Eclectic Maybe Band – Domestic Dragon

Discus

Once again, after the best part of three years, bassist and composer Guy Segers returns with the ever-evolving hydra-headed Eclectic Maybe Band. It feels that each album is a push on from the previous, with the number of personnel involved on Domestic Dragon amounting to thirty-five.

A large proportion of these musicians have appeared on previous albums and will be well known by regular Discus listeners and are obviously party to Guy’s MO of composition, improvisation, collage and studio editing that finds tracks going back to a live recording from 1991 being compiled into a remarkably cohesive whole. Clearly, with the number of personnel and the almost infinite iterations, the album, as per the previous collections, ranges broadly through styles and textures living right up to the group’s name.

Over the course of an hour and eight tracks that range from four to fourteen minutes, we are taken on a journey through the singular mind of one of the prime exponents of the bass guitar and the way it can be used as a thread that binds disparate musical approaches and ideas together. It is a solid sound, but one that is this time around has a stronger edge, as if they were pushing for more power.

The opening track, with its distorted guitar and slinky beat, has an edge that s helped by the PJ Harvey-like vocals of Aura Grace Msimang and the hot trumpet of Jean-Pierre Soarez. There is a duel between Aura Grace and Fabienne Vandenplas that works its way into the fabric of the song, and the sense of players weaving in and out is helped by the length.

The abstract pastoralism of their take on Dave Holland‘s “Conference Of The Birds”, aided by the flute of Geoff Leigh, is a change of tack, the waltz-like rhythm and the spoken-word delivery is further enhanced by a sexy sax break that turns up the temperature. It suits the sashaying rhythm and is a step away from the flute. So far, so diverse; and with only two tracks in, you can sense that there are more moods to cover.

There is a definite rock energy to “Meek Monsters” with its bombastic blasts, but space noises push it out of the ordinary, while “Jonction Nuageuse” has an odd but outstanding rhythmic structure. It feels as though it is taking place in a submarine, and is lazy and loose, as if the air were running out. Cécile Broché‘s violin is bareely recognisable, while the clarinet of Dirk Descheemaeker is the mystery element that seems to tie it all together.

“Inaltérable Offre” is a collective improvisation and here, as on “Jonction Nuageese”, there is a sense of unreality and it appears as a series of dreams, an unmoored bass riff tying the forgotten memories together as they threaten to drift away, exotic things flashing past windows with just a hint of their true nature. The irresistible groove and frantic violin of “Chateau Kafka” grounds things again, the elastic bass and lush bongos are impossible to stay still to, with lots of little interlocking sections keeping the pressure up to the end.

The album ends with the long form “Conquistadores” which, considering its length, is a supple and tricky beast, and perhaps best describes their intense catch-all approach as instruments dip in and out of the mix, shaking off styles like so many winter coats. They enjoy repeated phrases, then drift into near silence, raising the tension before a voice appears taking things in a part-Spanish, part-mystery direction full of mariachi despair that aims for the rarest of conclusions.

An extraordinary ending to another unparalleled feat with all players and vocalists lifting this beyond the ordinary and pushing the Eclectic Maybe legacy on one step further.

-Mr Olivetti-