Ninth is de eerste single van het derde (en dus laatste deel) in de trilogie van Nous, Nous III. Christopher Bono vergaarde een unieke groep mensen rond zich, met oa Thor Harris (ex-Swans) en Shahzad Ismaily (die we kennen van het nieuwe album van de Belg Lyenn).
Ninth is allicht het rustigste nummer van het album. Terwijl het ensemble free jazz, noise, traditionele songstructuren en ritmische motieven verkend, is de eerste single van NOUS III, Ninths, eerder een sfeervol melodisch werk. De muzikanten kregen een reeks akkoorden die parallel bewegen. Op deze repetitieve basis weefden ze lagen improvisaties met die schitterende resultaat.
ter info
New York experimental music project NOUS, led by producer and composer Christopher Bono, announces NOUS III, the third installment from the lineup which comprised the band's opening trilogy of releases. The ethos of NOUS is to consistently explore the spectrum of improvisational possibilities in music. A final, very special collaboration between ambient legend Laraaji with this NOUS ensemble will be announced soon for release in 2020. The previous album NOUS II was released in December 2019 to great acclaim (including Prog Magazine, Downbeat and more) and is available to hear via Bandcamp, Spotify and Apple Music. NOUS is an experimental music project with a fluctuating group of artists exploring ritual and spontaneity within music. The first trilogy of releases were culled from a 5-day musical retreat & social experiment wherein 13 musicians were invited to join Christopher at the legendary Dreamland Studios, a converted church, with producer Kevin McMahon (Swans, Titus Andronicus) on an intensive 7-day immersion -- recording for 5 days, with 2 live performances at the conclusion. Each member was given a 47 page handbook that included a series of 60 musical “seed” ideas along with a list of conceptual cues. These ideas acted as a starting place for each improvisation. Bono then designed a daily schedule that began with a morning warmup routine of yoga followed by silent meditation, vocal toning, body percussion, and then a mixed percussion and toning session before moving to their respective instruments. These morning sessions were designed to move gradually from silence to sound within the body (vocal toning), rhythm on the body and finally to a blend of external instruments coinciding with internal sound (instruments and vocal toning). Once the recording schedule began each day, Bono mixed the seed and conceptual ideas along with timed periods of free improvisation.This conceptual social experiment led to 3 albums and a transcendent sound formed from a unique fusing of collective consciousness.
