MUSIC | Records – Jazz & World
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AUNTIE FLO Theory of Flo (Huntleys + Palmers) ●●●●● An album resonantly designed for immersive listening and best experienced through a pair of headphones for optimum effect, Theory of Flo takes the loops and beats of Glasgow producer Brian ‘Auntie Flo’ d’Souza and his regular collaborator Esa Williams’ club set and lends them intimate warmth and texture. Billed as their debut album proper after 2012’s mini-LP Future Rhythm Machine, it welcomes Ghanaian singer Anbuley, the Noisettes’ singer Shingai Shoniwa and members of Red Snapper and Hidden Orchestra to a rich and addictive internationalist sound which draws influence from African and South American styles. (David Pollock) BOAT TO ROW I Found You Here (Nocturne) ●●●●●
Despite a gender make-up which sees the women in the band outnumber the men three to two, there’s something in the tone of Michael King’s singing which suggests the manly, world-weary heartbreak of Mumford & Sons. His vocal is crisp and evocative, and their folksy playing is nice, but whether it’s on the buoyant ‘Whistle and I’ll Come to You’ or on the slow ballad ‘Turn the Page’, their tenderness is negated by a lack of real momentum. (DP) YACHT I Thought the Future Would Be Cooler (Downtown) ●●●●●
Inside this record there’s a classic trying to get out, although it’s somewhat hamstrung by the cloying pop shine of tracks like ‘I Wanna Fuck You Till I’m Dead’ and ‘Don’t Be Rude’. Yet, as befits a group who were signed to DFA until their last album, there are some sublime passages of lighthearted club electro too, like ‘Hologram’ and the Waitresses-channelling ‘War On Women’, the latter a sussed slice of sarcastic feminist pop. (DP) DAUGHTER Not to Disappear (4AD) ●●●●● Swooning, sensual and ever so serious is how Swiss-French-North London trio Daughter started out, and it’s certainly how they mean to go on, judging by this earnest but enjoyable sophomore record. It’s lovely, though; Elena Tonra
108 THE LIST 5 Nov 2015–4 Feb 2016
has a breathy voice, and the way she gasps out lines like ‘I wash my mouth / I still taste you’ on ‘Numbers’ perfectly complements the frosty indie folk implied by Remi Aguilella’s dense, triumphant drumming and Igor Haefeli’s slowly pealing guitar, the latter occasionally hurtling with youthful, exuberant pace. (DP) BILL RYDER-JONES West Kirby County Primary (Domino) ●●●●● Bill Ryder- Jones’ brand of slow-paced indie rock is certainly nothing new, but there’s something about the genre that, when played well and without pretension, is hard to dislike. Jones’ sentiment is genuine and his melodies captivating, but the final package is just not original enough to stand out. (Will Moss) TOKYO TABOO Leech EP (TT Records) ●●●●●
With vocals that imagine themselves to be something akin to Karen O and guitar riffs that look to the greats, Tokyo Taboo closer resemble a 13-year-old singing into a hairbrush and shredding on Guitar Hero in the mirror. The ambition is there but the talent is not. (WM) BEANS ON TOAST Rolling up the Hill (Xtra Mile Recordings) ●●●●● Like a stoned Billy Bragg, Beans on Toast has been peddling his leftie foot stompers around the UK festival circuit for some years now. Rolling up the Hill is as brilliantly witty as we have come to expect, but is definitely lacking the pint of warm cider in one’s hand. (WM) LIL BUB Science and Magic (Joyful Noise Recordings) ●●●●●
Apparently an experimental album from a celebrity alien cat, Science and Magic is perhaps one of the most bizarre releases floating around this year. As it’s supposed creator’s back story might suggest, the album is full of not unenjoyable cutesy 8-bit Gameboy sound and colour, each track as pixelated as the next. (WM)
JAZZ & WORLD JAZZ THE TURBINE! Entropy/Enthalpy (Rogue Art) ●●●●●
To call The Turbine! a double rhythm section would be an injustice: Chicagoans Harrison Bankhead and Hamid Drake, and Paris-based Benjamin Duboc and Ramon Lopez are a complete quartet, exploring an astonishing range of melodies, textures, rhythms and moods over the two discs here. Recorded on tour in France last year, Entropy/Enthalpy eases us in with the bowed bass pedal note of ‘Rotor/Stator’, before Bankhead’s pizzicato lines open up a summer storm of hissing cymbals and fluid tom rolls from Drake, with Lopez laying subtle touches of tabla under it all. Elsewhere, the rhythm section’s buoyancy has the bassists moving from abyssal gloom to Ornette-like folk dances. They’re joined by third bassist, the great William Parker, on two tracks. What might seem like the free jazz equivalent of Spinal Tap’s ‘Big Bottom’ is in fact a deep and compelling listen, with Lopez’s tabla spitting electricity over Parker’s tempestuous bowing. Trumpeter Jean-Luc Cappozzo contributes vivid melodies and extended techniques to ‘Electrical Coil’, while alto saxophonist Lionel Garcin leads the group into uncharted waters on the remarkable ‘Free Power’. JAZZ ANIMATION Machine Language (Rare Noise) ●●●●●
Bob Belden’s untimely death at 58 means that Animation’s Machine Language will stand as his final statement. Idiosyncratic and forward-looking, the album mixes the electric fusion of 70s Miles Davis with drum’n’bass and contemporary electronica. Belden’s young group is augmented by bassist Bill Laswell, while crooner Kurt Elling performs the role of narrator, ruminating on the theme of man v machine. Laswell’s oleaginous bass can be a bit nasty, but Belden’s concepts and compositions are strong, indebted to his hero, but not bound by him. Pete Clagett’s trumpet is very Miles – languid with a steely edge – while Belden’s soprano saxophone flights are a joy to hear.
WORLD BACHAR MAL-KHALIFÉ Ya Balad (InFiné) ●●●●●
French-Lebanese artist Bachar Mal-Khalifé sings Arabic laments for his homeland, blending traditional melodies with classical piano and contemporary pop influences. Ya Balad ranges from the stately Arabic chamber pop of ‘Kyre Eleision’ to the classy Middle Eastern house of ‘Lemon’, all oud loops and gospel piano. Beginning as a reflective ballad, ‘Layla’ builds into a piano pounding banger, while ‘Wolf Pack’ mixes Cuban piano with Arabic techno rhythms. Add a touch of reggae and the moody, minimal rock of ‘Laya Yabnaya’ and you have an innovative piece of modern Arabic pop fusion. (SS) WORLD DJ MAHINYA-HINYA Ekaya Giyani (Shangaanbang) ●●●●●
Nozinja’s debut for Warp is the big Shangaan electro album of 2015, pushing the genre forward with its manic beats, rave synths and chipmunk vocals. Fans of the thrilling South African genre should also check out Ekaya Giyani, the debut album from dancer- turned-producer, DJ Mahinya-Hinya aka Vusi Lawrence Chauke. With its marimba hooks and twitchy 180bpm beats, the album offers a more traditional take on the Shangaan electro sound than Nozinja Lounge, but Mahinya-Hinya’s melodic and danceable songs are set apart by such quirks as his use of auto-tune, gangsta rap sound effects and bizarre phone-call routines.
WORLD BARETO Impredecible (World Village) ●●●●●
A deft fusion of psychedelic cumbia, space-age exotica and contemporary electronica, Impredecible is the fifth album from Peruvian ‘indie tropical’ band Bareto. With their wonky surf guitar motifs, wiggling synths and loping grooves, Cumbia instrumentals like ‘Pais de la Maravillas’ are irresistible, while the dub reggae/merengue excursions of ‘Viejita Guarachera’ transplant King Tubby to downtown Lima. The sputnik guitars and dinky Casio beats of ‘Bombo Baile’ take the listener to a cosmic ranch, where spaced cowboys glide along the rings of Saturn, while ‘El Loco’, featuring the great Peruvian singer Susana Baca, is a psychedelic reverie. (All reviews by Stewart Smith)