The Necks 'Angle Of Repose' (Live at Sydney Festival, 2011)

Live improvisation for film soundtrack recorded at the Sydney Festival, January 2011.

More gliding, gently building and shifting improvisation from The Necks. 'Angle Of Repose' was recorded live as an improv against a projection of the film 'The Boys' in their home city of Sydney, Australia back in January. Oddly, they released their soundtrack to 'The Boys' as an album - but this is a completely new piece.

Utterly enthralling, stick on your earphones or make 45 minutes of free time to drift away to this ullulating, barely-there mood that sits somewhere between Miles Davis' 'In A Silent Way' and Triosk's scratchy jazz from a few years ago.

Download The Necks 'Angle Of Respose' (live, jazz, improvisation, mp3 download) (Mediafire)

Miles Davis 'Ife (Live at Philharmonic Hall, New York)' (Columbia, 1972)

27 minutes of taut yet meandering, organic, rhythm-heavy electric jazz genius. Tortoise were listening.

'Ife' is a majestic piece from an incendiary period of music development between 1968 and 1974 that fused jazz to rock as only Miles Davis could.

I've been itching to write about Miles Davis for ages - but one never knows the right time to introduce jazz into the conversation..

The studio version of 'Ife' was recorded in 1972 but not released until 'Big Fun' in 1974. This version is from a 1972 live recording and 'Ife' is very much a journey of a piece. Over twenty-seven minutes of journey in fact, meandering from calm to locomotive, drum-powered groove.

I've never figured out whether the likes of Can on 'Tago Mago' (mp3) took inspiration from Miles Davis or vice versa, but it's clear that they were channeling the same wild spirit when they made their best works. More obviously, post rock jazzacists Tortoise and The Drift clearly basked in this music.

Enjoy.

Download Miles Davis 'Ife' (jazz, alternative, improvisation) (Mediafire)