Going strong for the past decade, British dada outfit Volcano The Bear can't sit still and continue to add further additions to their fast growing library of works. Recorded at Eggstock in Leicester in June of last year, "Egg and Two Books" is a live document that perfectly translates the most bizarre aspects of the band from live on stage to your CD player. Currently composed of Aaron Moore on drums, trumpet and vocals, saxophonist/guitarist/vocalist Nick Mott, electronics master Clarence Manuelo and Daniel Padden on keyboards, guitar, clarinet and vocals, the quartet continue their mission to add a greater depth into the world of dada. Describing their music is like trying to paint a picture for a person who has been blind all their life. You can mention the shades of green, but what the hell does a colour look like anyhow? You can talk about moments of sounds that appear to be composed but what does composition have to do with a live Volcano The Bear performance? I can mention an odd, twisted keyboard on "Amidst the Noise and Twings" that churn themselves against a grain of percussion that keeps pace with the electronically induced whirl, which is then massaged by weirdly obtuse vocals, but would any of this make any sense? Can words do this quartet any justice or will they work against them? Can you hurt a group by groping their music and mining words that come out of a rock, when the rock is stubborn and won't crack? Suffice it to say, the live recording provides enough tribal moments - mysterious drools of awe on saxophones and skewed guitar analogies - along with vocalizations from outer space to keep the most starved of alien listeners completely satiated. May the force of the Bear be with you! Tom Sekowski / GAZ-ETA


Coming from a man who is partly responsible for making a document in the live format available with these cats it's probably obvious that I appreciate the same efforts from the fine folks behind the Polish Vivo imprint. I've been fortunate enough to experience Volcano the Bear in the live setting five or six times by now and time after time I am convinced that it's their true environment. The sense of drama and energy present on stage is all over the place here, a high-quality recording from last year's Pickled Egg fest. The sound might be a bit less polished and more primitive this time out but the overall emotions are just the same. Beautiful folk structures hover on top of odd percussive workouts and it's all draped in an impressive patchwork of electronics, vocal chants, piano, horns, found sounds and drones. Sure, a live recording will never fully display the theatrical tendencies of this band but the sound presented is more than enough to have me asking for more.

Some tracks are familiar but there are also surprises like the march drone 'Military' and the fantastic 'Arc Felt' which from time to time offers a kind of electronic folk monsoon that comes off as a combination of Sunroof!, Vibracathedral Orchestra and Volcano the Bear. These ten tracks range from stuff that borders the song-based to the completely improvised but no matter approach they seem to know exactly how to map their own hidden track to my heart. As always, brilliant! (Mats Gustafsson)http://terrascope.co.uk

Formed in Leicester in the mid '90's, Volcano The Bear have always gone about their business in an unconventional way; theatrical live performances and albums that don't feature all four members on any of the songs. Having recently concentrated on side projects, the improvisational group have recently become much more active on the live circuit. This CD documents their 2006 live show touring the Classic Erasmus Fusion album. Recorded in their home town, it is a classic example of their jazzy, fusion sound as it sounds today. www.freakemporium.com

Ekscentryczni mistrzowie anarchistycznego dada-folku znani sa glównie z fenomenalnych produkcji studyjnych, na których ich nieskrepowana wyobraznia artystyczna tworzy ulotne, zjawiskowe i zniewalajace naiwnym urokiem spontanicznej kreacji rzezby dzwiekowe, przyjmujace zwykle forme muzycznego perpetuum mobile, które samo sie napedza porywajac uwage sluchaczy nieoczekiwanym szmerem lub brzmieniowym niuansem. Egg and Two Books dokumentuje z kolei koncert formacji z czerwca mijajacego roku, przekonujac dobitnie, ze muzyczna formula Volcano the Bear nic nie traci ze swej lotnosci w bezposredniej interakcji z widzami. Quasi-folkowe niby-songi splataja sie tu z instrumentalnymi konstrukcjami nasladujacymi brzmienia wyimaginowanych maszyn, badz groteskowych zabawek, napedzanych wylacznie zywiolem improwizacji. Muzyczno-wokalne mini-narracje wylaniaja sie nieoczekiwanie z niemal transowych petli dzwiekowych niewiadomego pochodzenia, filigranowe, akustyczne mini-drony rozsnuwaja dzwiekowe tlo dla groteskowych rag improwizowanych na zabawkowych instrumentach, muzyka swiata przeglada sie w muzyce dzieci. Trudno to ujac w slowa?? Zapewne, dlatego prosze wyobrazic sobie przez moment Incredible String Band wykonujacy songi Kurta Weila w dadaistycznym Kabarecie Wolter w roku 1917. Nie ma pewnosci, ale mogloby zabrzmiec podobnie?
Dariusz Brzostek / GAZ-ETA


Äußerst enttäuschend war die November-CD "Freak Folk" des Rolling Stone: keine der gefeaturten Bands hat auch nur annähernd das Prädikat Freak oder Weirdo verdient, wirklich keine. Ganz anders verhält es sich bei VTB, deren musikalische Spannweite von rituell bis folkloristisch reicht, von echten Lyrics bis zu gekeuchtem Geblubber und gelooptem Zerrgesang. Ebenso werden auf diesem Live-Mitschnitt aus Leicester vom Juni letzten Jahres alle Songstrukturen ins Unendliche gedehnt oder von Geräusch-Studien am Instrument, Elektronik oder Hausrat zerschnitten. Nee, kaputt geht hier nichts, VTB bringen langsam und zaghaft ihre Songs zur Blüte und schöpfen dabei wesentlich mehr die Möglichkeiten ihres Equipments aus, als das zB. die CocoRosie oder D.Barnhart tun. Obendrein beschwören VTB ein wirklich fremdartiges Wir-Gefühl herauf, zu dem sich der Zugang vielleicht recht holprig gestaltet, deren Sog aber über 55 Minuten einsaugt ohne Ende.
ed **** / de bug