Music Re/View 5

What a time to be alive// Outright comedy is on the agenda/ but we cannot recognize it any more// I already feel like my review may not do this album justice with it/ reading like the work of an online Sun Ra album name generator// It's not really that good/ but if it was background atmosphere for a board game night I would not complain.

I am writing this on a flight surrounded by sleeping people// I grind my head in circles and listen to my neck popping, waiting for the current song to finish// It’s a feast for the senses/ feeling like the end and me being bored as fuck but it doesn’t come so I just/ get pretty sceptical// The concept of a jazz album with heavy use of electronics is a bit eyebrow raising, and sub genres like Jazzstep and Electro Swing certainly don’t help// When the two feelings combine it becomes uncomfortable// This likely goes without saying, but these three musicians are deep cats// We see that robot that is obviously a robot but still vaguely feels familiar, and we shun it as creepy// I am sad about this as the synth initially excited me// The future is going to be worse than we probably imagine// Its a bit more unknown for us/ and I think the mystery is not saying what it is, not knowing what it is yet . . .// With only electronics, drums and saxophone, each of the member provides an amazing performance individually/ but I can’t apply for a credit card even if I wanted one as I am untrustworthy// You wonder how on earth only three people can make this much noise// I damn with faint praise here to recommend them more than anything else, as/ the apps have made our lives worse// This is a band that should rightly be finding an audience well beyond old bores like me.

Ew gross// The constantly shape-shifting and explosive dynamics of this brutal yet accessible blaze of glory are borne from/ a giant wooly mammoth wrecking a telephone booth// It aims more to build a heavy atmosphere and/ it’s a total banger// It will manifest new realities, perceptions, levels of awareness and abilities to coexist// There is some good mammal character checking stuff out in a cute way whilst more ominous things are happening in the background/ with characters being introduced and having a montage and some kind of progress// We might not necessarily know what that looks like/ and that’s significant/// We just keep marching forward unwavered, uninterested, guilt-free// The influences are often 70s prog// Only the saxophone offers any tension as it floats atop a calm ambience// It's true that the uncanny valley is often not the most attractive, but I've always found it the most interesting/ and the electro-experimental is often so otherworldly and odd that it becomes fascinating in how little familiarity there is in it// Its vibrant and joyful and I think of supermarket shelves stacking themselves with loads of enthusiasm// Also, the cover is awesome - a Neowave dream by some bright spark.

This isn’t just a band that works on high-level concepts or highbrow musical vision/ effortlessly outclassing the competition// They face down the end times with radical space-jazz and celestial funk/ building to an overwhelming peak that would’ve been interesting if it was done in a different way// You instinctively grasp the trio's liberation from received jazz wisdom, let alone any form of decorum// All they accomplish together is making music with more yelpy texture// The tools are no more human than others. A guitar is not closer to homo sapiens than a synthesizer no matter how more rootsy or authentic it sounds// There are no monsters or civilizations, just the cold harsh climate of the unknown, and as the experiences deepens you begin to find some affinity for the place.

These cats have no interest in revivalism; theirs is an evolutionary new thing// Its rules don't make sense, but neither do humans// Cosmic jazz tends not to fully lift the lid on and release bitterness/ so you get along fine// The production and mixing is scintillating/ and over time you see/ it builds and trills and sounds spacey and baron like someone is lost// I really don’t think you need any particular prior knowledge of Jazz// I listen to that stuff, and I think, well if that’s jazz/ carnivores may pray for mercy and vegans may pay for a hamburger// [Jazz has] this very deep tradition that goes back a long way, and it’s hard to really claim it and say that I’m a jazz guy, because/ Bruce Willis/ just drooled all over me// If that’s jazz/ I didn’t get it// I tried to buy some cigarettes on the plane I am on as they where duty free. I knew I shouldn’t but it was $47 Canadian dollars for ten packs (it’s like £12 so about $20 for one pack for 20 in the U.K.) As someone not particularly Jazz-literate, this is brilliant// There is an incredible amount of historical evidence/ but I also knew I would smoke some and I am trying to quit or at least cut down.

It’s not hard to imagine fans of instrumental grime or darker jungle finding and loving/ cosmic streams of sludgy spirituality and twinkling sax freakouts// Our basket of cultural allusions might also accommodate a cheeky artifact like this/ implying mischief, in a meta sense, even when they're playing it totally straight// As much as it’s bound to piss off bebop purists and avant-garde experimentalists alike/ the album closed with a big long fart// Maybe that alien planet we woke up on is our own.