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CAMP.Radio | episode 063 | field notes | 26.11.2025
is jazz punk
a real
thing?
really?
a conversation with Bill Orcutt, Steve Shelley, and Ethan Miller unpacks that question. Their new improvisational album- and concert tour answers it.
....and I will try to catch up with some very nice new works that came out at the end of the summer. I have really missed you folks....
01. Territory is a place to sing (2025)
Greg Nieuwsma and Anton Perfetto have been long time collaborators. They make improvisational music with drums and electrified instruments. It has a nice groove. And the recordings are lo-fi. And it sounds wonderful. Their 2025 release, Bird Brain, combines a series of field recordings of a blackbird nest, with electric guitar and drums. The improvised pieces are woven in the chaotic, yet completely logical, manner of a bird nest.
02. a conversation with Orcutt Shelley Miller (2025)
Each of the members of this improvisational group has a solid resumé. Google it. We did not dwell on ancient history, because their new collaboration is so fresh and solid. Orcutt Shelley Miller are musicians that are known for sliding in and out of other collaborative and solo projects. On 4 November I had a chance to chat with
Bill
Orcutt,
Steve
Shelley, and
Ethan
Miller
a couple of hours before their show at The Outer Space. This was their first performance on the east coast tour.
I wish that I had asked better questions.
This section includes samples, entire pieces, and commentary from the group on the OSM album, which is also their live set list. A Star is Born, An L.A. funeral, Four-door Charger, and A Long Island Wedding are loosely, and brilliantly structured, pieces of work. Every song feels like the wheels are about to come right off the tracks until three creative minds click in. Then click off. Then click in again. Each second of the OSM album is a wild ride, because it was recorded live after the trio spent TWO DAYS sketching out ideas for five pieces of music. The mix is perfect. Orcutt's guitar is panned slightly to the right. Miller's bass is panned slightly to the left. Shelley's kick and snare stick to the middle- but his toms and cymbals dance around both sides.
The conversation gets pretty animated towards the end of this segment. Orcutt, Shelley, and Miller are funny, passionate, and very fucking serious about their craft. It was a rare pleasure to get to ask three highly creative people HOW THE FUCK DID YOU DO THAT?. Their improvisational approach is discussed- as well as the pedals, snares, symbols, and amps.
Also, they are a model DIY unit. It is hard work, but they make it look so easy.
You can listen to the entire album without the talking by clicking here.
or take a deeper dive into each of these artists:
Bill Orcutt |
Steve Shelley |
Ethan Miller
03. Sightlines (2025 edit)
Dance Card is a new release by the Portland-based artist Kate Sattler / Sweet Freeze. This is an edit that loops three sections of beautifully toned guitar and a noisy two-note synth line. I made this loop based on a video posted by Rose on bluesky. I wanted to offset and extend one melody fragment. Unfortunately, there are unplanned gaps in this section because I muted one of the Sightlines loops. This is winter music for me. FYI- I have apologized to Kate for the fuck-up.
04. Journey's End (2025)
Brian Leach records traditional acoustic instruments and tradionally inspired folk pieces. That probably sounds pretty dull as a basic desciption. But on Dulcimer Leach also approaches the "old" traditional themes with electronic sounds, interesting recording technique, and improvisation. Weird- this also fits my winter music catagory. And it's improvised.
05. good boi (2025)
The new SARN album I am in dark places
is the next chapter, in a series of releases, that poses lyrical questions and expert engineering to use simple arrangements as a response to complicated stuff. good boi is probably my favorite song on the album, especially the ending. I made a similar loop from this song in episode 044, well before the release of the album. The performances by Jason Slota, John Vanderslice, and Meric Long mix delicate interplay with sonic mayhem. And it all works out perfectly.
06. metamorphic (2021)
It looks like it might be a long winter. Stay safe and think warm thoughts. Write music and listen to music while doing other things. Be nice to animals. Roll closing credits.
i will fix the mistakes later.
(please visit the archive for previous episodes)
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#ambient
#drone
#noise
#field recording
#talk
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