CYKADA | DUCKWRTH | JAMILA WOODS | 30/70 COLLECTIVE | SERPENTWITHFEET

Hello again friends, freaks and fans of nu-jazz music of the kind that has never seen ‘douze pwa’ in its entire life.

As this blog is released it is the eve of the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest so we’ve not yet had it 100% confirmed that the land of my birth, the UK, has once again turned up and stunk the whole place out. However, especially since we made the proverbial ‘shit-show in a fuck-factory’ out of Brexit that seems inevitable.

Fortunately, our nu-jazz scene is in fine fettle with this week’s Charm Offensive choice, Cykada (pictured), the latest supergroup to grace London’s resurgent scene, only this time they’re bringing added prog sensibilities. If they were the sort of Eurovision act that had any chance of people voting for them, they’d be Sweden – reliably impressive.

There’s always one act who turns up at Eurovision with something a bit subversive, though, isn’t there? I seem to remember a couple of years ago Poland putting a load of scantily-clad milk-maids on the stage for no apparent reason other than to ‘milk’ votes out of horny old men (apologies if that gave you a horrible mental image). Perhaps the deeper meaning was lost in translation. If so, the 45rpm equivalent this week would be our Military Coup choice, LA rapper Duckwrth. His song Love is Like a Moshpit comes at you with a provocative title only to surprise you with something altogether more substantial.

The maddest thing about Eurovision continues to be the fact that Australia are allowed in. It’s called Eurovision, kids. EURO. Vision. The clue’s in the title. And, appropriately, this week’s Guerrilla Warfare selection also comes from ‘Down Under’ (no, Grandad, we’re not still talking about Poland). 30/70 Collective’s Nu Spring is as absolutely as bonkers as you’d hope for from a funky quintet from the cultural melting pot that is Melbourne.

And, of course, Eurovision has become synonymous in recent years for its David v Goliath stories – the likes of Austria’s bearded-woman Conchita Wurst and Isreal’s transsexual winner, Dana International to name just two. These were acts that came in as rank outsiders with low expectations and ended up claiming victory. And, again, 45rpm has its own underdog-done-good story as my Quiet Riot – Serpentwithfeet’s Messy – changed my mind about the divisive singer this week.

Finally, we need our big hitter. It is, nowadays, customary for Eurovision to fly in an American to help show us Europeans (and Aussies) how it’s done. And on 45rpm we follow suit. Jamila Woods’ awesome, aggressive masterpiece LEGACY! LEGACY! was released this week and that album’s track, BASQUIAT makes up my Peaceful Protest.

So, there you are; an introduction that will have no doubt confused everyone; my usual readership wondering what the hell is meant by all the talk of bearded women and milk-maids while a few lonely stragglers trying to Google the Isreali presenter’s names and Instagram profiles end up on some wanky pretentious jazz blog by accident.

If anyone’s still reading, I hope you find something that suits your musical tastes below…

CYKADA: CREATION
DUCKWRTH: LOVE IS LIKE A MOSHPIT
JAMILA WOODS: BASQUIAT
30/70 COLLECTIVE: NU SPRING
SERPENTWITHFEET: MESSY (ACOUSTIC)

P.S. You can find all of the tracks reviewed above in the 45 Revolutions per Minute playlist below or click to access the 45 RPM Playlist on Spotify itself.

If you like what you hear (or even if you don’t), please engage in dialogue with me @45rpm_Reviews on Twitter. And, if you’d like to receive updates weekly, please subscribe to the email list to get these recommendations sent to your inbox weekly.

– SV –