M-3: M-3 (CD, cass)
New Alliance 057: Released 1993.

Ben Miller's M3 site

Laurence Miller: drums, guitars, percussion, vocals, samples, found sound, b-flat clarinet. (Sproton Layer)
Benjamin Miller: guitars, samples, vocals, found sound, sequencing, bass, violin. (Sproton Layer)
Roger Miller: guitars, samples, keyboard, vocals, sequencing, found sound.

Roger, Laurence and Benjamin Miller (see Sproton Layer), recording together for the first time in 20 years. The CD is 100% democratic, with each player producing a solo piece and a piece which the band fleshed out. The collective improvisation, The Basement, stands out as a classic in this form. Recorded 1989-1991.

Each member did a drawing for the CD booklet.

1. Roasting the Salamander
2. Lunge and Reel
3. Door Nail Zombie
4. The Basement
5. Out of Breath
6. Head Stone
7. Overboard
8. On the Beach

Tracks 1-3 were written by a different member and expanded on by the group.
track 4 is a collective improvisation.
Tracks 5-8 are solo works, each one written and performed solely by one member.


REVIEWS:

Guitar Player, June '94:
"Juggling stylistic touchstones like King Crimson, Beefheart, Can, and Zappa, M-3 chip away at dense, guttural improvs and clusters of percussive, metallic sound... One of the richest guitar albums to emerge this year."

Chart, Feb.'94:
"Sounds as if Devo, Gang of Four and Danny Elfman decided to get together and destroy all terms of rational thought as we know it."

CMJ Jan. '94:
"Through several projects, Ben, Larry and Roger (NO MAN) Miller have been making music and noise for more than 20 years. The experimental recording approach taken by the brothers Miller under the M3 moniker encourages chaos, improvisation, discovery and total freedom. The first three tracks begin with an idea supplied by one brother, and is then refracted by the total group, each member drastically influencing the direction of the pieces by using contrasting guitars and a variety of sampled sounds. In fact, all three brothers are credited as usings samples, "found sounds" and guitars, and while such technology may be of an advanced digital nature, the mindset and delivery is more evocative and purely prmitive, recalling some of Elliot Sharps' recent work. Helter-skelter rhythms (when they appear at all), fits of percussion and batches of shrieks, squaks and plinks are the norm, resulting in pieces that are unpredictable even upon repeated listens. The fourth piece, "The Basement," is an equally misleading musical group improvisation, while the remaining four tracks are solo pieces by the borthers, delivered with the same vision and enjoyable lack of restraint.