Tag Archives: jazz

Bollywood – Bollywood

by Dæv Tremblay

The Music

The Words

Experimental is the land of all possibles. Bollywood paints a rather stellar example of this in the realm of jazz with their self-titled debut album. Released on 12 August, it was briefly available through TVL Rec‘s page, and abruptly taken down—forbidding my sharing it. However, this can’t stop me from talking about it.

A few minutes over thirty, Bollywood is an album of what sounds like free jazz meets lowercase music, with each track fronted by a different solo instrument—here saxophone, here bass, and so on—backed by insectile percussions, noise backing tracks, or electronic experimentations. … Read more

Khalab – Black Noise 2018

by Dæv Tremblay

The Music

The Words

DJ Khalab just released Black Noise 2084 via On the Corner Records. The album is a wonderful blend of future bass and world fusion, merging into a sort of future world music, which stems straight from the afrofuturism movement.

With a varied range of collaborators, such as singer Tenesha the Wordsmith and saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings, Khalab conducts an equally varied set of songs on the album. From dance to traditional, each track is pinned on a different part of the spectrum. The whole album feels like a middle grounds between Clipping and Namibian Tales, and … Read more

Les Rugissants – D’humain et d’animal

by Dæv Tremblay

The Music

The Words

Les Rugissants is a nu jazz ensemble from Paris, France, and they recently released their latest album: D’humain et d’animal–Of Human and Animal, if you allow me the free translation. At the junction of progressive rock and big band jazz, Les Rugissants plays an emotive and intellectually compelling brand of jazz that I must make sure you not miss.

After the lyrical and rather romantic introduction of “Le visage”, we get to an interesting \(\frac{5}{4}\) motif in “Second hymne delphique à Apollon”, which gets expanded upon throughout the song, quite rewardingly so. At … Read more

Matt Penman – Good Question

by Dæv Tremblay

The Music

The Words

Modern jazz, with its emphasis on rhythm, above harmony or melody, has swiftly become one of my favourite and most sought-after subgenres of jazz music. I believe this was kickstarted in me by the amazing group Ikarus, which commonly uses various metres against one another to great effect. Today’s subject follows that train of thought on Good Question.

As a starting point, the first track starts off with what sounds like a \(\frac{13}{16}\) melody over \(\frac{13}{8}\) chords. While these two voices resolve every two measures, it’s interesting to hear and a bit jarring at … Read more

Peter Evans & Weasel Walter – Poisonous

by Dæv Tremblay

The Music

The Words

Poisonous indeed, the newest release from free, avant-garde jazz duo Peter Evans & Weasel Walter is a journey into the delirious mind of a poison-afflicted would-be mycologist. In forty-four minutes, the two seasoned musicians craft an album obsessed with venenous fungi that sounds as lethal as its subject. I don’t know how many layers of improvised or forethought material have been arranged to create this fever dream, but the result is a dense hallucinative soundscape as heard through thick forest haze.

Some parts are almost metal in just how harsh and intense they are–see “Sulfur Tuft”. … Read more