NU CREATIVE METHODS - Superstitions

Nu Creative Methods, the project of Bernard Pruvost and Pierre Bastien, caught the attention of that slice of audience attuned to unconventional music back in the late Seventies, thanks to their inclusion in the Nurse With Wound list, the roster of experimental-area musicians attached to the British non-musician's first, now-legendary album.

The ever-praiseworthy Music 'A La Coque – an Italian label devoted to reissuing mainly out rock, freeform jazz, noise and no wave material – exhumes this “Superstitions”, an album originally released on cassette in 1984 on another Italian label, Adn of Milan.

And this is a reissue well worth the attention, because it captures a historical moment in which rock, free jazz and pure improvisation stopped being separate strands of musical creation and merged into sounds that were eccentric yet extremely multifaceted.

Later, unfortunately, improvisation too would turn from a moment of absolute expressive freedom into a musical style bound by rigid, insurmountable formal conventions. Specifically, “Superstitions” plays with genres, situating itself in a border territory where you can find traces of Half Japanese, Sun City Girls, Faust, Le Forte Four, Fugs, but also of the more extreme Esp Disk releases, like Alan Sondheim.

Unlike much of the European improvisation of the period, the five compositions here are not cold; on the contrary, within their dissonances one can find a “rock” warmth that makes this material difficult only on a first listen. Well worth rediscovering.

Ride the wave of great music

Add OndaRock to your favorite sources on Google Discover. Don't miss our reviews, milestones and latest news straight in your feed.

Follow on Google

08/03/2014