American, Brooklyn-based guitarist (and visual artist) Sandy Ewen, St. Louis-based double bass master Damon Smith (who runs his Balance Point Acoustics label), and Chicago-based drummer Weasel Walter (who runs his ugEXPLODE label) have collaborated in many free improvised settings, including their own self-titled debut album as a trio (ugEXPLODE, 2012). Untitled (2) was recorded at Bird Cloud Recordings in Collinsville, Illinois, in November 2025, and expands the trio’s radical, uncompromising, and restless aesthetics.
Avant-guitarist Henry Kaiser, a frequent collaborator of Ewen, Smith, and Walter, wrote the liner notes to the trio’s debut album and mentioned how rewarding and even surprising the listening experience was, despite his intimate knowledge of their improvisational tactics. Kaiser concluded that this trio challenges the very basic concepts of what
