This Celestial Engine and Das Rad are in the middle of undertaking a short northern tour, masterminded by Martin Archer, who runs the innovative Discus Music record labels whose roster includes a number of musicians we’ve written about in Facelift over the years, such as Keith Tippett, Orphy Robinson, Elaine di Falco, Carla Diratz, Mark Hewins and Alex Maguire.
I wasn’t going to review their gig at the Golden Lion in Todmorden – it was a ‘night off’ from writing, a chance to saunter down the road, have a few pints and generally soak up the vibes; there was no metaphoric pen and paper at the ready to jot down track names or make observations.
And yet a couple of things struck me today. Firstly, as with all memorable gigs, if you’re still mulling over the night’s events throughout the next day and marvelling at its excellence, it’s probably a good idea to get your thoughts down in some format. Secondly, tomorrow is Bandcamp Friday, the day when the streaming platform waives its fees in supporting independent labels and artists, a life support machine to the likes of Discus, whose music sales and associated live performances appear to only attract the inquisitive, the open-minded and the road less travelled. Memories of these gigs ought to be captured…
I was at the Lion for the second time in a fortnight to see a current Gong member in an environment away from the mother band, but it’s a total contrast to Kavus Torabi’s solo set reviewed here. On this occasion it’s bass player Dave Sturt who is appearing as part of a trio calling themselves This Celestial Engine, more of which later.
Firstly though there is Das Rad, something of a flagship group for Discus, more rockier than most on the label and having just released a really excellent 5th album, ‘Funfair’. Das Rad describe themselves as ‘improg’ and this neatly encapsulates their apparent indescribability: searching, expansive, brooding, veering between the razor sharp (propelled by excellent drummer Steve Dinsdale) and the downright messy, melding crashing guitar, the occasional sharp sax incursion and various electronica. The newest element however, is vocalist Peter Rophone, magnificently clear of voice and operating high up on the register (he reminds me a little of Jakko Jakszyk in that regard) but somewhat incongruously hidden behind a pinstrip suit, John Cooper Clarke style, with starred sunglasses and a mobile multi-coloured lighting unit which he used to illuminate various aspects of his and others’ contributions. I’ve mentioned elsewhere that I was questioning at the Crescendo Festival whether I was a natural prog fan, given my slight bristling at the more sanitised fayre produced there, but if Das Rad do sit within that rather broad church, then I’ll happily continue my allegiance.
This Celestial Engine also very much fit into an improg category, despite their backgrounds. This is a trio who, unlikely as it may sound, met and now convene in Oslo (Roy Powell is English and studied in Manchester but now resides in Norway; Ted Parsons is an American drummer who lives in Oslo too, and Dave Sturt has his own connections with the city.) Much is made online about their diverse musical backgrounds – Powell is a Royal Northern College of Music graduate but is clearly a jazzer – he’s played with John Marshall amongst other luminaries including Bill Laswell; Parsons has a history with alternative and industrial bands such as Godflesh, Killing Joke and Swans; and Dave Sturt we know not just from Gong but from Jade Warrior, work with Theo Travis and a number of Discus collaborations which include The Archers of Sorrow alongside soon-to-be published interviewee Carla Diratz. Their excellent debut album on Discus shows how the trio make sense of their influences collectively, and live I have to say their personal chemistry was apparent: Parsons is a very tight, often minimal, but very inventive drummer setting a crisp tempo; Powell was a revelation, a genuine virtuoso gliding effortlessly around the piano; and Dave Sturt revealed so many facets of his bass playing hidden in contributing to the greater good in Gong, adopting an almost zen-like pose which belied the complexity of what he was playing. The music has structure for sure, but I suspect it is largely not imposed in advance – pieces developed organically with obvious empathy between each member – aided by some of the cleanest sound production I’ve heard.
The tragedy, is of course, that there are so few people to see them do it all – Archer has deliberately chosen intimate venues to showcase music from two excellent bands which give the lie to the idea that improvised and experimental jazz cannot be accessible – and yet there were still plenty of spare seats. And that is ultimately why this review got written after a ‘night off’ – this Discus Music showcase deserves your support on its last couple of nights in Sheffield and Derby respectively, and if you can’t make the gigs, you should certainly listen to and support the label’s roster online at https://discusmusic.bandcamp.com/
This Celestial Engine – https://discusmusic.bandcamp.com/album/this-celestial-engine-166cd-2024
Das Rad – Funfair – https://discusmusic.bandcamp.com/album/funfair-180cd-2024
The Canterbury scene(zine) continued.... 