Sometimes, you just wonder what the intended audience is for certain recordings. For instance, are these two recent releases targeting novices to the jazz field? Indie rock fans? Art majors? Who comes and listens to them? These are the thoughts that come into my mind as I lend an ear…
FFEAR stands for “Forum For Electro-Acoustic Research, and is comprised of Ole Mathisen/sax, Chris Washburne/tb, Per Mathisen/b and Toney Moreno/dr. This disc is dominated by a pair of suites titled “Mirage” and “Frederick Sommer Suite” and then closes with a trio of team efforts. Essentially, except for “Sommer No 5”, which actually has a rhythm and melody, the pieces are collections of cacophonies, sonic meanderings and inside jokes that lack a punch line. Is this a soundtrack for some East European documentary?
Troyka, comrades, is made up of Chris Mantague/guitar-loops, Kit Downes/key, and Joshua Blackmore/dr. If you grew up in the 70s, and were in the prog rock-jazz-fusion side of life, this stuff would be old hat to you. Bands like Van Dr Graaf Generator, Camel, Kraan, and Gentle Giant put together tricky licks, kinetic rhythms and overly important themes , along with self indulgent lyrics. All that’s missing here is a vocalist like Jon Anderson to spout off some obscure Sanskrit chant or a quote from Siddhartha.
Jazzheads Records
Edition Records
Troyka, comrades, is made up of Chris Mantague/guitar-loops, Kit Downes/key, and Joshua Blackmore/dr. If you grew up in the 70s, and were in the prog rock-jazz-fusion side of life, this stuff would be old hat to you. Bands like Van Dr Graaf Generator, Camel, Kraan, and Gentle Giant put together tricky licks, kinetic rhythms and overly important themes , along with self indulgent lyrics. All that’s missing here is a vocalist like Jon Anderson to spout off some obscure Sanskrit chant or a quote from Siddhartha.