Ivan the Tolerable - Vertigo (2024)

Stars align and Oli Heffernan brings his ever-(d)evolving Ivan The Tolerable to Riot Season for two LPs of sublime entropic drift.

Having this time recruited Christian Alderson (The Unit Ama) on drums, John Pope (Ponyland) on double bass, Kevin Nickles (Ecstatic Vision) on flute and saxophone and Ben Hopkinson on electric paino - both works were recorded as a quintet almost instantaneously, the players barely brushing or breathing a note before the whole thing was done.

The first LP, Vertigo, is all claustrophobic, dense and disorientating - like Sun Ra sitting in with Exploding Star Orchestra

Whereas the second LP, Water Music, is the music of lapping waves, becalmed, creaking hulls, circling birds and gentle winds. - Equal parts Laraaji and Natural Information Society

Bob Fischer (Electronic Sound Magazine) on ‘Water Music’

"A summer's afternoon daydream of an album. Beautifully soothing psychedelic jazz overflowing with raga delights...immerse yourself in its charms"

John Hubner (Complex Distractions) on ‘Vertigo’

“An expansive collection of free-flowing sound and mood bringing to mind Coltrane (John and Alice) as well as the great Albert Aylor, while touching on the forward thinking compositions of Rob Mazurek's Exploding Star Orchestra. From the titanic soundscape of "New Worlds On Earth" to the Marc Moulin touches of "Liquid Voices" and the mysterious eccentricitiesof "Swimming", 'Vertigo' hangs in the air long after the final note plays.”