Afrobeat? Maybe Jazz? Well, there’s a brass section. Rock? Possibly, if a regular western drum kit makes something rock. Actually, I have no idea what you’d call this. I’d like to call it trance, but that term got hijacked by vapid strobe-techno in the late 90s. Let’s just call it great.
After ‘Brainwave’ sets the agenda with sax and electronics attempting to outwail each other over incessant drums and rock solid bass, ‘All The Stars’ kicks in and things really do start to head to outer space. A thumb piano riff starts out, distorted almost beyond recognition, before the main section cuts through. Polyrhythms lay the bed for some Coltrane style improv. A single mode is explored for the 6 minutes that remain, building the intensity whilst remaining understated. The album follows these kinds of contours throughout – repetitive single bass riffs that drill themselves into your brain, percussion that is processed, particularly with distortion, to stunning effect. Some of the later tracks, such as the title track or ‘Last Beat’, verge on late 60s psychedelia, but with modal jazz rather than blues patterns at their core.
I guess afrobeat probably is the closest you might get to pinning this music anywhere specific. Jazz players unafraid to be chained to rhythm. Westerners in awe of African and African-American traditions. Production embracing the 21st century while maintaing a grit and rawness. Mesmerising, energetic and very recommended.
Adrian Elmer
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