Art in the Age of Automation - Portico Quartet

Track list:

1. Endless
2. Objects to Place in a Tomb
3. Rushing
4. Art in the Age of Automation
5. S/20005S
6. A Luminous Beam
7. Beyond Dialogue
8. RGB
9. Current History
10. Mercury Eyes
11. Lines Glow

Running time: 50 minutes
Released: 2017

A new purchase now. I was idly casting an eye over what had come out recently when I spotted this I bought Portico Quartet's Mercury nominated debut, Knee Deep in the North Sea at the time of its nomination, thought it interesting but not outstanding and barely thought of it since. That was about 10 years back I think. I spotted this, recognised the name and then got surprised by the write up in a way that made me want to buy this. How good or bad was my decision? Time to find out.

The opening reminds me of LCD Soundsystem (I have that one album, y'know... Sound of Silver, but tired of it fast). That sense quickly dissipates though as the jazzier elements come in. The resonant sounds I remember from my other Portico album are here, but supported by a lusher construction. Layers of percussion, a solid wall of background swell and strings above. I'm quite taken with Endless as an opening track. Today was originally planned for gardening, but a wet week and uninspiring skies put paid to that early. I fill my afternoon with this instead, wimping out of biking in the cold. If the rest of the disc follows this lead, it will be a worthwhile choice.

There is a soundtrack-like quality to the early sounds... TV more than film perhaps, an instrumental where the top end could be suppressed to give a swirling background suitable for many a scene. It feels a tiny bit soulless, actually in places. Cold, lonely and distant despite that constant movement. Cold may be appropriate for grave goods though, so there is that. I am reminded a little of the Cinematic Orchestra, but without the genius use of space and emptiness to give tracks more warmth. As that track ends and we rush forwards to the next the repeated piano chords that gave me the LCD vibe are back, and left to go on longer. Too long, really.

The track gets better when that pattern is broken - or at least harnessed better, less obviously - but it is flat. Again it has the air of a soundtrack - music to accompany something else, not music to drag you in. A little over half way through there is a major shift in direction; I like that, and yet it does not really address my issues with the track. It remains at arms' length, nice enough background but no centre, no heart, no soul. The trumpet which provides the main narrative is decent, but it provides a melancholic lead not really supported by the fast tempo of the drums... and this sort of sad horn against a background of electronics is done better by others. I hope that there are tracks here which expose more warmth and draw. The first impression was bad, that was reformed quickly, but as it settles down into its stride, so far I am finding it a little empty.

The title track has more to it. Deeper, rounder sounds. And a less obvious percussion. They can do it, but it seems they don't always manage to.

I can't quite shake the feeling that I have heard this before... the best moments are reminiscent of the Cinematics, or Molvær, etc. It's a feeling that keeps me from really engaging with the album, even whilst quietly appreciating certain elements. The best tracks seem to be the ones where they employ the deep resonant tones... I can't for the life of me remember the name of the instrument, but I seem to recall that it was one of their gimmicks. This works well for me, perhaps because it harks back to their debut and matches expectation, but I think mostly because that timbre of sound appeals strongly on what is a very autumnal day. It is fair to say I am not relishing the onset of fall and winter, inevitable though they are, I prefer the lighter and warmer months.

There are moments here, though. For all that negativity above, I find the opening 90 seconds or so of RGB a joy. The track goes a little off the rails thereafter - a little bit flighty, all trills in the top end - but after a solid opening that had me nodding appreciably. This tune - those high notes aside - seems to fall just on the right side of background soundtrack vs. engagement. Those around it fall on the other side of that imaginary fence. Pleasant enough sounds but with a blandness to them. I am hearing nice rhythms, I rather like the background soundscapes but those things alone don't necessarily make something good to listen to. The main themes are just a little too absent, lines are there but end up subservient to structural elements rather than being supported by them.

One to go now and it opens brightly, its electronics painting a different, livelier tone. They are soon faded down - not out - and moved behind the percussion as the main element of the piece. The melody doesn't arrive for over a minute, and when it does the horn is a little lost in the forest of beats. Oh, you can hear it cleanly enough, but again it is not the star, not framed and promoted in the way that more practiced hands manage. That may be a deliberate choice on the part of the group (who am I to say?) but it does not really work for me. The rhythm dominates too much. It isn't that wonderful, but it is sharp and punches firmly through the other sounds.

Overall then... an album with a few high points, but primarily a sea of serviceable background tracks. It's a real shame that they don't manage to do just a little more, focus just a little bit differently on one or two of these tunes and they could become really nice pieces. My final impression though is of a largely empty shell or a house without furnishings. The structure was all in place, but the key elements that would make the house a home were absent.

Buoyancy - Nils Petter Molvær

Track list:

1. Ras Mohammed
2. Gilimanuk
3. Moute Cave
4. Jackson Reef
5. Puri Jati
6. Lamna Reef
7. Amed
8. Martoli Bridge
9. Kingfish Castle
10. Maddagala

Running time: 45 minutes
Released: 2016

More Scandi-jazz, bought alongside Atmosphères - though I have been familiar with Molvær for longer than Henriksen. I was first attracted by description of how the trumpet was laid on over electronic soundscapes but to be honest since my initial purchase (NP3) I think I may have been picking stuff up based on name recognition and concept rather than any deep appreciation of Molvær's actual material. This will be a good litmus test.

It opens with a heartbeat-sounding throb, but then introduces prog-rockish guitars, the horn lurking inside melodies that wouldn't be out of place in a concept album. The piece picks up some pace about the 2.30 mark and it has a decent life to it, but it is a little removed from anything I could have expected going in. I am starting to wonder whether a trumpet appears at all in this Pink Floydian first tune when I hear a snatch of it, unmistakable. It is not the star though, part of the ensemble here.

As we leave prog-rock behind for the start of the second track, the attention does focus on the blower. This tune is slower, languid, and with a hint of danger. Night time noir music - I have used this description many times by now and I still find it the most easily evocative phrasing for what I mean. Rooted in soundtracks, night shots of cities, aerial or street shots, camera pans - scene setting stuff rather than accompanying the action or showdowns - but definitely reminiscent of a certain type of tension. Jazz is good at this, even when not made by the Americans that come most readily to mind when thinking of Noir. Even when the sounds are more modern than the "classic" noir era would support. I think its fair to say I like Gilimanuk, though the name could use some work.

After a brief interlude we hit a more percussive number, Jackson Reef being driven by a high tempo and heavy on the electronics. The themes that come out dominant are actually slow, low and spaced out affairs, and the contrast between this and the incessant pace set by the drumming creates a decent cauldron before the melodies get a bit of a fuel injection and become more intricate for a while. I prefer the contrast though, and when that comes back the track improves again. About a minute from the end the percussion dies out and we get an outro that feels like a different track. Similarity is maintained in the guitars and the lonely trumpet strikes up to carry us home, outlasting the strands of continuity. It makes for a strange ride of a tune, but apart from the moment where the drums just stop it works quite nicely and organically.

I have, I am sure, mentioned before about my weakness for long, lonely notes. I find that the trumpet is pretty much king when it comes to delivering on this. There is a yearning in the natural timbre of this instrument that when employed in certain fashion or style becomes the dominant and overriding emotion in the piece. Puri Jati has this in spades and I really like it. The tune also manages to hark back to the Bastion soundtrack by virtue of its low-end structures, and that reference makes me smile. The two themes I picked up there should be incongruous in many ways but I find they knit together well. As I consider that, the disc plays on and a slower number lazily reaches out to my ears. There is definite variation on this disc, which is a plus-point... though as I type that the electronics evolve into a high pitched squeak and make for a rather unpleasant end to the track.

Amed is the longest track on the disc. To now, everything has been relatively short and sweet, lending a feeling of momentum even on the tracks with less pace. This one stretches to 9 minutes, and as such I am expecting a centrepiece.

It starts slow, atmospheric, and builds. Mostly bass and trumpet, the former bringing threat and the latter bringing hope. When, about half way through, the guitars and electronics arrive they emphasize the first of these two elements, and it becomes a dark, screechy track, long drawn out screeches, cries for help. The drums and bass pick up speed and the thrumming basis for the piece grows around the electronics, establishing dominance. It has definitely built, and it definitely works as a focal point for the disc. The trumpet, meanwhile, disappeared somewhere along the way; what results is a piece that I like but which could be by any number of purveyors of electronica. Then it all goes quiet, the trumpet returns and we end with a final act that bids recollection, reminiscence. A masterwork it isn't, but it is a good solid epic around which to build the album.

Three tracks come after. The first is short and reverential, Molvær's horn standing alone, with some background static that hints at waves; it's a nice palate cleanser. The next actually resonates with the title of the album, the rhythms here conjouring images of a boat rocking on waves, tipping cargo gently from side to side and making soft impacts each time. Its a lovely effect because whilst the reality of boats bobbing on waves isn't as regular as the rhythm behind this sound, the actual beat pattern carries a feel of irregularity to it, whilst still serving as the backbone for the themes that are layered over it. This might be my favourite track on the disc, and I have only really taken on board the percussion. The bobbing percussion is dropped at the end, along with all themes, for an engine-like rumble that just sees the tune out; this I find an odd choice, and a disappointing one.

The final track feels lighter, pairing the trumpet with a nice guitar theme which gives me a Mogwai-like vibe, albeit perhaps a little more chilled. I can't shake the feeling it goes too long without introducing major variation though, and it all merges to become a little bland as a result. Nice sounds, but going nowhere, if you will. There is a shake up in tone and theme about the midpoint of the track but it feels too late. The tune, particularly the trumpet line, is nice but my brain has already disengaged a little, the smell of food cooking, and the knowledge of work to do.

All in all, I think this is a nice disc, and one I can see spending more time with, but not anything outstanding. Molvær's ideas are interesting and worth exploring, even if they don't always reach that one step further that would turn them to genius.

The Best of Polish Jazz 2005 - Various Artists

Track list:

2. Jazz is Cool - Pink Freud
10. Conversations With a Life Jacket - Pink Freud

Running time: 10 minutes
Released: 2005

This is random. Two tracks that must have been freebies, both from Pink Freud - which truly is inspired as a band name. I guess I have this as a result of getting into Skalpel and then finding download links somewhere. The full album itself was 18 tracks and included other artists, but I never picked it up, so I am left with a short stub to examine.

The 10 minutes here is actually closer to 11 and breaks down into 7 and more than 3 1/2 in the order listed. Why WMP doesn't round up is beyond me. Jazz is Cool is definitely of modern sensibility, all programming around a solid drumming and Scandinavian trumpet - think Molvær. As the track gets going the influence of the DJ increases, samples and/or scratching added to the mix. The feel is a little kitchen sink in some ways, busy for busy's sake. Some of the less organic sounds are not exactly ear-friendly and yet, the structure of the track creates a laid back overall mood with a little bit of progression.

I think it does a bit too much though, really - it might have been better shorter, or with more clearly defined boundaries. Still, a reasonable track. Conversations With a Life Jacket is very different, a glassy, fragile sound opening it up into a softer, late night track; at mid-morning, this is probably not the ideal listening hour. This is much more melodic, less concerned with being on it, more considered listening. There are hints of programming here and there, an influence that grows over the course of the number, but it is in essence a neat bassy loop with the trumpet leading the melody. I am quite taken with it.

Both tracks offer something, and whilst I think the first strives too hard to deliver it, that does not stop me liking it. All in all a good little interlude, and what I heard streaming when searching for the origins of this disc suggests that the wider album is possibly worth picking up.

Bending New Corners - Erik Truffaz

Track list:

1. Sweet Mercy
2. Arroyo
3. More
4. Less
5. Siegfried
6. Bending New Corners
7. Betty
8. Minaret
9. Friendly Fire
10. And

Running time: 61 minutes
Released: 1999

I picked this up after discussions on an internet forum with a French jazz-lover; I think I had to order it, and the other album of Truffaz's that I bought at the same time, from Amazon.fr because it wasn't listed on the UK site. Oddly WMP had it listed as 2003 but in looking up the album details for the image and caption I find that is actually earlier than that, so change made! I remember that Truffaz is a trumpeter but not much more and I have not really paid any attention to his music in years so I am a little unsure of what I will find here.

I like the snappy titling - no pretentiously long-winded track names here - but do they gel with the music they refer to? Time to see.

We open with bass and drums before some electronic sounds and Truffaz's trumpet join in. This is late night sounds at mid-afternoon when until just now it has been a blazingly good day, blue skies and warming sun. Ah, shopping in suburban Athens this morning. I remember this a bit now - English vocals delivered as a low-key rap. Along with the intro this exhibits why I think genre-typing music is a fools game; jazz can be a sibling to almost anything on the spectrum. In truth, I am not certain the trumpet adds much to Sweet Mercy, and given it is Truffaz's name on the disc that's a disappointment. I rather like its lounging mood though.

Pace is picked up a bit as the track shifts, and the sound and the title of the second tune makes me think of Miles Davis and Sketches of Spain. I guess, to their chagrin, most jazz trumpeters get compared to Davis in some way. I haven't listened to Spain in a long time (I do have it) so I am not really in a position to compare the tracks; it probably sounds nothing like this in any way, but I am reminded of it all the same. There is some funky underlay on this track, which is a better overall integration of the quartet and far more appropriate for a nice southern European day. I am doing this listen on the penultimate day of my holiday in the lazy afternoon; it seemed right somehow - though really I should be conjuring up some nice images of rural England and Wales to use in my Albion game whilst snoozing on a chair outside. I might do that next!

No, I think there is something Davis-like about the playing here even if I cannot pin it to a specific track or album. Something about the smoothness of the notes kindling thoughts of Kind of Blue, perhaps? Not sure, but the moment is passed and More has a muted strangle over a very sparse arrangement, kinda creepy but in an interesting way. The structure relies more on the drums and its interplay with a more subtle bass, very light with minimal, quiet and considered placement around that from the trumpet and electronics. I like this a lot after the rather odd opening; there are still undertones of oddity around the core, mystic edges, like mist rising from marshy grass, obscuring something behind (nope - used that already!) but the piece as a whole overrides that with a late night drive vibe - lighted strips, top down. From More to Less; will it live up to its name? More felt pretty light and sparse in places so Less would have to be more if this really is going to have less to it... I know, that sentence makes no sense.

This really is a light drum and bass track for its first minute and more - I love stuff on that blurred boundary, with trumpet in place of husky vocals and a volume more befitting comfort than throwing shapes. Comfort is what I find a lot of jazz to be about - not taxing to listen to, great backing for just about any activity. I can never understand those myriad people who simply dismiss jazz as if it is all incomprehensible improvisation with no structure or organisation. It's just music and there is good and bad examples everywhere however you like to categorise your music. Keys have taken on a little more work now, and as a result we get a relaxing stroll of a piece. Again the trumpet is oddly quiet, sidelined, for a lot of the number. So far it has felt more of a group effort than a star with backing.

The title track brings back the rap, with a bit more pace and intent this time, the percussion driving it along, and everything else carried along with it. This is nice soft and warm background music and there is a really strong temptation to treat it as such - divert my attention to other things I mean, rather than keeping score here. Partly that is not having much immediately come to mind that I haven't said already, partly it is the natural wandering of a mind over the period of an hour or so and only a small part of it is genuinely influenced by the music itself if I am honest. Sun is back out now, and I kinda want to escape to enjoy it... but leaving things half done will get me nowhere.

Oh, that's a nice switch. A gentle horn-led ramble now, keys backing it up and the drums and bass, which have dominated many of the tracks are distinctly relegated to support on this occasion. The track, Betty, evokes memories and images of the past, an effect which is doubtless stronger because of its placement after several tracks that owe more to 90s electronica than to the previous 5 decades of jazz history. It is a short piece though, and soon replaced by a haunting trumpet opening Minaret, evoking a call to prayer perhaps. Stylistically this is less Miles Davis and more Nils Petter Molvær - to name another trumpeter that I am familiar with. The track - I would say tune, but there is not much of one, is built around this muted wail and a strong drum backing, an interesting pattern which at one point (and maybe more to come) is broken up by musicality breaking through. It's weird... I am not sure how I feel about the track, 6 minutes long and not very tuneful yet somehow compelling and able to maintain interest for the whole length.

Another switch up with Friendly Fire also harking back to more traditional structures. Call-response between the trumpet and keys, backed by the percussion and bass, and with a few words sprinkled in. It is a bit kitsch given everything else - not nearly as well executed as Betty - and I am rather relieved when it ends and And starts. The final track echoes Minaret with its haunting wail of an opening from Truffaz's instrument, then drums and bass kick in. This is a 10 minute effort so I hope that they bring the interest to keep it moving....

Uh-oh. Just as I type that around the 2.15 mark there's a "bong" sound (part of the recording) and it all goes quiet. Stupid dead air outro time? Seems likely as by 3.15 it is still silent. Sigh - and it was all going so well.

The sound comes back around the 5 minute mark, Trumpet calling plaintively, lost and alone until some key-chords join the call. It is a little shivery alone in the dark type moment - or it would be if it weren't so bright out, and I couldn't hear the sounds of my dad playing Civ IV in the other room. This secret track is a bit of a mess; it has now developed some life, but the rhythm is reminiscent of a bad 80s disco and the structures and tones around it aren't much better.

It is a really disappointing end to what had been a pleasantly good album to that point, if one where I am not sure you would identify the trumpeter as the band leader from the work did you not know it going in.