Rodrigo y Gabriela: Area 52 (ATO)

Rodrigo y Gabriela: "Juan Loco"

With their last album, 11:11, dueling guitarists Rodrigo Sánchez and Gabriela Quintero exploded into the spotlight, gaining a new swell of fans with their blend of acoustic rock and Latin sounds. Now the duo — whose original material already is infused with the energy and frenetic fretwork of classical guitar and metal — has re-imagined its own material with the aid of a 13-piece Cuban big band.

Area 52 is full of horn stabs, jazzy piano accents, and flute flourishes, but it goes well beyond being a traditional Cuban record. A healthy diversity is borne from psychedelic guitar effects and unexpected guest appearances, including sitarist Anoushka Shankar, bassist Carles Benavent (Chick Corea, Miles Davis), and drummer John Tempesta (Testament, White Zombie).

“Hunuman,” one of the duo’s biggest songs, is re-imagined — and nearly unrecognizable from its powerful acoustic-thrash beginning — as a dramatic string-tinged intro paves the way for the song’s main melody. It even bears shades of Carlos Santana. Though fans will have to keep waiting for brand-new songs, these selections nearly qualify.

- Scott Morrow

Gangrene: Vodka & Ayahuasca (Decon)

Gangrene: "Vodka & Ayahuasca"

In November of 2010, rappers/producers The Alchemist and Oh No released their first full-length collaboration as Gangrene. The album, Gutter Water, showcased the duo’s subtly sophisticated production techniques as well as Alc and Oh’s emcee skills, although the latter fell flat in moments of self-aggrandizement or gratuity.

Now Gangrene returns with its follow-up record, Vodka & Ayahuasca — a grimy, tripped-out nightmare. Like its predecessor, V&A tends to suffer a bit from outlandish lyrics and occasionally clunky deliveries, but its hip-hop beats fused with psychedelic effects, distorted-guitar and piano samples, and as clips of ayahuasca freak-outs provide a satisfyingly weird, unnerving atmosphere. (For those unaware, ayahuasca is a DMT-laden hallucinogenic.) Though the album may be unappealing to those outside of drug culture, the bizarreness of the whole experience will keep you listening track after track.

- Meaghann Korbel

Victor Villarreal: Invisible Cinema (Joyful Noise)

Victor Villarreal: "Enters"

Following his years as an unheralded but influential guitarist in Cap'n Jazz, Ghosts 'n' Vodka, and Joan of Arc, finger-picking virtuoso Victor Villarreal went through a musical disappearance. He finally resurfaced in 2009 with Alive, a tribute to his late brother that featured Villarreal's vocal debut over strummed singer-songwriter pieces.

Invisible Cinema is, in the words of Joyful Noise, his first "fully realized" effort. The complex guitar passages are restrained but more frequent, and with them are a handful of accompanying instruments as well as, seemingly, more self-confidence as a singer. Though Villarreal's vocals can be hit or miss, he has made ample progress since Alive, and the opening track, "Enters," is proof. After two minutes of amazingly melodic guitar work and backing strings, the piece is joined by drums before Villarreal launches into a 3/4-based vocal phrasing — something that he might not have tried on Alive.

With bits of trumpet, bass, guitar feedback, and drums and other percussion, Invisible Cinema has enough flavor to keep from getting old. If being a solo performer is the next chapter of Villarreal's career, he should do just fine.

- Scott Morrow

Plug: Back on Time (Ninja Tune)

Plug: "Feeling So Special"

Back on Time is the latest collection of tracks from oddball electronic musician Luke Vibert, whose aliases of Wagon Christ, Plug, and many others have tens of albums to their credit (in addition to officially "solo" releases). In gathering these 10 tunes, Vibert rummaged the depths of his apparently massive catalog of Plug material from 1995 to 1998, a time when he was putting his own stamp on the drum-and-bass genre.

Though these previously unreleased songs are roughly 15 years old, the record sounds, for the most part, strangely renewed. Tracks like the break-beat-driven, semi-glitchy, semi-jazzy “Yes Man” display Vibert’s creativity in fusing different electronic styles. But the album’s freshness is in part due to his playful humor: the industrial “Come on My Skeleton” throws a curve-ball with the sober warning “you might also become aware of your anus or genitalia”; “Mind Bending” jerks back and forth between Speak 'n’ Spell-style synthesized speech and a stoner’s awe at some “fucking excellent acid house.”

Melodies and beats are aplenty, in nearly whichever style you prefer. But when the album threatens to become a tad too serious, you can count on that humor to cut the tension at just the right moment.

- Meaghann Korbel

Gonjasufi: MU.ZZ.LE (Warp)

Gonjasufi: "Feedin' Birds"

Written as an emotional and spiritual outlet while on the road touring, MU.ZZ.LE is psychedelic rapper Gonjasufi’s latest “mini-album” since his 2010 debut, A Sufi and a Killer. The combination of down-tempo beats and haunting lyrics on this album make for a dark and introspective atmosphere, but his voice is his most powerful and versatile instrument. At times, it’s something of a hoarse croak, a barely audible mumble; at other times, it reaches a sorrowful croon and a creeping howl, often in a sudden, drastic shift. The effect is unsettling — and unforgettable.

- Meaghann Korbel

Honorable Mentions

Abigail Williams: Becoming (Candlelight)

Bleubird: Cannonball!!! (Fake Four)

Dodecahedron: s/t (Underground Activists / Season of Mist)

Imbogodom: And They Turned Not When They Went (Thrill Jockey)

Lamb of God: Resolution (Roadrunner)

Nada Surf: The Stars are Indifferent to Astronomy (Barsuk)

Pyramids / Horseback: A Throne Without a King (Hydra Head)

Rhyton: s/t (Thrill Jockey)

Zomes: Improvisations (Thrill Jockey)

My Brightest Diamond: All Things Will Unwind (Asthmatic Kitty)

My Brightest Diamond: "Reaching Through to the Other Side"

Detroit-based singer/songwriter Shara Worden has long made a career as an indie-pop mercenary. Over the past decade or so, she has lent her talents to Sufjan Stevens’ Illinoisemakers, collaborated with The Decemberists, covered Radiohead for an OK Computer tribute album, appeared on numerous compilations (including her excellent cut on Dark Was the Night), and contributed to the chamber ensemble yMusic (which also includes Bon Iver, Antony & The Johnsons, the New York Philharmonic, and Rufus Wainwright).

Clearly, Worden has no problem keeping busy. But even in the midst of her many endeavors, Worden has found time for her indie-pop pet project, My Brightest Diamond, without ever skimping on musical quality or integrity.

Such is the case on All Things Will Unwind, My Brightest Diamond’s third effort on Asthmatic Kitty, as Worden’s talents are as focused and as strong as ever. Swaying between sweet, soft-edged crooning (“She Does Not Brave the War”) to full-on, forceful belt-outs (the latter half of “Be Brave”), Worden knows exactly what she’s doing. The songs swell and sway, kept adrift — and often take flight — thanks to Worden’s cosmic vocal work.

The album is suspended by quirky arrangements and orchestrations, serving as a backdrop to Worden’s ever-present voice. And Worden — an educated composer who has turned out several scores for off-Broadway productions — intertwines vocals and music together flawlessly, devising a kind of majestic, orchestral masterpiece.

- Text by Michael Danaher. Read the full review here.

Rob Crow: He Thinks He's People (Temporary Residence)

Rob Crow: "Sophistructure"

Rob Crow doesn't like to be pigeon-holed. As a musician, he's built numerous additions onto the foundational Pinback, which he cofounded in 1998 with Zach Smith. Those side projects have spanned math rock (Heavy Vegetable), doom metal (Goblin Cock), and indie pop (Optiganally Yours), and that diversity shows up immediately — albeit in pop form — on Crow's latest effort, He Thinks He's People. The intellectual songwriter offers five sounds in the first five tracks, which leaves eight more tracks to explore eight more sounds. He almost does it.

The diversity works because the tracks are short, but if there's a drawback to Crow's willingness — and ability — to play whatever style comes to him, it's that the album struggles for cohesion. Fortunately, Crow gives us the simple and driving drum beat that's typical of Pinback, which grounds the record and keeps it from floating away. The array of pop styles also means that listeners have to give the album more than one chance, which might be a fool-proof way to build a fan base. You've got "This Thread" for Mark Kozalek fans, "Build" for math nerds who like to play with time signatures, and everything else for those folks who like Crow for Crow.

The other common thread on He Thinks He's People is Crow's rather flippant approach. The art consists of a Microsoft Paint-style illustration of a stick figure in a doghouse. Songs are titled things like "Pat's Crabs," "Tranked," and "Locking Seth Putnam in Hot Topic." The music recalls Benji Hughes in that it's music that seems to say, "Who gives a shit?" even when you know it's giving a shit.

- Text by Timothy S. Aames.

Freestyle Fellowship: The Promise (Decon)

Freestyle Fellowship: “Step 2 the Side”

In the early ’90s, LA rap group Freestyle Fellowship burst on the scene with an innovative blend of jazzy/funky hip-hop production and dizzying rhymes. Though the group only had two albums before reuniting for Temptations in 2001, its members — Aceyalone, Myka 9, PEACE, Self Jupiter, and J Sumbi — have gone on to notable solo careers and collaborations (including with Haiku D’Etat and Abstract Rude), and Fellowship has maintained a legendary status ever since its inception.

The Promise is the Fellowship’s first album in 10 years, and it reflects a modernized sound. Though Temptations was more nuanced and reflected stylistic growth — and less of that early-’90s style — The Promise leaps into the synthesized world.

The group’s diverse samples and unconventional hooks, as usual, keep things fresh from track to track, while still retaining the characteristics that were adopted by contemporaries such as A Tribe Called Quest and successors such as Jurassic 5 and Blackalicious. “Gimmie,” about a handout-seeking acquaintance, is one of the album’s best examples of the group’s matured sound, working a fat synth sound and boom-bap beat over a neoclassical string melody and piano tinkling.

There’s just enough of new and old for old-school fans and newbies alike. Whether or not you’ve been initiated to the Fellowship, pick up The Promise.

Electro Quarterstaff: Aykroyd (Willowtip)

Electro Quarterstaff: "Waltz of the Swedish Meatballs"

Hailing from the urban wilds of Winnipeg, Electro Quarterstaff is an instrumental tech-metal quintet in the vein of Dysrhythmia and its ilk. Whereas other progressive outfits with a zillion riffs opt for smaller lineups, Electro Quarterstaff rounds out its sound with a triple guitar assault, maximizing its potential for harmonies and solos.

Though there's always a lot going on, the guitars typically don't overload the listener, and the axe-men try to avoid getting in each other's way. If there's a complaint, it's that the band doesn't stretch into its cited (personal) influences, outside of Gorguts (which includes two members of Dysrhythmia). The MO of Electro Quarterstaff is not one of a genre-hopping metal band, but it would be interesting to hear the group touch on the non-metal influences, which include Frank Zappa, Miles Davis, and Béla Bartók.

Five years after the band's last album, Aykroyd is not a departure; it simply finds Electro Quarterstaff refining its riff-intensive style. Don't let the album's beautiful minor-key intro fool you: Aykroyd is all riffs all the time, displaying masterful skills without coming off as self-indulgent.

Sandro Perri: Impossible Spaces (Constellation)

Sandro Perri: "Love and Light"

Over the course of five side projects and countless collaborations, Toronto-based producer Sandro Perri has dabbled in many styles, offering touches of indie pop, Western music, and more to his folk-based style.

Impossible Spaces, his third solo album, fully steps outside of Perri’s categorical boundaries. The indie-folk foundation is augmented by elements of electronica, jazz, and bossa nova, made possible by a diverse palette that includes guitar, flute, oboe, brass, synths, and samples. Many of the musical elements transform mid-song, through crescendos or the entry of bass, but Perri’s soulful voice remains as the album’s constant, softening any stylistic alterations.

- Text by Lauren Zens.

Sahy Uhns: An Intolerant Disdain of Underlings (Proximal)

Sahy Uhns: "Anticipation of the Night"

Sahy Uhns (pronounced "science") is the solo moniker of electronic/hip-hop producer Carl Madison Burgin, whose debut CD comes as part of a 5" x 5" book with photographs of dilapidated homes in the California deserts. The deserts are said to have inspired the album, but the glitchy, beat-ridden sounds therein are more the soundtrack for robots break-dancing than cactus needles rustling in the wind.

Though at times it simply resembles another detailed IDM album, An Intolerant Disdain of Underlings stands out with highly melodic phrasings and nuanced differences in timbre. "I'mage" is one of the album's best examples, as its blipping 8-bit sounds lead into twangy, squirming melodies that seemingly are from sequenced kora or lute samples. Huge break beats then drop back in the mix to optimal effect.

Falling somewhere between the styles of Warp recording artists (Chris) Clark and Harmonic 313, Sahy Uhns' debut is a beautiful, danceable sound collage that's good for the car or the dance floor.

- Text by Scott Morrow. Read the full review here.

Honorable Mentions

Class Actress: Rapprocher (Carpark)

Cradle of Filth: Evermore Darkly… EP (Nuclear Blast)

Guantlet Hair: s/t (Dead Oceans)

House of Low Culture: Poisoned Soil (Taiga / Sub Rosa)

Jonti: Twirligig (Stones Throw)

Kuedo: Severant (Planet Mu)

M83: Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming! (Mute)

Moholy-Nagy: Like Mirage (Temporary Residence)

Puscifer: Conditions of My Parole

Trayer: Afterlife an Abandoned Theme Park (Porter)

Dave Douglas: Orange Afternoons (Greenleaf, 8/30/11)

Dave Douglas: "Solato"

Morrow: Without room to properly bill it in our title, Orange Afternoons is the new installment of the Greenleaf Portable Series, a return to the informal jazz sessions of yore. Though all of the compositions are credited to all-star trumpeter Dave Douglas, it features a similarly famous/standout cast, including saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, pianist Vijay Iyer, bassist Linda Oh, and drummer Marcus Gilmore. It's a traditional but engaging display of jazz melody and dexterity.

Hajduch: The thing that really made my ears perk up to this project was the inclusion of Iyer. His 2009 album, Historicity, is nervy and pointed but very focused. Reined in by the calmer, more melodic compositions of Douglas (whose recent Spark of Being series with Keystone hews closer to the plaintive tonal work of later electric Miles Davis), Iyer's work nails these compositions down with percussive chording.

That's a lot of busy words to describe a fairly straightforward sound. Opener "The Gulf" steadily modulates and mutates its way through a chord progression that is hard to nail down. The horns stick together mostly, navigating together as a duet. "Valori Bollati" trades this busy progression for silence, framing a series of solos with an extremely sparse drums-and-bass arrangement. Iyer's solo in particular feels like misdirection, at one point walking into the lower register only to stop there, as if stuck.

Morrow: "Valori Bollati" works because after all the soloing, it slows for a much calmer mood, something more befitting the title of the album. Iyer's outro "solo" also is a nice touch. The title track also serves this dual nature, as Douglas, Coltrane, and Iyer take turns leading the rhythm section in a warm romp.

The album ultimately serves its purpose — a quick session, recorded in one day, that comes together with dynamite players — but for me, it falls short of being memorable. For a set of players who, in the past, have written great melodies and pushed the boundaries of traditional jazz, Orange Afternoons feels a bit aimless.

Hajduch: "Aimless" might be a bit harsh. The songs do wander quite a bit, but the recording is immaculate and the performances are spot-on. The compositions are interestingly complex and fun to follow. Released as a low-price digital-only download, I think that the Greenleaf Portable Series has found an ideal format for less formal sessions like this.

Morrow: I like the idea for the series as well, and Orange Afternoons is much, much more than simply five musicians hitting "record" and throwing down random free-jazz improv. The pieces and players work together very well, but I'm such a fan of some of the members' catalogs that maybe my standards are a little higher. I would never discourage someone from picking this up!

Dosh: "Subtractions"

Percussionist and multi-instrumentalist Martin Dosh, better known as simply Dosh, is known both for his electronic-based solo venture as well as his work with Andrew Bird, with whom he's toured and recorded. The instrumental track is Dosh's specialty; "Simple Exercises," which first appeared on Dosh's 2004 release, Pure Trash, reappeared on Bird's Armchair Apocrypha in 2007 as "Simple X" with an addition of lyrics. In the piece below, Dosh explains what drew him to instrumental music and how a few classic, lyric-less tracks continue to inspire his own music.

The Alchemy of Instrumental Music
by Dosh

I think my interest in music and sound really began when i was around nine or 10 years old; that is to say, that is when I really began LISTENING to music, to the ways instruments and voices worked together, trying to separate the sounds in my mind, trying to understand which sounds were being made by which instruments, and even what the people that played the music may have looked like. I can't recall what the first song that really captured my imagination was, but it was likely by Devo or The Cars, maybe Billy Squier. I've always listened to the music first and digested the vocals and lyrics later. When I first discovered Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin, I found the vocals to be distracting. I couldn't understand why they were there; they seemed like an afterthought.

Once I started playing drums, when i was 15, that was all I really heard when I would listen to a song: the drums. And I played a little bit with some friends, but I didn't truly discover the joy of volume until I went to college two years later.  I spent more time listening to music in my first two years than I spent doing anything else — usually as loud as possible.  I was lucky enough to have a few friends who had massive record collections, and I listened to everything.

There is a certain alchemy in a song that doesn't have words. A good song with no words commands your attention in a different way than a song with words does. It can mean whatever you want it to mean. There aren't words to sing along with or to tell you what the song is about or to tell you how to feel.

In compiling this list of songs and listening back to it, I've been trying to find the common denominator; some of these songs would be classified as jazz, some would be classified as funk, some would be classified as post-rock, some would be classified as electronic, and some would be classified as fusion. To me, all these labels don't help the listener. Each classification has baggage: fusion is uncool, funk is passé, post-rock is pretentious. But what they have in common (with two exceptions) is probably the presence of the electric guitar, often distorted, and varying degrees of studio trickery.

Anyway, these 10 songs are not meant to be a "best instrumental-rock songs of all time" list, just 10 songs that mean a lot to me and have greatly influenced the music that I make.  This music is joyful and thrilling, and it speaks for itself. These songs never get old, and they continue to inspire me.

I realize there are a few vocals on here — Jimi's strange story on "Third Stone From the Sun" and all the crazy baby shrieks on Funkadelic's "Wars of Armageddon" — but that wasn't enough to knock them off the list.

Jeff Beck: "You Know What I Mean" (1975)

Herbie Hancock: "Steppin' in It" (1975)

Sonny Sharrock: "Promises Kept" (1991)

Tortoise:  "TNT" (1998)

Jimi Hendrix: "Third Stone from the Sun" (1966)

Miles Davis: "Spanish Key" (1968)

Frank Zappa: "Big Swifty" (1972)

Funkadelic: "Wars of Armageddon" (1970)

Boards of Canada: "Sixtyniner" (1995)

Squarepusher: "A Journey to Reedham (7AM Mix)" (1997)

The Highlighters: "The Funky 16 Corners"

The black-music renaissance of the ’60s and ’70s yielded all sorts of wild soul permutations. Psychedelic explorations, free-jazz epiphanies, black-power anthems, and resplendent gospel all powered an era that still fascinates our culture with its complexity and spiritual depth.

Eothen "Egon" Alapatt

The sounds of those years continue to resonate through ongoing interest in soul revival. In the ’80s, there was the “breaks”-obsessed hip-hop scene, and quasi-legal ’80s compilations like Paul Winley Records’ Super Disco Brake’s and Street Beat Records’ Ultimate Breaks & Beats. Then there was the rare groove craze of the late ’80s and ’90s, and “acid jazz” comps like Ubiquity Records’ Home Cookin’ and Blue Note’s Blue Break Beats.

As the revival reached critical mass through the popularity of retro-soul stars like Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, the reissue game has flourished. And it hasn’t just been major-label corporations that have contributed to the deluge. Small indie labels such as Stones Throw, the Numero Group, Ubiquity, and Light in the Attic yield dozens of titles documenting the era’s vagaries. These labels tend to focus on the trickle-down stuff — the pick-up bands, amateurs, chitlin’-circuit veterans, and, in some cases, marginal industry players.

“Part of the interest in this stuff to me was that it never  was a ‘classic’; it was somewhat lost and dusty, bound never to be heard by too many people,” says Andrew Jervis, vice president and A&R representative for Ubiquity Records. One of the oldest and most respected of the indies (it has a separate reissue imprint, Luv N’ Haight), Ubiquity has fueled many of the soul-revival trends, from the aforementioned “acid jazz” comps of the ’90s to full-fledged artist albums by underappreciated artists, such the 2007 reissue Betty Padgett.

"Beyond righting historical wrongs and telling good stories, the soul revival is really about timeless music; many of these soul reissues still sound fresh today."

“It was all about one-off tracks” intended for dancers at acid-jazz clubs, Jervis says, referring to those early, singles-based “rare groove” comps. Eventually, however, “It became clear that the scene had more mileage in it,” he says.

The term “classic” can be a double-edged sword too. It confers legendary status on a handful of key recordings, but it also tends to reward the tried and true that everyone has heard a million times. By reviving sounds rarely heard before, indie labels such as Ubiquity effectively reintroduce those old, unheralded musicians as new, exciting artists.

The ultimate case of old-is-new-again may be The Funky 16 Corners. Assembled and released by Stones Throw Records in 2001, the compilation arrived at a serendipitous moment when hip-hop turntablists DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist were mounting their Product Placement tour, spinning old funk 45s for standing-room audiences around the world. Newly formed revivalist bands such as Breakestra, Orgone, and the Sugarman Three approximated a sound rechristened “deep funk,” a nod to the art of searching (or “digging”) deep “in the crates” for rare vinyl.

“At the time in Los Angeles, particularly, there were actually club nights that focused around this music,” remembers Eothen “Egon” Alapatt, the Stones Throw A&R representative who produced The Funky 16 Corners.

“There was a very interesting sense of discovery. We all came up when hip-hop had its greatest years because of these sample sources that our favorite producers, geniuses in their own right, had at their disposal. And now we were finding the next level of sample sources, stuff that these guys would have never been able to get their hands on.” In a sense, the “deep funk” renaissance posited itself as an inheritor to the “golden age” of hip hop and producers such as Pete Rock and DJ Premier.

The Funky 16 Corners reached beyond vinyl-obsessed DJs, though, because it was so good. Packed with supremely funky cuts, from Co-Real Artists’ “What About You (In the World Today)” to the Rhythm Machine’s “The Kick,” it makes listeners wonder why those bands weren’t successful in the first place. Stones Throw took pains to contact many of the original artists (or their survivors), paying for licenses to the tracks and compiling a CD booklet’s worth of essays, reminiscences, and vintage photos. The package evoked a period when its songs were contemporary and vital.
 

Oliver Wang

If The Funky 16 Corners brought DIY funk to a new audience primed from classic hip hop, then 24-Carat Black’s Gone: The Promise of Yesterday, released in August of 2008 by Chicago-based reissue label the Numero Group, explores the myth of the “lost album.”

In the late ’60s, Dale Warren wrote string arrangements for Stax Records, including Isaac Hayes’ atmospheric opus Hot Buttered Soul. 24-Carat Black should have helped establish Warren as a creative force in his own right. But its 1973 debut, Ghetto: Misfortune’s Wealth, was a commercial disaster. Though highly sought by collectors today, it barely survived record-store sale bins at the time.

Warren subsequently struggled to record a follow-up to Ghetto, shuffled band members, and embarked on disastrous promotional tours. Before 24-Carat Black fell apart, he managed to record dozens of tracks on reels of audio tape. Three decades later, Ken Shipley, co-owner of Chicago reissue label Numero Group, discovered the reels in a nondescript basement. Most of them were irretrievably damaged, with the data on the tapes having literally flaked away. Gone: The Promises of Yesterday salvages what’s left of 24-Carat Black’s doomed sessions.

Part of Gone’s appeal is that terrific tale, which the Numero Group details through old photos and an extensive essay, complete with anecdotes from Warren and others. The packaging gives context to 24-Carat Black’s elegiac, dreamy soul-jazz tracks and helps explain the uneven quality of the songs, which Warren recorded with different incarnations of the band. Gone isn’t really an album, but just a rough draft for an album that will never exist.

As Wang explains, “Had it been completed and finished, it probably would have sounded different than what you have. Yeah, it’s going to be unrefined, and, personally, I don’t even like most of the songs on there. But it’s this lost album, and that’s what makes it interesting.”

Myth also plays a key role in the career of Betty Davis. A self-described wild woman, as well as ex-wife and protégé of jazz giant Miles Davis, Betty Davis recorded three controversial, unsuccessful albums for Island Records in the early ’70s. Reviewers of the day wondered whether her outrageously uninhibited sexual persona and loose, stylized funk vocals were real innovation or just flashy image-making. New York Times critic Les Ledbetter wrote in 1974 that “Miss Davis is trying to tell us something real and basic about our irrational needs, and Western civilization puts its highest premiums on conformity and rationality and rarely recognizes the Bessies or the Bettys until they’re gone.”
 

Matt Sullivan, photo by Jennifer Maas

Thankfully, Ms. Davis is very much alive to enjoy the renewed interest in her work. In 2007, Light in the Attic Records reissued her albums— Betty Davis (1973), They Say I’m Different (1974), and Nasty Gal (1975). And in October of 2009, the label released Is This Love or Desire, a Betty Davis album that Island Records shelved back in the ’70s before releasing her from her contract.

LITA’s reissue campaign not only brings Betty Davis’ music to a new audience, but it seeks to restore her rightful place in the funk pantheon as a provocative, misunderstood eccentric. “When I listen to Betty Davis, she reminds me of Iggy Pop,” LITA owner Matt Sullivan says. “She’s not this incredible vocalist in terms of Tina Turner, but someone who has so much attitude that she doesn’t really care what anyone else tells her to do.”

Beyond righting historical wrongs and telling good stories, the soul revival is really about timeless music; many of these soul reissues still sound fresh today.

“You’d think that with all the record labels, and all the crate-diggers and all the people interested in this kind of music, that at some point that well would dry up,” Ubiquity’s Jervis says. “But no…there’s always some new discovery around the corner.”

Chicago Odense Ensemble: s/t (Adluna)

Chicago Odense Ensemble: "Soup"

Hajduch: Chicago Odense Ensemble is the latest foray of Rob Mazurek (Exploding Star Orchestra, Chicago Underground, Isotope 217) into large-group jazz fusion.  He's brought along some of his previous collaborators (Jeff Parker and Dan Bitney of Tortoise and Isotope 217; Matt Lux, also of Isotope 217) as well as some fresh faces (Jonas Munk and Jakob Skøtt of European psych band Causa Sui and percussionist Brian Keigher).

Fans of the previously mentioned bands have a pretty good idea of what to expect here: Mazurek's compositions tend to mine pretty similar territory, electric-era Miles Davis that sprawls out gradually.  Mazurek has an ear for catchy melody that shines through even when the playing is wide open.  Over the course of the (mostly lengthy) tracks, one melody line will give way to an echoed-out drone, from which a new idea will usually emerge and take over.

The guitar interplay — Parker's filtered, muted scales in one channel, Jonas Munk's wocka-chicka psych octaves in the other — turns Mazurek's usual In a Silent Way meandering into something more like On the Corner.  The drums are saturated with dub echo, and at times it is left to Mazurek's insistent cornet lines and the steady bass of Matt Lux to hold a groove down.

Morrow: We've both heard the Chicago guys play in a number of permutations, and though they're by no means allergic to grooves, it's nice to hear them on another improv album that centers on riff patterns.  Each player is very capable of wild, "free" performances, but each is just as adept at captivating melodies and adapted accompaniments.

Despite the overlapping complexities on this album, it never loses its focus as an accessible collection.  The contributions from Munk and Skøtt (each from Odense, Denmark) cannot be understated; it seems that they often draw in the right accents, whether it's a soft cornet part from Mazurek, a restrained bass line from Lux, or a warm guitar harmony from Parker.

Hajduch: I don't know if it's the psych influence of the new players, or the nature of the compositions, but this album feels more locked-in in terms of riffs than previous Mazurek projects.  Exploding Star Orchestra, in particular, prefers huge, multi-section pieces, with lots of space for solos.  Chicago Odense Ensemble pieces tend to have a lot of playing in the margins, but there usually is a bass line and one other member holding down the groove.  Without a lot of far-flung experimentation, it feels a bit the same at times, but none of that takes away from Mazurek's ear for melody.  You might get lost for a few minutes as you zone out to a groove, but you won't catch yourself thinking that it's monotonous or un-listenable.

One thing that is slightly disappointing is the lack of a second horn.  Mazurek frequently works as the lone horn player in his bands, but his gift for writing ensemble lines is inspired (pretty much every track on his album with Chicago Underground Orchestra has a great example of this; also see "Looking After Life on Mars" from Isotope 217's Utonian Automatic, where he plays a duo lead against Jeff Parker's guitar).  In light of this, it's unfortunate that he doesn't take the time to harmonize any truly memorable lead lines here.  With the range of talent on display, it feels like a missed opportunity.

Morrow: I don't know.  I love a lot of stuff with big brass front lines, but I'm glad that we're not horned to death here.  Also, I assume that this is a true collaboration between the parties, not just another of Mazurek's projects, and his penchant for great leads and solos already puts him in the spotlight.

Ultimately, Chicago Odense Ensemble feels like some of its players' other projects, but I think that we agree that it's a really well-done disc with great grooves.  Also, we should point out that Adluna Records planned a special subscription offer for this release, which is limited to 500 CDs and 250 vinyl records, so pre-order it here if you want to secure a copy.

Mikrokolektyw: Revisit (Delmark, 6/15/10)

Mikrokolektyw: "Running Without Effort"

Hajduch: Mikrokolektyw (pronounced micro-collective) is the Polish duo of Kuba Suchar and Artur Majewski. Together, they make a very primal sort of experimental jazz, rooted in Suchar's one-man rhythm section of drums and Moog. Atop this framework, Majewski adds restrained, thoughtful trumpet lines. The result is head-nodding and hypnotic, and at times would not sound out of place in an Italian horror film scored by Goblin.

It also sounds like classic Chicago jazz fusion, like what Rob Mazurek's Isotope 217 and various Chicago Underground ensembles have accomplished.  The sparse, melodic trumpet playing owes a lot to Miles Davis' In a Silent Way, and there's a punchy moment of ensemble playing (here, "ensemble" means Majewski doubled) in "Watermelon from the 80s" that sounds like a riff from a Fela Kuti song.  This guy would definitely call the cops on this album.

Morrow: The comparisons to Mazurek and Isotope 217 are right on, but I feel that Mikrokolektyw emphasizes the loops and electronics much more.  There are also elements here, with the loops and jazzy, circular beats, that remind me of DMS, a one-man operation (later a duo) by American Football drummer Steve Lamos.  The later DMS material, which really never was released, was criminally unheard.  And the earlier stuff, in fact, included a great cover of "In a Silent Way."

Really, enough can't be said for the importance of Mikrokolektyw's loops.  Whether it's the trumpet, drums, the marimba melody on "Running without Effort," or a Moog that acts as a bass line, they're a vital component to each song.  They keep the whole thing grounded for Majewski's improvisations, yet they leave enough room for Suchar's beats, which quickly repeat but are impeccable — particularly his rapid drum rolls on the toms.

Hajduch: Yeah, the looped nature of the music is what keeps the whole thing together.  The music has hooks everywhere, which keep it from being some sort of impenetrable riff fest.  Not only is it hooky, but it's also sparse, so the tracks have a lot of room to breathe.

Restraint is important.  I love Ken Vandermark, for example, but a lot of his compositions with The Vandermark 5 or his gigantic Territory Band come off as so crazy that you get overwhelmed by listening.  Mikrokolektyw understands restraint.  The music is uncluttered not because they're a duo — plenty of jazz duos overplay — but because they are patient, accomplished musicians who know when it is best to be quiet.

Morrow: For sure, and restraint is something that wasn't as evident in their last band, Robotobibok — a four-piece contemporary-jazz ensemble that was much busier.  The music was great, and it crossed into electronica and groove, but it got a little too loaded at times.  Mikrokolektyw's Revisit strikes a great balance, and it's one of those gateway albums that can get your friends into some jazz crossovers.

Hajduch: This album is excellent.  Delmark, if you read this, please consider vinyl pressings of more of your releases, starting with this one.

Dr. Lloyd Miller, a musical legend known for his mastery of more than 100 instruments, is quick to hoist his flag in the rock-is-the-devil’s-music camp. Framing his mid-20th Century retreat into Eastern studies around The Beatles, he says, “I told everyone they were horrible. Their tunes were all backwards and stupid. And they were idiots. And they were evil. And everybody hated me for thinking that. So I stopped talking about it and went away and became a hermit.”

And a hermit he remained, throughout most his career. After many successful years playing with jazz veterans like Don Ellis and Eddie Harris in European locales such as Switzerland, Belgium, Sweden, and Germany, Miller moved back to the USA to pursue an education. This journey culminated in his quest for a doctorate in ethnomusicology from the University of Utah.

Winning a grant to study in Tehran, Miller quickly assimilated, even hosting a popular jazz show on Iranian television, in which he went by the name Kurosh Ali Khan. Around that time, Miller gained long-overdue recognition when BBC radio personality Giles Peterson plugged an old copy of Miller’s 1968 meditation in Middle Eastern and Persian sounds, Oriental Jazz. It was a peek through the keyhole into a lifetime of teachings, production work, and progressive, exciting jazz music.

Making up the other half of Miller’s latest collaboration is The Heliocentrics. Following the UK group’s 2009 album with Ethio-jazz legend Mulatu Astatke, it linked up with Miller through its label, Jazzman Records. At first glance, the pairing seems to make sense: The Heliocentrics’ jazz-funk fusion and past collaborative experience with Miller’s free-flowing, virtuosic, Eastern-influenced style. And though the material is solid, the two sides never seem to click.

That’s not to say that The Heliocentrics are bad musicians, or that the record is a total flop. “They learned fast,” Miller says, “but they forgot slowly. In other words, they could pick up stuff and do it. But they couldn’t get rid of years and years of playing funk, punk, hip hop, slop, rock — whatever it was — and come into a new room and close the door. And I don’t know if they ever will.”

Miller expresses disappointment in the collaboration for the self-titled album (released in August on Strut), suggesting that it never moved beyond simple gimmickry. Working with the “cockney garage-band rockers,” however, spawned a number of humorous anecdotes, such as the moment during recording when bassist Jake Ferguson fumbled with a walking bass line for the first time in his life. Miller narrates Ferguson in slacker parody, “‘Oh, man. You scared me with that, man.’” He then asks rhetorically, “That's the first time? Walking bass is what jazz is all about. That's all there is.”

Despite Miller’s feeling that he was something of a “cymbal-clapping monkey,” there are plenty of symbiotic, propulsive moments between rock and jazz, as with the opening track “Electricone.” Ferguson helps spearhead the tune with a strong, percussive kick start, leading into the buzz of a clarinet and a minimal wash of woodwinds and piano. Cymbal patterns flutter, as fluently as anything from Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue.

“Salendro” is perhaps the best example of seamless East and West fusion, with its Indonesian pentatonic scaling and agile vibraphone tiptoeing punctuated with a handful of drum kicks. In another well-executed convergence, “Sunda Sunset,” a woodsy sweep is plucked across the strings of the shawm (a Chinese harp), kissed with Miller’s signature clarinet fills like a Himalayan sojourn.

Though Miller’s exasperation and ultimate dissatisfaction threatens to cast a negative pall over the music, the talent of the contributing musicians wins out. Despite what either side thinks, and even though the record doesn’t quite hit all the right notes, Lloyd Miller & The Heliocentrics is a fruitful exercise in eccentric pairing.

Brought together by Brian Keigher, the group of all-stars combined their unique blend of styles in total improvisation, the result of which recalls Miles Davis' ventures in electronic music in the early '70s. Loose ideas and grooves come together into well-developed electro-jazz soundscapes frequently punctuated by brilliant virtuosic solos.

After the initial recording session, Munk took the material back to his studio in Odense, Denmark to begin the process of cutting, rearranging and manipulating. Using the production process as an instrument instead of merely a tool led to some interesting results. Elements of dub, Eastern and African sounds, and even psychedelic rock run throughout the new record.

The Chicago Odense Ensemble is releasing its record in a (fittingly) unconventional way: subscriptions. By accepting pre-orders before pressing the record, the group's label, Adluna Records, ensures that it has enough interest and funding to make the project work.

On the same day that the record is sent to the manufacturing plant, a free download is sent to all who pre-ordered the album. Both vinyl and CD versions of the record will be available and limited to 500 copies each.

Pre-order Chicago Odense Ensemble here.

Mr. Gnome: Tastes Like Magic EP (El Marko)

Following a well-received sophomore LP late in 2009 — recorded at Josh Homme's studio — dynamic Cleveland duo Mr. Gnome are issuing an addendum of sorts, a pair of B-sides from the same recording session.

The band's main instrumentation is just guitar and drums, but it attains a much fuller sound with keyboards, electronics, and the ghostly vocal presence of Nicole Barille that has elicited comparisons to Karen O.

The result is both hazy and powerful, and the band's success owes much to that dynamic. "Three Red Birds," the EP's "single," is a creepy example of Mr. Gnome at the heavier end of its spectrum, as the tune takes a simple but potent riff and plays with its surroundings.

Mr. Gnome: "Three Red Birds"
Mr. Gnome: \"Three Red Birds\"

Etran Finatawa: Tarkat Tajje / Let's Go! (Riverboat)

A group of Wodaabe and Tuareg people from Niger, Etran Finatawa is an exploration of tribal music as channeled through electric guitar and a blues sensibility.

The group draws distinct comparisons to Tinariwen, a band of Tuareg musicians whose origin is from northern Mali. And though the two have a kindred bond as well as origins from bordering nations, Etran Finatawa displays the colorful vocalizations and dress of its Wodaabe members, whose collaboration with the Tuareg members is something unique.

The band's instrumentation features a clean-channel guitar, the crux of the Ichumar style, and guitarist Alhousseini Mohamed Anivolla cites regional influences such as Ali Farka Touré and international influences such as Jimi Hendrix. The latter proves to be more of an inspiration than a direct sonic model, but nevertheless, Tarkat Tajje is a mesmerizing album that is helping to further the modernization of tribal African music.

Etran Finatawa: "Aitimani" (excerpt)
Etran Finatawa: \"Aitimani\" (excerpt)

Ralph Towner & Paolo Fresu: Chiaroscuro (ECM)

Acoustic guitar is a staple of classical and folk music and an assortment of Latin and South American styles, but it's something of a rarity in jazz. Ralph Towner has experience in many of these genres, utilizing both nylon- and steel-string guitars (6 and 12 strings) to create a catalog of rich diversity.

However, his instrument of choice is most interesting in his jazz forays, and that holds true on this disc of duets with Italian/Sardinian trumpeter Paolo Fresu. The interplay between the two is careful and effective, and the album's one cover — a piece by Bill Evans and Miles Davis — is representive of the duo's influences and ability.

Honorable Mentions

Dan Weiss Trio: Timshel (Sunnyside)

Flobots: Survival Story (Republic)

Sayyadina: The Great Northern Revisited (Relapse)

V/A: The Rough Guide to Arabic Lounge (World Music Network)