#matt crane

[soapoperamen]

Paul Michael Valley (Ryan Harrison), Timothy Gibbs (Gary Sinclair), Matt Crane (Matthew “Matt” Cory), Joseph Barbara (Joseph “Joe” Carlino), Diego Serrano (Tomas Rivera), Justin Chambers (Nicholas “Nick” Hudson), Another World

[dustedandsocial]

Jeff Platz, Matt Crane, Alec Redfearn, Christopher Sadlers - To Dim To See

[dustedmagazine]

Clucas / Bishop / Smith / Crane — Universal or Directional (Balance Point Acoustics)

Jeb Bishop (l) and Damon Smith (r) Photo by Dan Clucas

Universal or Directional bpaltd 10010 by Clucas / Bishop / Smith / Crane

“Why do I listen to this stuff?” It’s a question that many people never consider, or if confronted with it, actively resist answering. Liking something is an end in itself, right? Maybe. (Non)-response nonetheless communicates values for others to interpret. But it’s also the case that some music invites that question more than others. A record like Universal or Directional will never yield an answer like “if 10,000 Cardi B fans can be wrong, I don’t want to be right,” if only because the label published just 200 hard copies. But why do people want to listen to four guys playing drums, trombone, double bass and either cornet or trumpet figure out what they’re playing as they go along?

One answer lies in the question; because you like to hear people figuring it out as they’re doing it. This album, which comprises three quartet improvisations plus six break-out duos, is a superb example of free improvisation that exposes its process. You can hear Dan Clucas pick up on the technique and tone that Jeb Bishop proposes in the first seconds of “Condition Reports,” and then perceive how he takes those suggestions and warps them, and then hear Bishop respond with a contrasting texture. This stuff may be abstract, but it is pretty transparent about what’s happening. 

Another answer is that it’s pretty damned exciting. Take “Provenance,” where the music grows from a kick drum beat to a whirlwind of smearing brass, shuddering wood, and ringing metal inside of fifteen seconds. To follow it is to feel yourself spinning with it. 

Yet another answer is that you like hearing these instruments sound both like and unlike themselves. Smith’s bass sounds simultaneously huge and enclosing, like you’re inside of it and its sides are half a hockey rink away. Crane’s drums sound unenhanced but detailed; that’s a hi-hat in space that you’re hearing, not some stream of digital reinterpretations of a notion that started with someone’s foot mashing to bits of metal together. And both Clucas and Bishop toggle fluidly between conventionally beautiful and idiosyncratically personal ways of playing. 

So why do you listen to this music (if you’ve read this far, you either must already do so or are about to give it a try)? That’s your business, but I applaud your good judgment. And why do I happily listen to Universal or Directional? Because it’s not only a splendid example of American free improvisation in the first fifth of the century, but a welcome instigator for a bit of personal reflection on why one wants to spend hours of one’s life hearing people make it up as they go along. Somehow, hearing people do it and succeed beautifully feels comforting and hope-inducing in a time when it’s crystal clear that the powers that be can’t pull it off to save their mortgaged souls.   

Bill Meyer

[insanelygaming]

Super Sesame Street Fighter

Created by Matt Crane

[toweringtangents]

New JT sci-fi thriller "In Time".  Don't know about this one, but Cillian Murphy and Vincent Kartheiser will lure me to the cinema most likely.

[irockthesuperbrandsdaily]

What happens when you combine the loveable characters from Sesame Street with the raw power of Street Fighters? Judging from Matt Crane's images, I'd say a match made in heaven. More after the jump. pic and info:

Sesame Street Fighters