A Spotlight: WV Sorcerer Productions

 

By William Rossi

We've all been recommended great music from a friend, a relative, a colleague, an acquaintance, a parent even; music we would never have found otherwise, music that goes under the radar, outside the Spotify algorithm recommendations or advertisements. It's the magic of word of mouth, the result of chance, interpersonal relationships and curiosity, so many variables that give the gems we find thanks to it a special quality. 

In the internet years, with so much music released every day, independent labels have taken on the mantle of curator, of that friend that recommends new and hidden music. We all have our favourites, of course, Clean Feed, Trost, Thrill Jockey, ECM, Impulse! and hundreds more for virtually every music genre, and once you find a label whose taste you resonate with a rabbit hole of great music opens up in front of you, music and artists that will be among your favourites that you might not have found had you not browsed the label's catalogue.

Over ten years ago, I came across the album San Sheng Shi by Chinese avant-garde musician Li Jianhong, falling in love with his music and his particular approach to the guitar. Ever since then I've amassed a small collection of his releases and one day, while browsing Bandcamp looking to expand this tiny heap of records, I came across a label I'd never heard of before: WV Sorcerer Productions, based in France and managed by Chinese musician Ruotan Shen. In addition to the Li Jianhong material I was looking for I found a treasure trove of music spanning most genres in the experimental domain, from free improvisation to traditional folk, most of it focusing on musicians from China and France, but not exclusively. Although some of the music in the label's catalogue falls outside the purview of the music we tackle on this site I encourage everyone to give a chance to the psych rock of Mong Tong, the tribalistic Pays du Mat or the futuristic singer-songwriter Otay:onii whose incredible vocals are in high demand lately and who, in my opinion, will be the next big thing in independent music.

For fans of freely improvised music there's a lot to sink your teeth into, I've tried to compile some of my favourites here.

Li Jianhong & Wen Zhiyong & Deng Boyu - Les trois amis de l'hiver  

 

A patient, meditative release that, through its sheer size reaches emotional highs I've rarely heard in purely improvised music. One massive live performance split into two CDs of world-class improv, with fantastic interplay and perfectly balanced peaks and valleys of energy. Li Jianhong's massive guitar never overshadows Wen Zhiyong's more delicate trumpet, sometimes exchanged for a flute and often augmented with or possibly used as a controller for synthesizers that, despite their cold and digital sound, retain the articulation and phrasing of a brass instrument. The drumming is fluid and exciting, providing a great foundation for the other instruments while also showing off Deng Boyu's talent and chops. A fantastic trio that tries something new and succeedes with flying colors, I hope this isn't the last we see of this ensemble.

 

 

ZAÄAR - Musique cryptique (Live in Liège) 

 

 

Not the only ZAÄAR release on the label but by far my favourite; the Belgian collective merges staples of western free improvisation like the tenor saxophone with middle eastern instruments like the zurna and the iranian santur without falling into clichéd orientalist faux-traditional music we can hear on some Hollywood soundtracks. They merge the organic sound of wind and hammered instruments with inorganic synths and heavily processed vocals that are more textural and ritualistic than lyrical into a mutant, alien kind of music that's simply ZAÄAR's signature sound. It's a live album and it embraces what makes a live album great: the volume, the tactile feel of the recording, the blemishes and the unmatched energy of being in a room performing in front of an attentive audience. The stage is where ZAÄAR thrives and here they're firing on all cylinders for your listening pleasure.  

P/O Massacre - Sonic Oblivion

 

This duo from Anton Ponomarev and Anton Obrazeena pushes free improvisation to its limit, bordering and often venturing into the realm of pure noise music. The album is a tour de force, a relentless assault on the senses that needs to be experienced in one sitting and at dangerously high volume. Its four pieces are purposeful exercises in tension and sonic exploration through a heavily distorted guitar, noisy electronics, samples and a screaming saxophone, all focusing on texture and volume over rhythm or melody in pursuit of pure catharsis. The final track is a more conceptual piece of contemporary music, revolving around the processed sample of the plane Obrazeena flew leaving Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. A long, loud and challenging release, that's freeing and purifying the way great noise music can be.   

 

Qian Geng & Anton Kaun & Wang Ziheng - Krakatoa 

Possibly my favourite release on the label, it prominently features the saxophone of firebrand Wang Ziheng, one of the wildest, most expressive saxophonists around today interacting in a live setting with German audio artist Anton Kaun. The album explores sound in a holistic way, remaining meditative even in its most aggressive moments, a balancing act between the electronics, the percussion and the woodwind; there's a delicacy behind the countless layers of sound. This is truly free music, little to no rules and expectations of jazz-inspired music remain, no constraints or regulations, just pure expression. And the fantastic music is only one element of this release: the physical edition includes a gorgeous 200-page art and photography book of the artists on the tour that would result in the music on the album. It's an audio-visual piece of art and, while the music is great and can be purchased digitally on its own, the book is just as important for the experience, I highly recommend purchasing the physical edition although the price can be steep.

As mentioned before, the incredibly talented improvisers on the label's roster are but one facet of the music that gets released, the latest offerings being a soundtrack for theater by multimedia artist Cheng Daoyuan and a smokey dark folk album by singer-songwriter Sara Djebel Rose. 'Human decadence & cosmic existence' reads the label bio and all the albums they put out perfectly encapsulate this simple phrase, the push and pull of the melancholy, decay and sorrow that are part of what it means to be human with the drive to transcend, to express oneself and create something beautiful and meaningful.