Recording: The Ex

Artist: The Ex

Song: Birth

Recorded at The Jam Factory, May 17, 2019.

The Ex - Birth

It's always an immense treat when these Dutch legends make their way to town, a party celebrating the notion that musical longevity can lead to transformations and delightful reinventions. Not content to crank out "the hits", the setlist leaned on last year's 27 passports album. The biggest downside here was the venue itself, the Jam Factory's stageless setup making it impossible for anyone more than a couple rows back to see the band — and watching the kineticism of guitarists Terry Ex and Andy Moor is one of the great joys of going to an Ex gig. And then, when Brodie West (a longtime associate of the band whose Eucalyptus helped open things up) came out at the end to add some sax to "Eoleyo" and "Lale guma", the PA on one side of the room was beset by demons, rendering things unlistenable. So more of a draw than an outright triumph, but one should take a page from the band's m.o. — soldier on and hope for some transcendence down the line.

Recording: The Ex

Artist: The Ex

Songs: Addis Hum + That's Not a Virus

Recorded at Hard Luck ("Wavelength 670"), June 23, 2015.

The Ex - Addis Hum

The Ex - That's Not a Virus

In their fourth decade of existence, The Ex remain a force. There's no "greatest hits played live" here, with the band's sound going ever further along the path they undertook when they became apprentices to Ethiopian sax legend Getatchew Mekuria — choppy, groovy rhythms that feel infinitely extendable. The inner workings of the complicated clockwork generated by Katherina Bornefeld's percussion and Terrie Hessels and Andy Moor's interlocking guitars generate industrial-strength tension and release, while vocalist/guitarist Arnold de Boer (now around long enough to not be dismissed as "the new guy") provides enigmatic slogans, delivered with a twist of defiant apprehension. It's all like a remorseless death-march to the precipice of some global catastrophe — but they're dancing all the way there. Truly one of the best bands on this planet.

Recording: Lean Left

Artist: Lean Left

Song: [excerpt from an improvization]

Recorded at The Tranzac – Main Hall ("NXNE 2013"), June 15, 2013.

Lean Left - [excerpt from an improvization]

Proper review to follow, but for now you also can read some thoughts about this performance here.

Recording: Bennink/Ex/West

Artist: Han Bennink/Terrie Ex/Brodie West

Song: [an improvization]^*

Recorded at Double Double Land (Wavelength 545 – Summer Solstice Triptych, Part 2), June 22, 2012.

Han Bennink/Terrie Ex/Brodie West - unknown

Full review to follow. A wonderful set from this trio, filled with inventive technique from each of the players. The doppler effect wrorw swoops are courtesy of Terrie Ex, who was scraping the headstock of his guitar on the stage floor in a semicircle.

^* It's also possible that this is a titled composition Please leave a comment if you know for sure!