One of the groovier contemporary jazz releases of the last decade and arguably POAD's best record from start to finish, Lovε's Silhouεttε is blessed in numerous ways: it has a punchy mix that gives an extra edge to the bass and keyboards and hooky songwriting that engages as opposed to not. On top of that, these guys had been together about twenty years or so by the time this record hit stores, and their chemistry is tighter than a fishing knot -- much to the benefit of the songs themselves.
Style-wise, arrangements fall somewhere between the Brazilian flourished Pat Metheny Group and the late 90's output of The Rippingtons as far as atmosphere is concerned. Cuts like the tempestuous 'Turnin' It Up', the nightwalking Bossa Nova groover 'Mystical Perception' and the spacey beat-laden 'Mission Possible' are prime time displays of excellence, about as good as mood music gets in this genre.
Contemporary jazz is a hard genre to get just right, but Lovε's Silhouεttε would be right at home on any decent chillout mix...and stands fairly strong on the whole as a record too.
A couple of drinks by the harbor, watching tides roll through the sand. Or maybe its some lucid dream in motion, flowing like rain through a cloudborne subwoofer. D's first guest-populated collection is one helluva dope enclave as far as jazz-hop is concerned, bolstered by versers of smooth, well-tread pedigree like Cise Starr, Substantial and the elusive Funky DL. Furthermore, the samples are out of this world, as well as the production values. Just...dayum!
One of the most promising artists associated with Windham Hill Records, Jεff Ostεя is a fantastically forward thinking trumpeter and flugelhorn player who dabbles in deep electronic texturing and experimentation to give his horn-led compositions an almost supernatural edge that most traditional cats in the greater jazz stratosphere are missing out on.
On that note, his latest release Surrender was perhaps the best jazz-anything to come out last year, giving folks such as Nils Petter Molvaer and The Submotion Orchestra a real run for their money in sheer sumptuousness. Cruise-perfect cuts like the danceable 'The Theology Of Success', Trip-hop friendly title track and even 70's-feelin' fanfare of 'Essence Of Herb' turned my afternoon jog into a golden, harmonious dreamscape where shadows wither and writhe under still light. One can only imagine what something this killer could do for a mind at rest!
Vintage dub from a different time and place than today. John Peel was pretty nuts about this record, which doesn't surprise much: the beats and samples are chosen and contextualized to a peerless degree, unrivaled in the realms of 90's synthesisia until the arrival DJ Shadow and his ilk nearly half a decade down the line, with some of the downtempo cuts such as the sublime 'Out Of Heaven' and the cooly skitterish 'Cave Of Angels' coming off as downright prophetic in retrospect.
I'm sure most of you probably know a little something or other about this rather famous (or infamous) Electronic/Dance musical project from guitarist/producer Michael Cretu. Yes, the first album had that one Gregorian chant house cut called 'Sadeness' which is overplayed to shit and singlehandedly helped define the first half of the 90's sonically. Yes, this sophomore release has that one song from the car commercial where the "Aye-oh-AH-eeya-ahyaaa" is sampled. And, yes, this is one of the most well known New Age albums on the face of planet Earth, a frontrunner for "exotic" music that most people hate...
...but this is still still freakin' awesome! Everything from Led Zeppelin to Genesis to obscure classical opera is sampled within this record, and nowhere has such a mismash of muzakal sensibility and progressive songwriting idealism melded so profoundly and strongly in the world of ambient dance than here in Thε Cяoѕѕ Of Chαngεs.
Although his last couple of releases since signing with Blue Note have been hit and miss musically, pianist/producer Robεяτ Glαspεя demonstrates just how far he's come as both an artist and performer with Blαck Rαdio, bringing his jazzy talents into the realm of electronically-tinged neo-soul & hip hop with creative, even inspiring, ablomb.
Featuring diverse guests ranging from Erykah Badu to Mos Def, you'll be hard pressed to find a cooler set of cuts this side of 2012.
4AD debut of an unbelievably promising female artist who has taken Montreal by storm over the last few years, Gяiмεs is a surreal moniker that incorporates everything from New Wave to New Age to K-Pop into a buzzing wonder of pop inventiveness that rivals everyone from Blondie to The Jesus And Mary Chain in psychedelic posturing.
With all that in mind, Visions is indeed eclectic and an early contender in 2012's AOTY war. The flavors inside are endlessly delectable: opening single 'Oblivion' is very much in line with classic Cocteau Twins while a gorgeous 6-minute deep cut like 'Skin' takes Enya's late 80's New Age-lite to a level of immersioncraft that borders on the inexplicable. Yet beyond all that there is a distinctly modern dancefloor songwriting edge to the musical process at hand, particularly in the dubstep dreamthump of 'Nightmusic' and a beautiful albeit bizarre take on J-Pop meets Quarterflash fusion in 'Visiting Statue'.
As inherently retarded as a tag like "post-pop" seems in the greater scheme of things, this is one of those rare albums that seems to fit such a label's elusive critera. Its the sort of misfit music that doesn't fit comfortably in any era, the sort of soniconcoction that could only be made in the shadow of an insatiable Information Age where all barriers vanish in a puff of neon lights and button clicks. Astonishing.
Although this is something a number of you are aware of, some of the most fascinating music on the planet seems to be coming out of Russia and Eastern Europe since the fall of the Berlin Wall back in prehistoric times, with a number of artists being able to break the language barrier and reach international audiences on the sheer talent their recorded material represents.
This, of course, includes the oft-maligned genre known as progressive rock. In the space of two meager records, Tнε Goυяisнαиkαя have not only demonstrated that they are at the absolute pinnacle of creativity when it comes to this sort of music, but are creating a brand of art-rock that defies all and any categorization known to criticdom.
Metal, jazz-fusion, 80's synth washes and an assortment of trip-hop stylings and techno clubbery are but a few of the wondrous elements at play here on 2008's Closε Gяip, and the conjunction of these diverse sounds and how they collide and interact with one another in a melodic context is magnificent to behold. The Geddy Lee-esque vocals of MJ Whiner and the overall production style are reminiscent of Rush circa Hold Your Fire, but that particular ensemble would never do anything as audacious as throw in free-jazz saxophone solos ('Insomnia') or Gregorian choral chant interludes coupled with ominous piano ambience ('Autumn Frost') and still retain memorable songwriting progression. That's pretty goddamn brilliant!
Bizarre, addictive, peerless in ambition and blindingly schizophrenic in ways that defy expectation, I cannot lay enough accolades upon these guys and their output, because none of it does the music justice. It stands on its own merits and resembles nothing else.
In closing, albums like this one are why I started blogging in the first place. Do yourselves a favor and pick it up.
A gorgeous pitch-black martini mix of nu-jazz, vocal lounge, trip-hop and surprisingly compelling dubstep touches. For reference, think of modern jazz favorites like KDJE or Bohren & Der Club Of Gore with a sumptuous female vocalist and you'll understand why you NEED this ASAP.
This is a condensed mixtape/personal compilation I've made of the best vocal and background tracks from the various Sonic Adventure 2 original soundtracks floating around out there. I've cut out all the grunge pop-rock shit for the most part, left in all the cool trip-hoppish soundscaping, and cherrypicked anything else I felt worked as a standalone song that could also flow with the others in relative harmony and/or contrast. I didn't expect things to turn out this kickass, but well...it did!
Anyway, tis a bit unorthodox I know, but I hope you guys can dig tonight's prize.
Jazzy trip hoppin' courtesy of a hot Japanese-American vocalist and some fantastic songwriting/instrumental workouts...or just electronic neo-soul in layman's terms. I don't need paragraphs of blather to tell you why this is good and worth a download. Much like a fresh-baked cinnamon roll in the dim of a cold morning, it's desirability should be mere common sense.
Yeah, you want it already don'tcha? I can see it in your collective eyes, basking within the glows of your many, many monitors. Let dem beats be a'flowin' and the rest keep rowin!
Of all the great artist that have emerged since the 1960's, few strike such a chord with me as John Martyn. Somewhere between a Frank Sinatra, Scott Walker, a spiritual guru, a bluesman and a damn fine guitarist, there's something comforting yet compelling in his disintively gravely, yet melodic vocal cords and occasionally occultic subject matter.
Tonight's upload is one of Martyn's rarer and more obscure releases, 1996's And. What's interesting about it is that it's both something of a transitional album in terms of evolving Martyn's sound towards trip-hop and more alternative elements whilst at the same time drawing back to his late 70's jazziness to flesh out some of the instrumentation. Gone for the most part are the 80's drum machines and pseudo-New Wave elements that stamped his last couple of albums, which might come as a relief to some.
The songs are all deliciously fantastic and downtempo, even ambient in a sense. Opening number 'Sunshine's Better' twinkles and sounds like an acid house blues number with a touch of Primal Scream. Which to some degree describes the sonic identity of the entire record: Martyn amalgamates everything from the soulful jazz of Terry Callier to acid jazz to groups like Portishead and Massive Attack without batting so much as an eyelash. Beyond this, layering the man's voice is the equivalent of taking a shot of ecstacy, and he's done that quite a bit here.
Quality stuff here overall, and desirable to those looking for an attractive entry point into the lush, esoteric universe of one of the best singer-songwriters of all time.
A talented producer and multi-instrumentalist who is mostly known for his work with Nujabes, Uyama Hiroto's debut is atmosphere phantasmagoria, an ascending beat-laden staircase to near divine clarity in mind and soul. It's also my top album of 2008 by leaps and bounds.
I cannot begin to pay verbose homage to how crystalline these musical figments make me feel - it's almost too smooth to be believed. The sax on 'Climbed Mountain' will follow you to your sleep to a blinding gourishankar, whilst everything else could follow you to death, deep inside. And truth be told, I can't imagine what listening to this on the right substances might result in. Maybe I'd wake up and think I was in Paradise. Guess I'll have to add that to my Christmas list eh?
For river jazz zen embodied, I present thine tribute.
Polish trip-hop metal isn't the sort of thing that comes along every day in musical vernacular, but lucky for you miscreants I happen to have a particularly nice upload to alleviate that musical deficiency tonight!
Moonlight are one of those groups that you can describe in numerous ways and still miss essential facets. Portishead meets Björk who has been indulging in one-too-many Meshuggah records is perhaps an ideal description for the music mags. But Christ, there's so much else going on that even a description like that is the equivalent of calling Mr. Bungle a mere thrash metal band: you might catch a thrash element here and there, but you'd be missing the point entirely by doing so. There's a shitload of jazz elements, industrial, enchanting avant-gardizms, old school House, and even a touch of the Cocteau Twins dreamy hook sensibility when you least expect it. The end result is almost too brilliant to really take in with just one run through or two: multiple spins is what's required to let the stink of genius seep in.
I'm sure after a double shot of 80's, something obscure and jaw-dropping spectacular is just what you fogies need to get your nightly rocks off. Thank me after the shellshock wears off!
Dunno why, but Strange Days, one of my favorite sci-fi films of all time, bombed quite nastily back when it stormed into theaters 15 years ago. Audiences didn't really understand it despite Kathryn Bigelow's excellent direction and some rather capable performances from Ralph Fiennes and pretty much everyone else involved.
However, due to the film's financial failure, it's only natural that it's equally fantastic soundtrack would get lost somewhere in the details and accumulating dust. Quite the fucking travesty too, as this is one of the best soundtracks ever assembled for a motion picture, featuring not only vintage Tricky but atleast five or six amazingly experimental bands & artists who only recorded music for this film. Hence, along with being a fantastic companion to any dystopian cyberpunk ideas you might be spinnin' up in your heads, it also serves as a top-notch LP stuffed to the brim with one-of-a-kind tracks that you can't find anywhere else, two of which are Deep Forest collaborating with friggin' Peter Gabriel of all people!
Eclecticism is both the strongest and weakest element of these proceedings, hence the excess of labels. Pieces like 'Selling Jesus' and the mindblowing 'No White Clouds' merge punkish alt-rock with punk and jazz respectively, while Jeriko One and Tricky counteract with more contemporary hip-hop measures, culiminating into the glorious downtempo moments from Lori Carson ['Fall In The Light'] and Peter Gabriel's bringing the ethnic house dancibility of Deep Forest to unprecedented grandeur ['Coral Lounge', 'While the Earth Sleeps']. But then again, if you have gotten anything else off this blog so far, a little stylistic flexibility should be right up most of your alleys anyway.
Get this now and then go rent or stream or w/e the movie you lazy blighters. Or be a dick and don't see it. This soundtrack is going to kick your asses either way!
In the mid 80's when it was cool to be white, jazzy and "sophisticated", Swing Out Sister made a big splash in the realm of Simply Red, Level 42 and Sade-saturated radio with a punchy little ditty called 'Breakout' from their 1987 debut It's Better To Travel. Although many might contest my opinion about 80's pop, I believe it was a golden era for radio in its own way...mostly thanks to bands like this one!
Proving to be something of a "thinking man's" Everything But The Girl, Swing Out Sister demonstrated early on that they possessed sound & image all their own, especially when compared to some of their more popular contemporaries. They indulged audiences in Burt Bacharach inspired jazzy pop marked by the talented vocals of Corinne Drewery, who sported a 50's style bob and sang like Dusty Springfield, and further refined by Andy Connell's atmospheric keyboard work. The result? A distinctive sound and a fruitful enough fanbase to support their careers.
Like so many of the Sophisti-pop scene's rising meteors however, Swing Out Sister only held the public eye for the remainder of the 80's before being dismissed as an outdated accessory in the wake of such acts as Seal and Primal Scream. This didn't stop Corrine and friends from gaining a rediculously large cult following in countries like Japan and Singapore since that time however, and as a result the band has been putting out record after record for the last 15 years..as well as continuing to evolve their sound.
With all that in mind, we now come to a very rare disk amidst the outfit's discography and possibly their best, a Bristolian exercise in trippy noir pop called Filth and Dreams, which received a Japan exclusive release in 1999 and has not been made available anywhere else since that time.
Although more organic and a bit less sampled than what Massive Attack, Tricky, Portishead and the equally evolved-over-time Everything But The Girl were dabbling in at the dawn of the new millennium, make no misake: Swing Out Sister deliver the beats and darkness of the late 90's in just as compelling a manner, but without losing sight of their jazzy pop sensibility in the process.
There's a laid back early morning fog about these ten tracks that might invoke nostalgia, yearning, or perhaps merely restfulness in a troubled mind. Sometimes the Corrine's sultry singing will emphasize infectious choruses over their nightclub arrangements ['Who's Been Sleeping', 'Closer Than The Sun'] while in another movement you'll be shooting down the city streets to the pulse of midnight ['World Out Of Control', 'Make You Say'] and wonder where you might be going when the moon is only a dot on the horizon.
Fans of anything related to trip-hop or nu-jazzy/soulful pop music with a 90's flair will tear into this bitch faster than you can say "gorgonzola". Feast your ears!
