Collapsible Shoulder Big Band - 2025 - Live 2019. A Map Of Books

(47:46; Cuneiform Records)






















Guitarist/singer Chris Cochrane is a Brooklyn-based musician, guitarist, improviser, noise maker, collaborator and composer who formed No Safety with Zeena Parkins and was also a member at one time of the highly regarded Curlew. He formed Collapsible Shoulder in 2014, which included Mike Duclos, and later Kato Hideki, Brian Chase and Kevin Bud Jones, who remained at the core of this recording. From 2016-2020 the Collapsible Shoulder Big Band became an annual event made up of an array of musicians based in New York, with other special guests coming through town, and what we have here are recordings taken from two concerts recorded live at Roulette in 2019 and 2020 (plus some studio cleanup). Somewhat remarkably this means there are 19 musicians/singers involved, although not all are involved at the same time.

The recording consists primarily of original compositions by Cochrane, but there are also covers from the likes of Robert Pollard, Fred Frith and This Heat, the result being that no-one ever knows where the music is going to go, but it is going to be an interesting (if at times somewhat uncomfortable) journey where absolutely anything can happen from the highly melodic to the dissonant, from tight structure to being incredibly loose, from just a few people to many, often all within the same song.

This is adventurous music which is both challenging and breaking boundaries, jagged and threatening, with a menace and darkness which is palpable. This is not music to be played when people want to happy and joyful, but rather when they feel the world is an environment full of mysteries and threat, and this is the soundtrack to that. It is RIO, it is avant garde, it is less, yet so much more, demanding to be really listened to when one is the right frame of mind to take it all in. 

Back in the 90’s I used to see Sean and Marina of Organ fanzine at loads of gigs in London, and while I used to think I was doing a pretty good job of Feedback I was in awe of their knowledge and what they produced, which I always felt put my efforts to shame. They have now celebrated their 40th anniversary, although these days it is a website as opposed to a magazine, and I notice they recently wrote an editorial where this album was the first thing mentioned. So, don’t take my word for it, take theirs. Essential for those who are open to this style of music. 

Kev Rowland, August 2025

Links:
https://www.facebook.com/collapsibleshoulder/
http://www.cuneiformrecords.com/

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