Formed in 2014 as an experimental side-project by experimental scene veteran Ge-Chun Cheng(aka Sonic Deadhorse) and professional saxophonist Minyen Hsieh, Non-Confined Spaces takes its name and primary artistic inspiration from the book Flow, Gesture, and Spaces in Free Jazz. Though the pair’s initial impression to those first exposed to the group might be of a free jazz and improvisation nature, their current catalog of works and live performances suggest otherwise, with elements and influences ranging from contemporary dance music to the forerunners of modern jazz, while even containing snippets of trap music.
Their first studio release in November 2019, Flow, Gesture, and Spaces, not only proved to listeners in both spheres of jazz and experimental music in Taiwan that such a drastically different pairing of sonic elements could be achieved, but also how an album could adhere to its theoretical source material in both sound and methodology. The album also went on to receive several nominations at the Golden Indie Music Awards and the Golden Melody Awards, while winning Best Album Producer for the Instrumental Category.
Building on their previous success, their sophomore effort, titled Meta, Construct Within’ Spaces, takes a more cyberpunk approach for the digital age in both theme and aesthetics. Bleeding genres of free Jazz, Leftfield Bass, Synthwave, Drill and Jungle, the album is a refute towards the minimal approach towards design that has come to dominate nearly every facet of modern life. Experimental rappers PiNkChAiN and TenderG provide their talents on the third and aptly titled track “Steely Dan III”, with long time collaborator Mars Lin and underground hip hop legend LEO37 featured on “Call Us By Our Names”.
For all intents and purposes, Non-Confined Space has been pushing the boundaries of both sonic expressionism and the praxis of experimental music theory. Though not by any means possessing an easily digestible discography of works, the avant-garde pairing of two artists with polarity opposite backgrounds will continue to be perhaps Taiwan’s one of most future facing and timeproof artists.
