..is perhaps the most personal yet, using the extraordinary mix of soundtrack vibes, funky jazz groove and introspective piano to explore what it means to love in this current world climate.
Mr Olivetti
901 posts
It is an interesting spectacle, because although the crowd knows to look forward to two forty-five minute sets and a short intermission, what those two sets might entail is anyone's guess. The air of anticipation is further heightened by the lack of a support slot, so nothing interferes with the trio's planned or unplanned journeys.
As a treatise on self discovery, the album works really well; the wide variety of songs, the welcoming closeness of the players and the willingness to attempt the road less travelled here and there makes for a pleasurable listening experience.
The blustering guitar, dirty, squalling sax and tumble-drier drums really bring to mind a drive through a desert that is alive with discordant debris...
...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.
The bright-eyed yearning that all the players show throughout is what makes the album so listenable. Once again, Keith and the players have concocted a collection that is easy on the ear but with hidden depths.
The 4AD label, and Pixies as part of their roster, were exemplars of this sort of thinking, with their single and EP releases unique works of art in their own right. The collection of the b-sides from their original six UK singles was originally released on CD in 2001, but here they have been remastered and augmented by live tracks ...
The washed-out, sun-bleached image on the cover and the faraway look in his eyes conveys a lot of the aesthetic of the songs here which, ably assisted by Heine Hansen on piano, Anders Holm Jensen on drums, Morten Lundsby on bass, Jakob Riis Holm on guitar, Eliel Williams Lazo Linares on percussion and Aksel Falgren on keys, look into the distance, lifted by the desire to go beyond, blurring distance, time and style into one fluid whole.
The group, rather like Mariam’s voice, has a mind of its own and the way the two interact is pretty special. They develop an awkward rhythm, allowing the words to feel nestled as myriad sounds cavort in the rushes and banks.
...some four years after 2022's Fjære and finds Berg plus bassist Bárður Reinert Poulsen and drummer Simon Albertsen sketching more post-jazz backdrops for Espen's vivid collection of new songs.
With flutes, harps, psalteries, melodica, organ, electronics, tabla, bells, drums, percussion and further assorted treats, you could be forgiven for thinking this would be an overwhelming barrage of noise, but instead the approach is subtle yet insidious; space being created by all four, which allows the myriad connections and combinations to be fully appreciated.
The constant evaluation and reworking of The Telescopes' sound is what keeps them relevant and yet oddly existing outside time. Nobody really sounds like them and hasn't done for years; and for all the flow of '80s and '90s bands reforming and reiterating, The Telescopes continue on their outward trajectory, still searching and rewardingly still discovering.
...teaming up with vibes player Ralph Wyld, trombonist Kieran Mcleod and bassist Huw V Williams and taking a crack at palindromic composition on Petstep for an assembled quartet that is a fascinating combination.
...the Caktus sound is swollen to include four reeds players, two trumpets, three trombones, two bassists and two drummers; but although this may sound a lot, the overall effect is sleek and subtle.
...effortlessly seems to draw from the last thousand years of musical progression, yet somehow manages to be its very own thing driven by her personal observations.
...based on recordings that they had completely overlooked, so there is a feeling of reinvention here as well which -- along with the bizarre track titles, a sense of the absurd and a generous coating of humour -- only adds to the charm.
...at about twenty-three minutes is over before you know it; but the ride is well worth the effort. Meatshell's ideas are varied and their vision limitless, and the fun they appear to be having is a large part of the charm.
...takes the familiar drifting folklore-influenced soundscapes and merges them with strings and voices for an unexpected journey. The album uses the live recordings as a basis and then re-imagines them in the studio, the distant piano and drifting trumpet immediately sending the listener off into a world where edges are blunted and the things softly reverberate.