The Heliocentrics are a UK-based collective, renowned as DJ Shadow’s backing band and fronted by drummer Malcolm Catto, who’s dropped his beats with Quantic Soul Orchestra and been sampled by Madlib. Out There is their debut album and was recorded right here at Tardis Studios in Marrickville, Sydney. And it is out there, both conceptually and more concretely. Post Sun Ra, the link between outer space and jazz seems entirely plausible, ditto with funk with Funkadelic, George Clinton, P-funk, motherships, flying saucers on the cover to Headhunters LPs and all the rest of that cosmic craziness. So it makes sense for an ensemble like this eight piece that draw upon elements of these artists and genres to litter their tunes with samples referencing the sun, flights to the moon, to have song titles referencing stars, falling to earth and even sci-fi b-movies. Yet there’s a little more at play here than conceptual retro futurism – not that there necessarily needs to be, as it’s entirely possible that too much space jazz is never enough.
Surprisingly the music is also looking forward, equally inspired by electronic music and hip hop culture, with Catto ripping out the breakbeats, and smooth electro sounding grooves. Yet it’s the ensemble’s avant garde leanings that are the most unexpected, with strange pulses, buzzes whirs, atmospheric groans, with peculiar structures and elements that aren’t afraid to get atonal at times. The instrumentation is gorgeous and tells the story, incorporating flutes, vibes, sax, santur, oud and modular synth amongst others. It’s a lost find in the op shop bins of the future. There are so many ideas bouncing around in this totally instrumental mix that it’s almost overwhelming, yet also welcoming. Unlike a lot of highly referential fare coming out these days this music is actually quite complex and difficult to immediately pigeonhole.
Bob Baker Fish
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