Work length3:47

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Food, Iain Ballamy (saxophones), Christian Fennesz (guitar), Thomas Strønen (drums)
Recorded: 2011
Recording Venue: Rainbow Studio, Oslo

Thomas Strønen, Iain Ballamy, Christian Fennesz: Astral

Work length9:07

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Food, Iain Ballamy (saxophones), Christian Fennesz (guitar), Thomas Strønen (drums)
Recorded: 2011
Recording Venue: Rainbow Studio, Oslo

Thomas Strønen, Iain Ballamy, Christian Fennesz, Nils Petter Molvaer: Moonpie

Work length4:33

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Food, Christian Fennesz (guitar), Nils Petter Molvaer (trumpet), Iain Ballamy (saxophones), Thomas Strønen (drums)
Recorded: 2011
Recording Venue: Rainbow Studio, Oslo

Thomas Strønen, Iain Ballamy, Eivind Aarset, Prakash Sontakke: Chanterelle

Work length3:46

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Food, Eivind Aarset (guitar), Prakash Sontakke (guitar), Iain Ballamy (saxophones), Thomas Strønen (drums)
Recorded: 2011
Recording Venue: Rainbow Studio, Oslo

Thomas Strønen, Iain Ballamy, Eivind Aarset, Prakash Sontakke: Mercurial Balm

Work length5:01

$1.10

$1.50

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Food, Eivind Aarset (guitar), Prakash Sontakke (guitar), Iain Ballamy (saxophones), Thomas Strønen (drums)
Recorded: 2011
Recording Venue: Rainbow Studio, Oslo

Thomas Strønen, Iain Ballamy, Eivind Aarset, Prakash Sontakke: Magnetosphere

Work length6:17

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Food, Eivind Aarset (guitar), Prakash Sontakke (guitar), Iain Ballamy (saxophones), Thomas Strønen (drums)
Recorded: 2011
Recording Venue: Rainbow Studio, Oslo

Thomas Strønen, Iain Ballamy, Christian Fennesz: Galactic Roll

Work length4:42

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Food, Iain Ballamy (saxophones), Christian Fennesz (guitar), Thomas Strønen (drums)
Recorded: 2011
Recording Venue: Rainbow Studio, Oslo

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About

For its second album on ECM, the Food duo of Norwegian drummer Thomas Strønen and British saxophonist Iain Ballamy continues to invite guests to bring something to the table. Their guests for Mercurial Balm are guitarist Christian Fennesz and trumpeter Nils Petter Molvær - both previously around the table for Quiet Inlet - plus, on three different tracks, Indian slide guitarist and singer Prakash Sontakke and Norwegian guitarist Eivind Aarset. The party produced, in Iain Ballamy's words, "a strange mix of musicians and musical genres", but it's a compelling mixture.

The form-and-texture conscious improvisations here are drawn from live performances in Victoria National Jazz scene in Norway and the Cheltenham Jazz Festival, and sessions at Oslo's Rainbow Studios. To the latter group belong 'Chanterelle', the title track of 'Mercurial Balm', and 'Magnetoshere' on which the slide guitar and vocals of Prakash Sontakke are partnered by Eivind Aarset's atmospheric guitar and electronics. The first half of the album finds Food augmented by Austrian guitarist Christian Fennesz, taking further the experiments with layers of sound begun on Quiet Inlet. Nils Petter Molvær joins Strønen, Ballamy and Fennesz for the slice of 'Moonpie'. The whole album was mixed at Rainbow Studios by Jan Erik Kongshaug and Manfred Eicher.

Food's priorities, the emphases upon melodic playing, textural development and the creating and exploration of sound-environments, shape the contexts for these improvisations. The acoustic aspects of Food's music, with drums, percussion and lyrical saxophone, are again enhanced by the use of electronics as a structural element. The scope of expression runs "from minimalist to very turbulent". They like to surprise - themselves as much as the listener.

Mercurial Balm

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