The Neil Cowley Trio - Loud… Louder… Stop!

Neil Cowley is a well respected jazz pianist who has been in the game for quite some time, just under various guises and with various groups.  He even appeared on the recent Adele album, 19.  But, fresh off winning last years’ BBC Jazz Award for best album - which was for Displaced - The Neil Cowley Trio are back with their new LP, Loud… Louder… Stop! on Cake.

In the past, comparisons have been drawn to Esbjorn Svensson (R.I.P.) and his trio E.S.T., but Neil Cowley has been quick to move away from such ideas and comparisons so as to not be influenced in any way by E.S.T. themselves. Even to the extent of avoiding their records completely.  I love that ideology that an artist would make such a definite move to ensure that any direct influences are minimal.  Of course, if you hear both, then you can relate to such a comparison - however, The Neil Cowley Trio are very much of their own making, with a distinctive and individual sound.

Tracklisting:

01. His Nibs
02. Dinosaur Die
03. Scaredy Cat
04. Ginger Sheep
05. Clumsy Couple
06. Captain Backfire
07. Well
08. We Are Here To Make Plastic
09. Synaesthesia Traffic
10. Streets Paved with Half Baguettes Pt 2

I have an admission to make right off the bat: I’m totally in love with this record.  There, I said it.  Between Neil Cowley on piano, Richard Sadler on double bass and Evan Jenkins on drums, NCT have encapsulated such raw emotion and totally pure sonic expression.  This is tremendously cinematic, 55 minutes of some of the most intriguing and deep contemporary jazz you are likely to find.  At times fiercely energetic, but calm and sombre in parts - this LP sustains elegant stanzas, such as you would find in fine cinema - beautifully paced and executed.

mp3: The Neil Cowley Trio - Scaredy Cat

Neil Cowley has this incredible ability to force the piano to sing in ways that would make an opera singer blush.  Straight from the first track, His Nibs, we are introduced to the tense, yet free flowing beauty of their music - each track built perfectly with moments of calm paired with uptempo sections and arrangements.  It all feels so complete and steeped in sincerity.  These are very honest compositions that draw the listener in as if they are sharing a tale or experience.  This LP would make any person, regardless of taste, stop in their tracks, for it is just that impressive and fantastic.

Loud… Louder… Stop! is out now on the Cake label and you can purchase the CD directly from the NCT website, which of course I would strongly advise!  You’re looking at album of the year material right here.

Upcoming Live Dates:

Aug 8 2008 - 8:00P - Brecon Jazz Festival, Brecon
Aug 23 2008 - 8:00P - Fettes Festival, Edinburgh
Aug 24 2008 - 8:00P - Bills Jazz Bar, Edinburgh
Aug 25 2008 - 8:00P - Big City Jazz, Leeds
Sep 7 2008 - 8:00P - Cleethorpes Jazz Festival, Cleethorpes
Sep 26 2008 - 8:00P - Links Hotel, Montrose
Sep 28 2008 - 8:00P - Firestation, Windsor
Oct 1 2008 - 8:00P - Komedia, Brighton
Oct 9 2008 - 8:00P - Leeds College Of Music, Leeds
Oct 10 2008 - 8:00P - Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool
Oct 11 2008 - 8:00P - Turner Sims, Southampton
Oct 27 2008 - 8:00P - Enjoy Jazz, Heidelberg, Germany
Oct 29 2008 - 8:00P - Le Primeurs de Massy, France
Nov 14 2008 - 8:00P - Motives Festival, Belgium
Nov 20 2008 - 8:00P - Corn Exchange, Newbury

J.A.M - Jazzy Joint feat. Jose James

J.A.M is a piano trio consisting of three members of Soil & “Pimp” Sessions, and, as the title suggests, this track features the incredible Jose James. Those familiar with Soil & “Pimp” Sessions will be well aware of their japanese death jazz stylings - infinitely less dramatic than the name suggests, although still pretty wild - but the offshoot, J.A.M trio, attacks from a more contemporary angle. Not at the expense of quality though. Refreshing to hear Jose James doing some rap-rap-rapping too - I knew he had it in him!

mp3: J.A.M - Jazzy Joint feat. Jose James

Outside of Japan these guys are associated with Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood Recordings label, which is where you’ll also find Jose James plying his trade. Thus far J.A.M have released a vinyl EP for Jazzy Joint and now also their debut LP Just A Maestro. Cant find the Jazzy Joint EP bloody anywhere outside of Japan, so give me a shout if you stumble upon it. Just A Maestro, however, is available on CD via import right now and is definitely worth buying! Should hopefully see some UK releases on Brownswood Recordings before long though, specially seeing as they’ve started to play in Europe, including a recent death jazz event at The Roundhouse featuring The Neil Cowley Trio.

The Natural Yogurt Band - Away With Melancholy

Unless you know The Natural Yogurt Band personally, then the chances are the only info you will be able to find about them is via a Jazzman Records press release for their debut LP Away With Melancholy. And to quote that press release;

“The cd they sent was accompanied by no credentials. There was no promo sheet name-dropping the famous DJs who are playing their music, no pretentious CV stating who plays what and who used to play with whoever; no info, no blurb and no gumph. In other words they just sent me a plain cd, which was refreshing, because at the end of the day all that matters is whether it’s any good or not, right?”

Yes, that is all that matters. Just makes my job a bit harder (or easier, depending on which way you care to look at it). Out now, through the aforementioned Jazzman Records, Away With Melancholy is not only available on CD, but 2×10″ vinyl - that’s not something you see every day, but if it was meant to be a subtle hint towards how special this LP is… it worked a treat cos I snapped it up as soon as I saw it. Plus if Gerald and pals at Jazzman get excited about something, then it’s usually worth checking out!

Tracklisting…

01. Chapter One
02. Chit Chat
03. Better Days To Come
04. Thoughts
05. Voodoo
06. Pipe Dreams
07. Latin Illusion
08. The Woods
09. A Broken Rose
10. Space Echo
11. Soft Cheese
12. Lament For Piano

The Natural Yogurt Band is made up of ex-Little Barrie drummer Wayne Fullwood and producer/musician Miles Newbold. What they have created here holds blends of both jazz and funk, but don’t be confused, this isn’t jazz-funk - this is a surreal mixture of the elements, combined to create something altogether… different. Cinematic in parts, damn right funky in others, but mellow and modal as well. You’ll struggle not to appreciate the delicate intricacies and tight instrumentation within Away With Melancholy.

mp3: The Natural Yogurt Band - Voodoo

Wayne Fullwood described the album as “a pastiche of different moods” and with that he was spot on. Some of my favourite jazz LPs mesmerise and enthrall me, and besides the obvious quality of the records, it’s always because of the moods and stories that the records tell. The journeys they take you on. I was ecstatic and delighted to stumble upon a modern creation that could give me such an experience on par with the old diamonds in my collection. This is a true wonder and will captivate the ears of both funk and jazz connoisseurs from far and wide.

With rumours of Stones Throw chomping at the bit for the rights to an American release, I’ve no doubt that you’ll be hearing much more from The Natural Yogurt Band very soon. Grab that double 10″ whilst you still can!

Radius - Neighborhood Suicide

Chicago native Radius recently dropped his debut LP on The Secret Life Of Sound - a label you may remember from my Invisible Superstars feature a while back. The Radius LP is called Neighborhood Suicide and it’s a kick in the tits for all those that think they’ve heard it all before where instrumental hip-hop is concerned. This one’s a keeper.

Neighborhood Suicide is an eleven track journey into the leftfield of the modern beat-maker’s laboratory. It’s a progressive sound with tight production and mean breaks. Throughout the LP you get essences of artists like; Four Tet, Blockhead, Dilla and Premier - but this is most definitely a unique sound. Each track is like an individual, beautifully crafted, futuristic soundscape. Rich in detail and with a story to tell, this LP will hit home hard with the introspective hip-hop listener.

Tracklisting:

01. Humboldt Park (3241982 Intro)
02. Uptown (Awaken)
03. Logan Square (Rents Due)
04. South Shore (Baahumbug!)
05. Bucktown (Fuck Work)
06. L.S.D. (Interlude)
07. Englewood (Necessary Growth)
08. Hyde Park (I Miss You)
09. Rogers Park (North Pole Bakery)
10. 90/94 (Interlude)
11. South Chicago (The Journey)

Elements of jazz flow throughout, countered blissfully by orchestral sections and finely cut layers and beats. The production quality is wholesome and exquisite. Sonically it’s a busy record, but I always felt more immersed than overwhelmed whilst listening, such is the well accomplished balance Radius has achieved with his creations.

mp3: Radius - Logan Square (Rent’s Due)

You’ll need to buy two copies of this on vinyl cos you will wear the hell out of your first one through repeat plays. Personally I cant wait to drop the stylus on this one - there’s a special something bout hearing a sonically ethereal record on vinyl, takes the aural experience to the next level. I saw a girl the other day with some kitsch bag that had a vinyl record glued to the side of it, sort of made me smile. Sure it is viewed by some as an old fad dragged up from time to time when the fashion suits, but genuinely… modern vinyl collecting is a movement you can only truly appreciate once you start buying vinyl and playing vinyl. You get to learn which records will raise that wry smile at the corner of your mouth when listened to on vinyl, and Neighborhood Suicide is that kind of sweet.

Invisible Superstars

One would presume that this name was in direct reference to the fact that this compilation is made up of tracks created by amazing artists that many people will simply never have heard of before. Minus Controller 7 (of recent “Get Ready For The Young Folks” 7″ fame) I honestly had never heard of anyone featured on this release before.

The Secret Life Of Sound presents Invisible Superstars Volume 001. The Secret Life Of Sound is a record label owned by Rob Seeman and he enlisted the help of Controller 7 to create a sort of beat tape/sonic experiment featuring a host of their favourite electronic beat producers, all to be released; digitally, on 1000 pieces of limited vinyl and also 300 pieces of extremely limited GOLD vinyl. They wanted to create a unique record that could give the listener an insight into a world of diverse analog samples generated through non-traditional means of music composition and instrumentation. I have the said sought after gold vinyl, and I can tell you right now that it is something special indeed.

For starters, here is the tracklisting:

1. Miles Tilman - Chicken Salad Beats
2. Scott Matelic - Thoughtless
3. Controller 7 - Consumer
4. Tenshun - Mindfuck
5. Zombie Mountain - Heretic
6. Meatsock - Another Place
7. Mormon Freegan - Seeing n=0
8. Corsic - Romoxy
9. Buddy Peace - Slow Gang Funeral
10. PNS - Storm
11. Skoweyajeed - Papal Brakedance At 23.33
12. Thomas Dimuzio - Tire Damage

As soon as I heard the opening bar of Miles Tilman’s Chicken Salad Beats I knew this LP was gonna be good. Really gritty bass driven electronic beats - proper head nod stuff, whilst not being too overwhelming or overbearing. Like an up-to-date continuation of some of the early Coldcut material. Exquisite production and layering, this one would go down just as well in the car as the club. Next up is Thoughtless by Scott Matelic, no word of a lie, my favourite track right now, just incredible. So understated, yet so pure. Check it for yourself…

Scott Matelic - Thoughtless
>> download track / YSI
>> buy Invisible Superstars Vol. 1 @ TSLOS
This download link will expire on 2nd March.

The third track is a guitar driven heavy beat track by Controller 7, flexing that musical muscle and opening further the wide array of sounds Controller 7 can produce. Following that is a cinematic Wu-Tang’esque piece by Tenshun that breaks down into a real moody piece indeed. Many purists will want to seek out further Tenshun work after hearing this one!

Heretic brings us a more downtempo, yet trippy track. Enriched with details but light enough to just chill to. Keeping it relatively chilled, but switching the tempo up, Meatsock presents an almost drum ‘n’ bass tune with big props to Boards Of Canada and other such contemporaries. Mormon Freegan then flips the whole thing on its head and gives it some mash-up styles, somewhere between sci-fi soundtrack and gameshow in a steady beat style. Romoxy then brings everything back into line with a beautifully paced hip-hop beat laced with ethereal keys and brass. Just lie back and immerse yourself in this one.

The last quarter of the LP is a little more off the beaten track and commences with Buddy Peace’s Slow Gang Funeral - an eclectic blend of jazz-hop beats, vocal samples and electronic bleeps. It has a great rhythm to it and in ways reminds me of some of the more courageous Skalpel efforts. Following on is PNS with Storm, a downtempo head nodder for the head nodders. Often it can be the most simple sounding tracks that are the hardest to perfect - to create something so open can take great levels of detail and technique, well this PNS track hits the nail on the head, music for musicians or productions for producers?!

Skoweyajeed provides the penultimate track, an out there soundscape that Four Tet would be proud of. The final track is by Thomas Dimuzio and if nothing else just goes to show what can be achieved with sound. Thomas is a “sound designer” and will sample anything to create a desired sound. It’s hard to label exactly what he does, but it is bloody interesting.

I have to doff my cap to The Secret Life Of Sound, as with this release they have really gone out of their way to share with us such incredible talents that seem to have been overlooked previously. It has been good to see Controller 7 records being raved about of late and perhaps now some of the other artists on Invisible Superstars Volume 1 will also achieve some further recognition, they definitely deserve it. If you can, definitely try and cop a copy of that gold vinyl… if you still can!

Useful links:

• The Secret Life Of Sound website
• The Secret Life Of Sound MySpace
• Controller 7 website
• Controller 7 blog