UNSTABLE ENSEMBLE

EMBERS

Track Listing: Everything Vibrates * Better Up North * Bone * Black Wings * Sphere * Embers

Mining a field of music mostly tended by Europeans, North Carolina's Unstable Ensemble is among America's foremost

electro-acoustic improvising units. – Time Out NY, Steve Smith.

The combined, complex drones of Eric Weddle's no-input mixing board and Jason Bivins' guitar evoke the thick, palpable sonic space

achieved by bands like AMM, alive with activity and dense with awareness. Unstable Ensemble, in fact, is one of the few working

American bands capable of operating at such a high level in this area of improvisation. – All Music Guide, Brian Olewnick

Unstable Ensemble

's third full-length is their most finely honed improvisational gesture. Embers is a ménage of

sax/guitar melody slivers shifting amongst crackling electronic tones and dual bowing/clattering percussionists.
Existing amongst the shadowy fringes of North American improvisation since 1999, Unstable Ensemble's drift-
age has carried itself vast miles toward border crossings and large/no audiences to bestow ephemeral sound
demonstrations as anti-placates to jazzbo tokers and noise-junkies. Encapsulating many forces, Embers surges
with titanic electronic gale and absolute stillness while inner lyrical intricacies summon forlorn memories. A
wholly distinct extension of the Musica Elettronica Viva and AMM world-view.

The two years between the recording of The Liturgy of Ghosts and Embers saw the group making dramatic
changes in its sound, incorporating far more electronics as well as shifting from a predominantly expressionist
ethos to one steeped in grainy textural ripples, subdued, and stripped-down. Embers is a document of Unstable
Ensemble’s summer 2003 tour of the East Coast, Midwest, and South (including the group’s first foray into
Canada). Though now settled into an ironically stable format and location -- a working trio in North Carolina --
these improvisations were recorded when the UE was still spread between Chapel Hill and Bloomington,
Indiana: saxophonist Marty Belcher, guitarist Jason Bivins, percussionists Ian Davis and Matt Griffin, and elec-
tronician/tape operator Eric Weddle.

UE has shared stages with diverse bills, ranging from Dave Douglas Quartet, Jackie-O Motherfucker, Pelt, Paul
Flaherty & Chris Corsano, Keith Rowe & Toshimaru Nakamura, while collaborating with bassists Mike Bullock,
Jason Ajemian and Darin Gray, and percussionist Tatsuya Nakatani.

Currently recording their fourth record, Unstable Ensemble will once again hit the road in 2005.

A

LSO

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VAILABLE

Unstable Ensemble 17 Ways

FV5

Unstable Ensemble The Liturgy of Ghosts

FV16

Jason Bivins & Ian Davis

Benthic

FV20

Unstable Ensemble Embers

FAMILY VINEYARD catalog no: FV37

Release date: August 16, 2005

Format: CD

UPC: 656605403724

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ELLING

P

OINTS

Long awaited follow-up to 2002’s critically acclaimed The Liturgy of Ghosts
Unstable Ensemble is at the vanguard of electro-acoustic improv; appeals to fans of AMM, Polwechsel, Radian
Features members of Early Day Miners (Secretly Canadian) and John Wilkes Booze (Kill Rock Stars)
Extensive global press and radio servicing by Family Vineyard

www.family-vineyard.com Raleigh, NC 27605