One of two new full-length CDs officially declaring the existence of FIM Records, the record production arm of the prolific concert series of the same name, Blessed captures the unruly quartet machinations of in-house curators Caleb Duval (bass guitar) and Luke Rovinsky (electric guitar) in session with Ben Eidson on alto and James Paul Nadien on percussion. Though it was recorded at The Record Co. studio in Boston, the lengthy album is filled to bursting with the electricity and irreverence of a raucous live performance—a memorable moment occurs at the beginning of “Some Joyful Sound,” when Nadien yells “Do it to ’em! Do it to ’em! Do it!” as Rovinsky works up an infernal racket with a radically pitch-shifted guitar. Seeing the mix and master both credited to Oakland’s Nathan Corder was no surprise; Stalwart’s heavy yet lively interplay very much belongs to a thriving new school of improvised music that transcends state (and national) borders, distilling both the silliest and most serious aspects of the wider tradition’s six-plus decades of existence into an exhilarating, ever-diverse tincture (of which Corder’s records with Tom Weeks, as well as with other projects like Mechanical Bull and Monopiece, are also excellent examples). The longer tracks on Blessed are its best, especially the eighteen-minute burner “All Bad News (Variable Red Pitch Modulation Device and Four Gunshots)” with its effortless shifts between sparse, anxious skitter and full-force surge, but there’s not a single throwaway cut here. The shorter ones bottle fleeting bits of brilliance: serpentine pseudo-rhythms in “A Rare Glimpse,” muscular call-and-response jerks in “Electric Powered Memorial Candle.” A common talking point in free improvisation “theory” is knowing when not to play. These four are well past that—they always know when not to not play.
Noise Not Music 
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