The Wire – Unlimited Editions: Aspen Edities

Als Ergänzung zu seinem Artikel über Aspen Edities in The Wire 512 hat Peter Margasak eine kommentierte Playlist mit Titeln des belgischen Labels zusammengestellt.

Es ist nichts Ungewöhnliches daran, dass der belgische Gitarrist Ruben Machtelinckx ein Label gegründet hat, um seine eigene Musik zu veröffentlichen. Doch während sich sein Label „Aspen Edities“ im nächsten Jahr seinem zehnjährigen Jubiläum nähert, hat sich der Umfang des Projekts stetig, wenn auch still und leise, erweitert und verändert.

Der sorgfältig zusammengestellte Katalog des Labels hat diese Entwicklung Veröffentlichung für Veröffentlichung dokumentiert, wobei fast jeder nachfolgende Titel Neuland erschließt und gleichzeitig seine meditativen, aber experimentierfreudigen Wurzeln würdigt. Die folgende Playlist beleuchtet die sich subtil wandelnde Ausrichtung von Aspen Edities.

© The Wire, Unlimited Editions, 09/2026

Christian Wallumrød Ensemble
“New hum old hum”
From Non Sonett (2026)

Pointing to the ECM roots of the Christian Wallumrød Ensemble is too simple. While Aspen Edities label runner Machtelinckx loves the label, the singular collision of indelible, old fashioned chamber melodies and harmonically focused expanses of sustained sound in the pianist/composer’s music feels like the stronger connection. Wallumrød continues an instinctual engagement with electronics, offering a built-on contrast when placed next to the rustic church music feel, and, as heard on the adroitly titled “New hum old hum”, explores tiptoeing gauzy timbral clouds fed through the prism of alternate tunings.

Machtelinckx/Badenhorst/Cools/Gouband“Structure 6”
From Porous Structures (2019)

In some way the arc of the Aspen Edities’ aesthetic can be traced through Machtelinckx’s own work. This richly atmospheric quartet recording features his guitar playing clinging to vestiges of his jazz roots, with shades of Ralph Towner emanating from his interplay with fellow guitarist Bert Cools (Merope). The sui generis sound world of French drummer Tomas Gouband, who prefers to employ tree branches and stones rather than brushes and sticks on his kit, carves out a thick resonance, amplified by generous reverb, while the great Belgian artist Joachim Badenhorst toggles between liquid clarinet melodies and wordless vocals, à la Arve Henriksen.

Graden/Agnas/Landin/Bromander
“Chimär”
From Words Were Coming Out Of Our Ears (2025)

The label tapped into the Swedish scene earlier this year with this superb quartet, in which bassists Pär Ola Landen and Vilhelm Bromander actively swap and double up on roles, adding melody and fracturing time within a sub-internal dialogue. The drowsy tempos, laid out with exquisite elasticity by drummer Nils Agnas, and harmonically draped by the feather stroke touch of pianist Johan Graden, loosely evoke the legacy of fellow Scandinavian drummer Jon Christensen and pianist Bobo Stenson, but they inject a more contemporary elegant concision and directness.

Dans Les Arbres
“les yeux écoutent”
From L’Album Vert (2024)

The French-Norwegian quartet Dans Les Arbes have carved out a beguiling world of sustained tones and elusive textures on its recordings for ECM, Hubro and Sofa, but they found a simpatico landing spot for L’Album Vert, which maintains a meticulous rigour and attention to detail while embracing the fresh presence of electronic gestures and irregular rhythmic disruptions. Percussionist Ingar Zach, pedal steel guitarist Ivar Grydeland, clarinetist Xavier Charles and keyboardist Christian Wallumrød all possess extended timbral vocabularies, but they function as a single organism.

Linus & BPB
“Little Jesus, Mighty God”
From The Outside, The Music Of Jules De Corte (2026)

This new album reinforces the label’s unpredictability and breadth, as Machtelinckx’s longtime project with reedist Thomas Jillings takes a left turn into pop territory. Joined by frequent collaborator Fredrik Leroux and bassist Laurens Smet, the group interprets a selection of tunes by the once popular but now overlooked Jules de Corte, the blind Dutch singer-songwriter and pianist. Jillings translated the lyrics into English and the delicate guitar-centric arrangements make a perfect fit for the gorgeous singing of Bonnie ‚Prince‘ Billy, who helps transform the repertoire, giving it a timeless warmth.

Poor Isa
“Ply”
From Poor Isa + Evan Parker/Ingar Zach (2025)

Machtelinckx and frequent cohort Fredrik Leroux started Poor Isa to experiment with some very unusual instrumentation: banjos and woodblocks. Through various extended techniques and the use of e-bows the project has developed a surprisingly broad soundworld, as if some bluegrass pickers were trading fours with a gagaku ensemble. A collaboration with the veteran British saxophonist Evan Parker seemed just as odd, but with the help of regular collaborator, Norwegian percussionist and sound artist Zach, they reveal a shape-shifting versatility.

Oker
“Crepuscular Rays”
From Aerial (2026)

This sublime Norwegian group entered the Aspen Edities fold through its Berlin based guitarist Fredrik Rasten, who collaborated with Machtelinckx on his hypnotising solo album Strands Of Lunar Light, a collection of serene experiments in just intonation. Oker got its start composing delicate, folk inspired compositions heavily informed by the improvisational backgrounds of percussionist Jan-Martin Gismervik, bassist Adrian Fiskum Myhr and trumpeter Torstein Lavik Larsen, but over time an attraction to spontaneity has led them to construct their pieces in real time, which Aerial captures. Still, the ensemble builds these delicate, detail-rich extended excursions with structure in mind.

Veder“Sedum”
From Evergreen (2017)

Released in 2017, this is one of the earliest Aspen Edities titles, offering a sonic blueprint that can be connected to many of its recent releases. Machtelinckx’s calmly unfolding guitar and banjo serves as a perfect foil for the unusual braid of horns provided by Norwegian trumpeter Eivind Lønning, Belgian reedist Joachim Badenhorst, and Belgian euphonium player Niels Van Heertum, who composed these stately themes. The music is gentle but introspective, transmitting an unusual strain of chamber jazz that erases any division between extended techniques, contrapuntal elegance, and melodic generosity.