Woima Collective: Tezeta (Kindred Spirits, 11/15/10)

Woima Collective: "Wayna"

The Woima Collective has produced a remarkable set of Ethiopian-styled grooves with its debut record, Tezeta, released on the Netherlands-based record label Kindred Spirts. Including the brass-section members of the internationally respected German funk outfit Poets of Rhythm, the Collective channels the sweet funk and jazz rhythms of Mulatu Astatke, with a sound that matches his legendary 1960s and '70s recordings.

Led by tenor saxophonist Johannes Schleiermacher, who was inspired by the African rhythms found during his travels through Morocco, the 10-musician collective has one of the tightest rhythm sections in the contemporary scene. Though originally brought together to record a single at the Lovelite Facility in Berlin, the Collective soon turned the one-time session in a full-blown album, rehearsing and recording Tezeta in only five days.

Creating a cohesive record in five days with disciplined arrangements and complex instrumental dynamics calls for an extremely talented group of musicians, and it’s quite clear the Collective knows its North African music. Tezeta is filled with bottom-heavy percussion brought to life with horn-driven grooves decorated by guitar-plucked rhythms.

Ethiopian music takes presence from dark, pentatonic scales, giving the music a hypnotic and smooth nature. The Collective takes this approach and leaves it open-ended, allowing ample room for instrumental spotlights and extended solos. Album opener “Marz” is a fitting introduction to the group, with groovy organ and brass solos that can only be described as snake-like. It is reminiscent of the work of Sun Ra, but with very distinct African horn phrases.

Tracks such as “Woima” and “Puno” have an intrinsically sinister quality, partly due to the forboding horn lines that threaten to go atonal at a moment’s notice, but also because of the fuzzy drone organ that keeps it all together. Underlying it all, however, is a slight tinge of funk, heard best on "Wayna" and "Illusions," tracks that swing hard with a wide array of reed solos and funky guitar licks.

Tezeta is an album with an excellent tonal texture that is matched by world-class musicianship. The Woima Collective has combined funk aesthetics with otherworldly melodic modes. The outcome is a beautiful blend of relentless breakbeat rhythms typical of the European funk scene with the unique melodic pulse of North Africa.

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.

The Books: The Way Out (Temporary Residence)

Employing a peculiar mix of acoustic instruments, electronics, samples, and splicing, The Books has managed to sound quite like nothing else while drawing upon sound collage, folk, glitch, and more.

The Way Out, the duo's first album in five years, is heavily influenced by humor and a self-help/new-age theme.  Some moments are almost completely organic, whereas others are as cut-and-pasted as a Matmos track.

At times, The Way Out is polyrhythmic; at others, it's greatly minimalistic yet effective.  There's a well-balanced approach to the vocals, as the duo's singing and spoken-word moments appear between harmonious guest vocals and the abstract/chopped samples.

"A Cold Freezin' Night" is one of the best tracks and an early favorite for many, with twisted yet comedic clips of kids talking about murdering each other.  In concert, this song (and all of the duo's others) takes a life of its own, complemented by a video pastiche that's as varied as the music.

The live show is such a fantastic complement, in fact, that listening to the music after seeing the associated video clips leaves a sensation that half of the product is missing.  It's ironic that an originally recording-based duo has become inseparable from its live presentation, but it's a testament to the cleverness and creative prowess of The Books.

The Books: "Beautiful People"
The Books: \"Beautiful People\"

Mose Giganticus: Gift Horse (Relapse)

Begun as an electronic project more than 10 years ago, Mose Giganticus is the sonic alter-ego of Matt Garfield, a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and songwriter who has since assembled a metal/hardcore band around his creations.

Gift Horse is Garfield's debut on Relapse.  Only two albums precede it, but Gift Horse is the heaviest Mose Giganticus album to date, with down-tuned guitar grooves pounding alongside synth harmonies and calculated drum punishments.

Garfield's vocoder makes a few appearances, and the electronics remain pivotal, but the kraut/prog-rock sound is bulked up substantially.  Gift Horse is first and foremost a metal album — making a strong first impression on the Relapse roster.

Mose Giganticus: "White Horse"
white_horse

Rakaa: Crown of Thorns (Decon)

As one of the two MCs in Dilated Peoples, Rakaa Iriscience has bordered on mainstream success while maintaining an independent appeal.

With the Peoples doing their own things these days, Rakaa has delivered his first solo album — a straightforward, original disc of hip-hop jams with a diversity of samples and sounds, whether they're hard-hitting, funky, or jazzy.

Rakaa's hand-picked group of producers — including Evidence and DJ Babu of the Peoples — provides a good balance throughout Crown of Thorns, and each track fits Rakaa's deliberate delivery in its own way.  Other high-profile guests bring their own contributions, including those from KRS-One, Chali 2na, and Fashawn.

Rakaa: "Crown of Thorns" f. Aloe Blacc
crown_of_thorns

Kacey Johansing: Many Seasons (Porto Franco)

Listeners may notice Kacey Johansing's name — or lilting, dulcet vocals — from independent folk groups such as Honey.Moon.Tree and Honeycomb, or in collaboration with artists such as Vera Gogh, The Blank Tapes, and Sleepy Todd.

Either way, fans of the softer stuff will soon take note of Johansing outside the context of others, as Many Seasons, her solo debut, presents an artist who is well versed in melody, harmony, and heart-stirring vocalizations.

Johansing holds at least a basic proficiency in keyboard, drums, guitar, and bass, allowing her to build full pieces — in her words, "indie/soul with strong roots in folk" — before adding guest spots of strings, vibraphone, and more.  Many Seasons will make others start paying attention.

Kacey Johansing: "Many Seasons"
Kacey Johansing: \"Many Seasons\"

Lloyd Miller & The Heliocentrics: s/t (Strut)

A noted ethnomusicologist and incredibly gifted multi-instrumentalist, Lloyd Miller is a gem of the pre-digital age, a crate-digger's favorite who infused traditional jazz with Persian and Asian influences — a result of time spent abroad in his youth and again in adulthood.

Thanks to the digital age and reissue labels such as Jazzman, younger listeners are discovering — and older folks are rediscovering — the immense talents of Miller.

Now, on the heels of its acclaimed collaboration between Ethiopian bandleader Mulatu Astatke and funk/jazz/psych collective The Heliocentrics, Strut Records has issued another great pairing.  The Heliocentrics is a key player once more, partnering with Miller to craft throwback jazz with instrumental and harmonic accents from around the globe.

The resultant material is accessible but doesn't skimp on virtuosity.  Jazz fans shouldn't miss this.

Lloyd Miller & The Heliocentrics: "Pari Ruu"
pari_ruu

Honorable Mentions

Billy Bang: Prayer for Peace (TUM Records)

Cochemea Gastelum: The Electric Sound Of Johnny Arrow (MOWO! Inc.)

East of the Wall: Ressentiment (Translation Loss)

The High Confessions: Turning Lead Into Gold With The High Confessions (Relapse)

Hillstomp: Darker the Night (In Music We Trust)

Shawn Lee: Sing a Song (Ubiquity)

Mahjongg: The Long Shadow of the Paper Tiger (K)

Mochipet: Cowgirls Gets the Pets (Automation)

Nero Order: The Tower

Portland Cello Project: Thousand Words

Raga Bop Trio: s/t (Abstract Logix)

Secret Cities: Pink Graffiti (Western Vinyl)

Walter Gibbons: Jungle Music: Essential & Unreleased Remixes, 1976-1986 (Strut)

Now available on iTunes, the debut album of Kenan Bell is remarkable for many reasons.

Most importantly, Bell's presentation of live-band, indie- and electro-inspired hip hop is a unique blend of rhymes and style. However, Bell's young career is just as noteworthy for other reasons — namely that he's a former grade-school language-arts teacher who has achieved a remarkable level of buzz without the presence of an established label.

His EPs and remixes (including rapping over Pink Floyd and Peter, Bjorn & John) are a minor Internet sensation, and the acclaim has led to a featured song in the NBA 2k10 video game — all before his debut has become available.

The buzz is deserved, however, as Bell's band eschews samples to blend melodic guitars and buzzing bass lines with synthesizers and fat beats. His verses often riff on the same rhyme, but his flow and originality prevent things from going stale.

Bell says that he makes hip hop for people who “know their Basquiat as well as their basketball,” and he's as quick to reference Bo Diddly as Dungeons & Dragons. Some will tie his success to the ascension of indie rap, but regardless, Bell's popularity seems destined to continue growing.

Kenan Bell: "TGIF" (featuring Aceyalone)
Kenan Bell: \"TGIF\" (featuring Aceyalone)

Daniel Bernard Roumain: Woodbox Beats & Balladry (Thirsty Ear)

Haitian-American violinist Daniel Bernard Roumain is a man of myriad talents, combining classical training with rapid-fire rock beats, DJ scratches, electronics, and funky bass lines.

Though his "highbrow" pieces can be dramatic, orchestral affairs, Roumain accurately portrays his music as "more to do with Prince than (Niccolò) Paganini," and his résumé includes seemingly incongruous credits such as commissions by Carnegie Hall and an arrangement of a Lady Gaga song for American Idol.

Roumain has hooked up a few times with DJ Spooky, most recently at the Vancouver Olympics, and he has worked with other famed composers such as Philip Glass and Ryuichi Sakamoto. These great musicians surely seek Roumain's technical talents, but his compositional skills are just as special.

Woodbox Beats & Balladry is a highly dynamic album, calling upon elements of IDM, piano balladry, and Vernon Reid-style wailing on top of Roumain's standard amalgamation. It's an outstanding album whose adventurousness perfectly fits the 21st Century.

Daniel Bernard Roumain: "Sonata for Violin and Turntables, Part 4"
Daniel Bernard Roumain: \"Sonata for Violin and Turntables, Part 4\"

Black Francis: Nonstoperotik (Cooking Vinyl)

In 2007, indie-rock icon Charles Thompson — best known as Frank Black — reverted to his original Pixies stage name to release Bluefinger, a solo album inspired by Dutch musician and artist Herman Brood.

Since that time, Thompson has remained busy in many ways, including more dates with the reunited Pixies (as well as plans to record a long-awaited fifth album). He released a solo EP and created a score for The Golem, and Nonstoperotik — perhaps surprisingly — is his first full-length since Bluefinger.

Like the title, much of the lyrical content is blatantly sexual, though much of the musical backdrop does not convey a typically erotic or sensual sound. The results of Thompson's straightforward vocals are mixed, and pretty tracks such as "Rabbits" seem more suited to be instrumentals.

At other times, Black's voice reflects a passionate yearning, such as in the driving rock sounds of "Dead Man's Curve." The eponymous track is a gentle piano and string ballad, and accompanying instruments crop up throughout the disc — one that, like previous efforts, may create mixed feelings among Black Francis fans.

Black Francis: "Dead Man's Curve"
Black Francis: \"Dead Man\'s Curve\"

Mulatu Astatke: Mulatu Steps Head (Strut)

Dubbed the "father of Ethio-jazz," composer Mulatu Astatke came to prominence in the 1960s, helping to usher in an intercontinental fusion of genres.

Last year, Astatke garnered rave reviews for his collaboration with The Heliocentrics, a UK collective led by percussionist Malcolm Catto that concocts funky, trippy hip-hop pastiches. The pairing was outstanding, but Mulatu Steps Ahead — Astatke's first solo album in more than 20 years — is no less skilled, only different stylistically.

His instrument of choice is the vibraphone, and though the glistening mallet instrument takes the lead with aplomb when necessary, it is far from being the focal point of Mulatu Steps Ahead. Smoky brass motifs and cool woodwind solos are accentuated with piano chords and intermittent fiddling, and the disc never loses its jazzy, funky feel.

Different instruments, such as the West African kora, make cameos, but no matter the orchestration, Astatke finds a way to make it graceful and collected.

Mulatu Astatke: "Green Africa"
Mulatu Astatke: \"Green Africa\"

Honorable Mentions

Deru: Say Goodbye to Useless (Mush)

(Jedi Mind Tricks presents) Army of the Pharaohs: The Unholy Terror (Enemy Soil)

Tomasz Stanko Quintet: Dark Eyes (ECM)

The newest solo album of Nile linchpin Karl Sanders is another beautiful acoustic release of Arabic flavors mixed with Western structures.

Following Saurian Meditation from 2004, Saurian Exorcisms is full of gorgeous, dark motifs that run a wider gamut of styles than Sanders' last solo effort.  On Exorcisms, Sanders handles all instrumentation — baglama saz, glissentar, acoustic guitars, guitar synth, keyboards, drums, and percussion.  He even contributes vocals, which complement the haunting vocals and chants of Mike Breazeale.

The music contains some of Sanders' blistering fretwork, but it never strays from its overlying melody and accessibility.  Covering Turkish, Egyptian, Indian, and Arabic styles, Saurian Exorcisms is a must-own album.

Karl Sanders: "Rapture of the Empty Spaces"
Karl Sanders: \"Rapture of the Empty Spaces\"

Crippled Black Phoenix: 200 Tons of Bad Luck (Invada)

Penning epic "endtime ballads," the United Kingdom's Crippled Black Phoenix plays dark folk with dirty guitars, ominous effects, diversified vocals, and countless guest electro/acoustic contributions.

The group's style is predicated on the multi-instrumental prowess of Justin Greaves (former drummer of Electric Wizard), whose lengthy tunes are augmented with a massive cast.  Nine of the songs on this disc clock in at or over five minutes, including the 18-minute musical triptych "Time of Ye Life / Born for Nothing / Paranoid Arm of Narcoleptic Empire."

Crippled Black Phoenix: "Rise Up and Fight"
Crippled Black Phoenix: \"Rise Up and Fight\"

Mulatu Astatke / The Heliocentrics: Inspiration Information 3 (Strut)

Known as the father of Ethio-jazz, Ethiopian bandleader Mulatu Astatke is an internationally lauded musician whose works may be best known in America through the soundtrack to Broken Flowers or the Ethiopiques series.

Now, for Strut's Inspiration Information studio pair-up series, Astatke creates an outstanding disc of worldly jazz-hop fusion with the help of UK hip-hop/funk/psychedelic all-stars The Heliocentrics.

The collaboration has already received vast amounts of praise, and it comes strongly recommended for anyone into the aforementioned genres.

Mulatu Astatke / The Heliocentrics: "Masenqo" (radio edit)
Mulatu Astatke / The Heliocentrics: \"Masenqo\" (radio edit)

Prefuse 73: Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian (Warp)

Guillermo Scott Herren's newest album as his glitchy alter-ego is meant to be a linear work — one that Herren describes as both straight ahead and obscure.

That description is on point, but it could also apply to most other Prefuse releases.  Still, this effort finds Herren's chopped sound collages about as accessible as they come, layered over hip-hop beats that don't stutter like on previous efforts.

Agoraphobic Nosebleed: Agorapocalypse (Relapse)

Specializing in über-fast thrash/grind, ANB presents just its second full-length album in 10 years with Agorapocalypse.

The brutal quartet features three vocalists — two of the stand-alone variety — aiding the semi-diversity of sound on the new disc.  Everything is extra heavy, but breakdowns, breakneck solos, and sludge bass combine to make this the band's most realized release to date.

Agoraphobic Nosebleed: "Agorapocalypse Now"
Agoraphobic Nosebleed: \"Agorapocalypse Now\"

Two Fingers: s/t (Paper Bag)

DJs/producers Amon Tobin and Doubleclick comprise Two Fingers, an experimental mix of hip hop and drum & bass that features Ghanaian UK rapper Sway and a pair of additional guest rappers.

Nothing lacks in the production, which is a mix of factory-sound dance numbers that boast Tobin's trademark pastiche/found-sound style.  Sway's rapid-fire delivery fits, but it also gets a bit tiresome, particularly with the frequency of certain passages.

Dengue Fever: Sleepwalking Through the Mekong (M80)

Following Los Angeles Cambodian/American pop-rock group Dengue Fever through Cambodia, the film for which this soundtrack was created explores the homecoming of singer Chhom Nimol and the journey of the band that she fronts.

Full of the band's psych-tinged tunes as well as great Cambodian rock tunes of the 1960s and '70s, the soundtrack honors a musical culture that was put in peril during the Khmer Rouge's atrocious reign.