Discography
Bruckmann/Dafeldecker/Hauf: Wane (2006) Forme...
“…these are musicians whose sense that conscious restraint can be enablng is coupled with a deep concern for sonic content… Their music is gradual and relatively stark. . . There’s an air of serious investigation taking place – close attention to elements combined, interacting and mutating. The sounds carry weight and are made to matter. It’s sound-led music, but the musicians are making the right choices, and from that Wane acquires its quiet intensity.” (Julian Cowley, The Wire)
Pink Mountain (2006) Frenetic 023
“Pink Mountain improvise with impunity through anguished prog-metal, squalling jazz-rock, and the agitated, gnarled-to-hell dirges that pocked the weirder end of SST Records’ catalog. Pink Mountain’s self-titled CD is a bracing ordeal, portending an overwhelming live show.” (Dave Segal, The Stranger)
Gaping Maw (2006) Archive 20
“…this pair of improvisations sound like AMM plugged into a stack of Marshall amps, a monstrous Metal/free jazz-inspired meltdown that goes beyond the usual industrialised churn by experimenting with different modes of expression. Gaping Maw spark off each other with all barrels blazing, constantly projecting and reflecting back ideas as the volume of their improvisation intensifies or subsides into a shrouded, echoing drone state.” (Edwin Pouncey, The Wire)
Wrack: Intents & Purposes (2006) 482Musi...
“Bruckmann effortlessly occupies the space between jazz and classical music, generating movements of somber reflection one minute, turbulent intensity the next. From Morton Feldman-esque minimalism to Charles Ives-like bluster, Wrack has few equals. . . ” (Troy Collins, All About Jazz)
LOZENGE: Undone (2005) Sickroom
“…a clattery, distorted racket… Cheap organ and synthesizer, clanking percussion, clobbered drums and cranked-up bass work up stop-start patterns that sound like progressive rock locked in a dank boiler room…. Every so often, someone howls a line like “What are we waiting for?” amid the din, or the music switches to a sardonic oom-pah. All the lurching and buzzing is invigorating and hilarious, unless you’re prone to motion sickness.” (John Pareles, New York Times)
EKG: No Sign (2005) Sedimental
“EKG is capable of a langorous lyricism while in other cases this tendency is willfully crushed and ground down into a gritty landscape of fine-grained glass and silt. Open and inviting tones draw the listener in at the same time tenser noisy outbursts work to alienate. Tightly controlled grainy textures splutter to life and dissolve into hovering drones. The sequencing can be jarring, but the effect is of an irregular pendulum’s swing – a fevered and woozy oscillation through tension and release.” (Steve Rybicki, fakejazz.com)
gasps & fissures (2004) 482Music
“Gasps & Fissures’s microscopic constructions are meticulously built from some of the music’s smallest bits. . . Bruckmann’s classical and jazz influences are stripped down and dissected, resulting in music that’s as much electronic as it is either of the aforementioned styles. . . Like a slide of single-celled organisms bursting to life under a microscope, this album finds flourishing life in the most unexpected of places.” (Adam Strohm, Dusted Magazine)
EKG: Object 2 (2003) Locust Music
“. . . a set of six austere, slow moving soundscapes in keeping with the prevailing tendency in new improvised music to move away from rapid-fire interplay towards territory more traditionally associated with contemporary classical and electronic music. . . patient exploration of the microtonal and micro-timbral inflections of long-held tones, which combine with Karel’s plaintive trumpet and the grainy analog electronics, blasts of white noise and crackling static to create music of an extraordinary intensity which richly repays repeated listening.” (Dan Warburton, Paris Transatlantic Magazine)
Grand Mal (2003) barely auditable/Pax recordi...
“…a bright-toned yet challenging suite of snippets, as far from standard improvisation blowouts as it is from patience-draining Austrian angst. Which is to say, no quarter is given the eardrums, yet good humor carries the day… A disc to return to again and again, impressive for its lofty levels of extended virtuosity, but even more for its improvisations-each showing its own beautiful kind of composure.” (Tom Djll, Transbay)
Wrack: s/t (2003) Red Toucan
“Bruckmann’s compositions are a carefully constructed balancing act between a written hybrid of jazz/classical motifs and improvised interplay. These seven compositions (with one non-original) emphasize a dark, reflective sound that thrives on dynamic variance… On Ornette Coleman’s “Lonely Woman”, the ensemble cuts to the core of the piece in perhaps the most breathtaking version of this song ever recorded (after Ornette, of course).” (Jay Collins, One Final Note)
LOZENGE: Mishap (2002) Sickroom Records
“Lozenge are too unruly to be indie rock, too sensible to be grindcore and too damn good to be unjustly heaped into the overcrowded and underappreciated pigeonhole that is noisecore… Lozenge’s world is one where beer-barrel polkas slam headlong into caterwauling prog-metal and improvisational jazz riffs.” (Jason Jachowiak, Splendid)
Six Synaptics (2002) barely auditable/ertia c...
“The music builds up a head of steam, but it never reaches a point where a predictable continuity of momentum is achieved. Instead, it feasts on irregular movements, serrated edges, and explosive outbursts of sound that are the product of the imaginative minds of the players.” (Frank Rubolino, One Final Note)
Myles Boisen & friends: New Millenium Or...
Myles Boisen, Matthew Brubeck, Kyle Bruckmann, Lara Bruckmann, Erik Carter, Graham Connah, John Finkbeiner, Larry Ochs, Dan Plonsey, Gino Robair, John Shiurba, Dave Slusser, Matthew Sperry, Karen Stackpole, Ron Thompson Limited Sedition A two-day music improvisation...
EKG: Shift or latch (2001) Crank Satori 3R...
Kyle Bruckmann - English horn and analog electronics Ernst Karel - trumpet and analog electronics Out of print, but available from the EKG website as a free mp3 download.
and (2001) Musica Genera
“And is a collection of duets pitting his oboe, cor, suona (a Chinese double-reed instrument) and raita against the cream of Chicago improvisors. . . Where Bruckmann’s first album showcased his virtuoso playing, And reveals he’s just as capable of virtuoso listening.” (Dan Warburton, The Wire)