MEMBERS:
Michael Flower
(founding
member of UK psych/drone ensemble Vibracathedral Orchestra, Sunburned
Hand of
the Man member) - Japan banjo (aka
shahi baaja - an electrified +
modified version of the Indian bulbul tarang)
Chris Corsano
(plays with Paul Flaherty, Jim O'Rourke, Björk,
Evan Parker, Jandek, Thurston Moore, Vampire Belt, Six Organs of
Admittance, etc.) - drums
MP3s:
Some mp3s along with VHF's write up of the record The Four
Aims: www.vhfrecords.com/catalog/115.htm
Infrequently updated/checked myspace with mp3s: www.myspace.com/flowercorsanoduo
PHOTOS:
300dpi photos here: www.cor-sano.com/flower/photos.html
VIDEO:
Live at The Red House in Syracuse, NY, Oct
29, 2009.
INTERVIEW:
Interview with Flower-Corsano in Vistation Rites
REVIEWS:
The
Four Aims LP/CD
(VHF, 2009)
*Year end list action:
#22 on The Wire Top 50 Records of 2009
#32 on Tiny Mix Tapes' Favorite 50 Albums Of 2009
#36 on Soundeyet Blog 50 Favorite 2009 Albums
#87 on Uncut Magazine: Wild Mercury Sound's 2009 Top 100
#95 on The Village Voice The 1000TimesYes Top 100
#96 on Brainwashed 2009 Readers Poll
*Brainwashed - "Corsano's drumming can rival
anyone's,
and
his playing here is absolutely frenetic, bounding across, over and
through Flower's arbeggiated shards with reckless confidence. There are
few sounds so unique in improvised music today, and the duo's
perfection of this kind of head-on freedom is rarely matched in any
circle....Building into a frenetic and undulating weight, the unit
moves with a
singular vision all too rare. Instant response is one thing, but Flower
and Corsano can shift mood along with tempo, atmosphere with melody and
approach with feel. This sort of elasticity and balance results in some
of the most distinctly surprising and exciting sounds happening today."
- http://brainwashed.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7454&Itemid=64
*Pitchfork - "Along the way they evoke Rudolph
Grey's far-out
travels with Rashied Ali, Keiji Haino's bursting solos in Fushitsusha,
maybe even what Jimi Hendrix and Mitch Mitchell are playing in the
after-life." - http://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/11165-i-brute-force/
*Dusted - "The Radiant Mirror, the pair’s
2007 debut,
is a
blistering document, matching Corsano’s kitchen-sink
percussion work
with Flower’s electrifying Shahi Baaja (also known, in a bit
of a
misnomer, as an Indian banjo) in one of that year’s best
records. The
Four Aims finds the scope of the duo’s instrumentation
widened, with
more diverse results, but, at its core, this disc remains true to the
pair’s original M.O., and with two musicians this gifted,
it’s hard to
imagine their collaborative work being anything less than outstanding."
- http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/4887
*Tiny Mix Tapes - "In compositional breadth, in
technical
twinkle, in (a)tonal assault, this is a deeply humbling record, the
inscrutable blueprint for progress." - http://www.tinymixtapes.com/Flower-Corsano-Duo
*Foxy Digitalis - 9 out of 10 - http://www.digitalisindustries.com/foxyd/reviews.php?which=4195
The
Radiant Mirror LP/CD
(Textile, 2007)
*#26 on The Wire's Top 50 of 2007 list
*Mojo's Underground Album of the Week - http://cor-sano.com/flower/images/mojo.jpg
*Tiny Mix Tapes' year-end list of 24 "Eureka Albums
of 2007" -
"Chris Corsano and
Mick Flower make fire. That no-need-for-an-introduction drummer and the
founding member of UK’s Vibracathedral Orchestra inaugurated
this year
with an explosive three-song album." - http://www.tinymixtapes.com/2007-Eureka-Albums-of-2007
*Alan Bishop's (Sun City Girls/Sublime Frequencies) Best of 2007 list
in Arthur Magazine
*Bookmat - "Wailing psychedelic tangled droning and
plucking is
set against pounding unpredicatable percussion - it's as if Hendrix
picked up and left for India, bag of narcotics in tow and then bumped
into Elvin Jones before recording a night-long improv session." - http://www.boomkat.com/item.cfm?id=89435
