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Vortographs

by Blast

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1.
Soak 04:24
2.
Skrew 06:55
3.
Rope 05:33
4.
Tactile Grid 14:28

about

INTERVIEW about : “ VORTOGRAPHS “ in Brabants Dagblad (the Netherlands) :
www.bd.nl/tilburg-e-o/nog-een-keer-flink-blazen-met-de-hoekige-kracht-van-blast~ab825a4f/


Press About " VORTOGRAPHS ":

-” Frank Crijns and Dirk Bruinsma deliver four wholly convincing, tightly composed, pieces for guitar, saxophones and vibraphone, fattened and deepened with the sympathetic and unobtrusive use of midi and percussion programming (which in this rare case really works because it’s wholly integrated and does musical things that couldn’t be done any other way. If you are familiar with their earlier work, this sounds to me like a coming into maturity of their compositional style; everything finds its proper measure, with dynamic, tempo and colour balances perfectly judged. It’s beautifully recorded with close attention to detail. And its music you can listen to repeatedly, because it sounds different every time; it’ll be many listens before you know what's coming next. A pleasurable work out for the brain: labyrinthine but somehow soothing. If not now, when? Highly recommended. “ReR Megacorp on Blast : “ Vortographs ”
www.rermegacorp.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Session_ID=35c766dac5711231574224785308e5d4&Screen=PROD&Category_Code=&Initial=&CatListingoffset=&Product_Code=ReRBlast3&Store_Code=RM&search=blast&searchoffset=&filter_cat=&PowerSearch_Begin_Only=3&sort=&range_low=&range_high=&fbclid=IwAR0YpMKjtqPKgU4UooH17bGKc_BYu3mKrhB9hiH1xnHPwiu7H3JnrC3rscM

- " The dynamics of Crijns and Bruinsma are precise and balanced, economic and tight, complex, labyrinthine and polymetric, with great attention to detail and many sudden shifts, but also with enough room for brief improvisations. The obvious points of reference are King Crimson and Frank Zappa.
«Vortographs» offers only four pieces, two by Crijns and two by Bruinsma. Bruinsma’s «Rope» is the most cinematic one, wandering through fast-shifting, dense and busy urban sceneries. Crijns’ «Tactile Grid» is the most ambitious and complex piece here, constantly shifting and suggesting a spectrum of moods, but relying on a playful rhythmic pattern. "
{Eyal Hareuveni / Salt Peanuts , April 2022}
salt-peanuts.eu/record/blast/

-" 8e album de BLAST, contracté sous la plus simple expression du duo, soit les deux Néerlandais ayant fondé le groupe à Tilburg en 1989. Les nouvelles compositions balayent à nouveau les champs de l’art-rock, de l’expérimentation contemporaine, remuées d’un swing claudiquant et de moult déphasages rythmiques à nous donner le tournis. A sa manière BLAST nous attire dans une galerie des glaçes proprement labyrinthique, un envers du miroir où rien n’est jamais prévisible et où pourtant tout coule d’évidence. Risquez l’écoute, vous en serez récompensés au centuple ! "
(B.Meillier,Orkhestra /FR., June 2021)
www.orkhestra.fr/catalog.php?FAMR=&TYPR=&LABL_ID=&FIND=frank+crijns&Go.x=0&Go.y=0

- " Elements that will surprise and baffle the listener at every turn — in other words, it’s one wild ride. "
(Peter Thelen in Exposé online , February 2022)
expose.org/index.php/articles/display/blast-vortographs-3.html

- " Extremamente bom, um clássico ro rock progressivo :

Blast é uma banda holandesa que se formou em 1989 e já gravou com diversos formatos, quarteto, sexteto, grandes formações, mas para Vortographs, Blast se apresenta como duo um, formado por seus membros fundadores, Frank Crijns e Dirk Bruinsma. O CD nos trás uma série de quatro composições gravadas entre 2016 e 2020 usando guitarras, saxofones e drum machines. Os dois apresentam um álbum curto, mas com a música característica do Blast. Desafiadora, complexa, lotada de contrapontos, de mudanças de andamentos e ritmos e. ainda assim, agradável de ser ouvida e apreciada. Eu gostaria de ouvir um baterista executando a música, mas a programação é complexa o bastante para não deixar o ouvinte descontente. A música é extremamente dinâmica, criativa e muita coisa acontece, principalmente se considerarmos que é a versão mais econômica em termos de formação do Blast. Mais um disco impressionante desta banda que sempre nos trás surpresas, mostrando um truque novo em cada faixa."
( Renato Moraes in Prog Brasil , April 2022)
www.progbrasil.com.br/ExibeResenhas.php?eID=1891

-" Blast has been around for over 30 years in various forms – quartet, octet, and now a duo consisting of founding members Frank Crijns and Dirk Bruinsma. In addition to guitar, Crijns handles MIDI programming while Bruinsma plays saxes and vibes, and also contributes MIDI and percussion programming. If your first reaction is to turn up your nose at the notion of parts of this album being synthetically generated, I respectfully ask you to give it a try anyway because you are likely to be pleasantly surprised.

Blast represents a European style of RIO in which you can hear shades of Henry Cow and echoes of Zappa, as well as modern classical and free-jazz influences. Despite being pared down, Crijns and Bruinsma offer up a dense sound, with their signature lines of labyrinthine complexity, start-stop rhythms, and harsh staccato passages. With the programmatic assist on bass and percussion, this iteration of Blast resembles a quartet in sound. The four tracks that make up the album appear to be heavily composed but with a few improvisational breaks.

On my first few listens I did not even realize that half of the music was programmed. So if you are looking for something resembling Stringy Rugs or their earlier groundbreaking releases, Vortographs follows along the same philosophy but has a character of its own.

The album came out last year on ReR, and admittedly I totally missed it until the band members brought the release to my attention. But in the spirit of “better late than never”, Vortographs gets two thumbs up."
( Mike Borella in Avant Music News, July 2022)
avantmusicnews.com/2022/07/19/amn-reviews-blast-vortographs-2021-rer-megacorp/

- Review (& ratings) at rateyourmusic.com : rateyourmusic.com/release/album/blast/vortographs/


Reviews (in Dutch) :

1) opduvel.com/2021/03/15/blast-vortographs/?fbclid=IwAR0BcDCt5PVDIgI-ZuDfOcTy8yeen32srK4Z0YRKOGEmIjgw74XOmr79G2A

2) www.nieuwenoten.nl?p=11516#more-11516

3) subjectivisten.nl/nnm-blast-vortographs/?fbclid=IwAR0zdg0WCS9NnZCxHkees5xtq_pgn_1xEKM4WkuVUHwsndXhRiaHC7-pMUk

4) www.jazzflits.nl/jazzflits19.07.pdf.
Jazzflits nummer 356 26 april 2021 \ BLAST Vortographs / ReR Megacorp

" Dit jaar is het dertig jaar geleden dat het debuutalbum van Blast, ‘Purist Sirup’, uitkwam. De groep rond gitarist Frank Crijns en multi-instrumentalist Dirk Bruinsma startte al in 1989 en maakte diverse verschijningsvormen door, van kwartet tot en met sextet. Anno 2021 blijft alleen het duo over, dat na ‘Sift’ (2008) een flinke stilte had laten vallen. Zonder extra muzikanten is de muziek overigens niet wezenlijk anders. Het geluidsbeeld wordt bepaald door de staccato uitgevoerde syncopen van sax en gitaar, ditmaal ondersteund door midi-klanken. Wat daarbij opvalt, is dat Dirk Bruinsma de elektronische percussie zo goed heeft geprogrammeerd dat het klinkt of er een drummer van vlees en bloed meedoet. De vier stukken die ‘Vortographs’ telt, kennen een goede afwisseling tussen rustige passages en de drukke, hoekige patronen die ik hier boven beschreef. Het slotstuk, ‘Tactile grid’, kent zelfs een kalme opening, met gespatieerde midi- en vibrafoon akkoorden. Door het gebruik van dat laatste instrument komt in de loop van de track (die listig is opgebouwd) enige gelijkenis met het midi-werk van Frank Zappa naar boven. Maar bovenal klinkt Blast toch vooral als zichzelf: een overtuigend, informatie dicht pleidooi voor de invulling van het niemandsland tussen avant-garde rock, moderne gecomponeerde en geïmproviseerde muziek."
Herman te Loo

credits

released April 19, 2021

" VORTOGRAPHS " Line up :

-Frank Crijns : electric guitar , midi programming
-Dirk Bruinsma : soprano and alto sax , vibraphone , midi programming , percussion programming

Pieces composed by :
-1) and 3) by D.Bruinsma
-2) and 4) by F.Crijns

Mixed and mastering by Sandor Caron and Blast in 2020.
Artwork by Dirk Bruinsma and Marit Shalem .

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Blast Tilburg, Netherlands

Blast, formed in 1989 by Dutch guitarist Frank Crijns and saxophonist Dirk Bruinsma, with a line-up that included up to ten elements, released Purist Sirup (Vonk, 1992), that took as inspiration the orchestral Frank Zappa of Burnt Weeny Sandwich (1970) or the later Orchestral Favourites (1979). ... more

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