THE FLOWER-CORSANO DUO + Voice of The Seven Woods

Thu 15th Feb 2007

The Luminaire presents
THE FLOWER-CORSANO DUO
+ Voice of The Seven Woods

Doors 7.30
£6 via WeGotTickets
£7 door

If this isn't gig of the week in London then Aphex Twin and Johnny Cash must be playing somewhere together:

a frankly fucking incredible mix of wide-eyed hardcore, ecstatic noise, free rock, Indian drone, sweat and bone as two underground music makers who have gelled as duo to a startling degree, seemingly able to enrapture audiences of all persuasions.

Chris Corsano - a kinetic DIY drummer [one of the world's most exciting] - uses this project to inject some punk tabla-type rolls into being while Mike Flower - an incendiary guitar player - also plays the "shaahi baaja" or "japan banjo" from India in an amazing solo style and transcendent manner.

As a powerful and loud guitar/drum duo, Lightning Bolt comparisons come cheap, but the Flower-Corsano Duo are something else; more like a punk-jazz-trash Konono No1, they have that special power to elevate through noise, rhythm and special harmonies. This is an experience the audience wants to have, an exhilarating sight/sound that shudders the body and cleanses the mind.

Michael Flower is best known as a member of Leed's Vibracathedral Orchestra, a lynchpin of the improvising rock/noise/drone world. He has also has played with legendary artists such as Tony Conrad and Jandek as well as in projects such as the trio with Matthew Bower + C. Spencer Yeh.
Vibracathedral's close relationship with Sunburned Hand Of The Man has meant MF has toured with them across the USA and Europe, both as a member and solo.

Despite never having seen someone play one, he bought his electric shaahi baaja and started to discover his own way of playing the instrument. Discussing his use of the instrument Michael says, "I suppose I'm just jamming my own versions of ragas. Hopefully there's a similar purity there, although a more naive/ham-fisted one in the music I play. When I was a teenager we used to listen to the Velvet Underground, Indian classical, flute music of Papau New Guinea, primitive blues. I guess all the music I make is vaguely informed by that period."

Chris Corsano drumming has to be seen to be fully appreciated. A brave musician who collaborates with a huge range of artists and can still pull off mad solo shit. It is a rare drummer that can hold his own with his customized kit, clatter practice and circular breathing drone exhortations but retain a dynamic and structure that works. He then self releases a CD of distorted and spiked keyboard pieces on his Hot Cars Warp label to confuse those that try to pin him down. Loose-limbed, intense, even melodic, he exposes the audience to sounds and rhythms that defy normality. Recently he has toured or played with Jack Rose, Wally Shoup, Nels Cline, Six Organs Of Admittance, and Dredd Foole.

Coming from a drumming family, and heavily influenced by Minor Threat and the Minutemen, he fell under the spell of Byron Coley at Yod headquarters and started tearing into free jazz with the amazing Paul Flaherty on a series of records and tours, not to mention mind trips of the bizarre with the Sunburned family and messed up noise battles with the Sonic Youth camp. Recently a move to the UK has brought him into silent hush hush drum battles above pubs and playing with Taurpis Tula at huge Breakcore raves. He moves in magical ways. The Flower-Corsano duo album comes out on Textile in early 2007 as does the limited 7" on the No-Fi series.

Pictures courtesy of Federico Bernocchi [Corsano] and mt.tribunalrecords.net [Flower]

Main support is Manchester's Voice of The Seven Woods, aka Rick Tomlinson, who spent 2006 hoovering up new fans all over the place with his beguiling use of guitar, sitar, oud and saz. On the back of a flurry of sought-after and sold out limited 7"s, CDRs and cassettes, 2007 sees the release of Tomlinson's debut LP alongside collaborative recordings with the likes of Sunburned's Hush Arbors and UK twelve-string wizard James Blackshaw.

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