THE FUTURE-JAZZ OFFENSIVE | 23 OCTOBER 2020

ODDJOB | OMAR APOLLO | GODTET | MARK PRITCHARD | CLIPPING. | VILLAGE OF THE SUN | TENDERLONIOUS + JAUBI | PAN AMSTERDAM | YOUNG JESUS | SPAZA

Hello again friends, freaks and fans of Future Jazz.

In the week that revered Kazakhstani journalist Borat marked the release of his latest documentary on the state of the US by sending an inflatable, mostly-naked man down the River Thames, 45 RPM returns with 10 new future-jazz tracks that will make you, too, want to strip down to your mankini in celebration.

In a move that will do little for this blogs’ SEO, this week’s Future Jazz Offensive contains new music from Village of The Sun (Binker & Moses with Basement Jaxx), Mark Pritchard and Tenderlonious [pictured].

We’ve also got some songs you might not have heard from a Swedish Bond villain, a South African uprizing and a bloke from Nottingham who’s scarier than all of them put together.

And so, my friends, if you any of that has you then, by all means, hear more here: Apple Podcasts | Soundcloud.

***

RECONNAISANCE

– 00:00 –

ODDJOB – KALI MA

OUTHERE

Presumably named after the Bond villain, Swedish quintet Oddjob are really no threat to anyone at all, except maybe those with a shite taste in music. On ‘Kali Ma’ (from the album, ‘Kong’ – out now) they do a beautiful job of merging jazz with electronica, world flavours and ambient moments, leaving you very much shaken and stirred in all the best ways.

If you like this try my review of ‘Break the Night With Silence’ by the Ambient Jazz Ensemble.

– 05:38 –

OMAR APOLLO – KAMIKAZE

WARNER

Is it lazy to say that Omar Apollo sounds like Frank Ocean? I mean, the vocal similarities are obvious but, musically, it’s like we’ve been shot back in time (ironically) to ‘Nostaligia, Ultra’-era Ocean, when his kind of lo-fi funk was cool and before Frank went a bit, well, flump on us. Apollo’s debut album ‘Apolonio’ – from which Kamikaze comes – was released last week.

If you like this try my review of ‘Now That You Need Me’ by Taylor McFerrin.

– 09:01 –

GODTET – STRUCK BAMBOO PIPES NO.2

LA SAPE

In case there was any doubt, Australian multi-instrumentalist GODTET (also known as Godriguez) remains one of the best producers around for creating electronic music that sounds like it was crafted by Mother Nature herself. Struck Bamboo Pipes No.2 comes from the newly-released ‘Suite’ EP, a sort of one-take live jam amalgamation of the earlier GODTET LP sounds and Godriguez’s produced albums.

If you like this try my review of ‘Possible Futures’ by Paradise Cinema.

– 12:03 –

MARK PRITCHARD – BE LIKE WATER

WARP RECORDS

Legendary electronic producer, Mark Pritchard returns with a single ‘Be Like Water’ that combines a rich tapestry of Eastern instrumentation with the best tropes of Western dance music. It comes from a new EP called ‘MP Productions—EP 1’ which will be out on November 13th via Warp Records.

If you like this try my review of O Edo Nihonbashi by Mark de Clive Lowe.

– 15:40 –

CLIPPING. – PAIN EVERYDAY

SUB POP

I appreciate clipping. are an acquired taste (especially back in the day when they were featuring gimps on their album covers) but if you like rhythmic experimentation, you’ve got to love what Daveed Diggs does with his flow and what William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes do on production. The guys are geniuses! And not just because they made their name essentially making their music from ‘found sounds’ without so much as a snare drum to hand (I highly recommend this episode of Song Exploder to find out more); but because, time after time, the music they create is powerful, progressive and utterly, utterly unique. ‘Pain Everyday’ is from a new album called ‘Visions of Bodies Being Burned’, which is out today.

If you like this try my review of ‘Nairobi Flex’ by Body Meat.

– 19:14 –

VILLAGE OF THE SUN – VILLAGE OF THE SUN

GEARBOX RECORDS

While Village of the Sun do appear to have run out of new song names, they certainly haven’t run out of musical inspiration. I featured the band – comprising equal parts Basement Jaxx and Binker and Moses – a few months back and, while I still love TED (the track I reviewed back then), the best thing about this single is just how different it is. While its predecessor felt like it was leaning heavily on Simon Ratcliffe’s dance music chops, ‘Village of the Sun’ feels far more jazz-inclined and, therefore, more in tune with the typical stylings of Mssrs Golding and Boyd. Emotive, cinematic and simply stunning.

If you like this try my review of ‘The Gecko’ by Ferdinando Romano.

– 25:58 –

TENDERLONIOUS + JAUBI – AZADI

+22A

Can a doctor please go round to Tenderlonious’ house and check he’s alright? I mean, the way the – by now, semi-legendary – flautist gasps for air at times in this astounding collaboration with Lahore based instrumental quartet, Jaubi is both exhilarating and, frankly, a bit fucking worrying. Mostly because ‘Azadi’ is just the latest in a string of excellent collaborations with the raga-based group and I want a whole lot more please.

If you like this try my review of ‘Vulnerable in Bihag’ by Hedrun.

– 31:19 –

PAN AMSTERDAM – HANNIBAL LECTURE

DEF PRESSÉ

I went to University in a city where pretty much everyone sounds like Jason Williamson – the Sleaford Mods’ Shouter in Chief and first rapper you hear on ‘Hannibal Lecture’. And, while many of my best friends to this day come from Nottingham, I don’t think any of them – nor Williamson himself for that matter – would be offended if I said that I don’t find it to be the prettiest of accents. Nevertheless, hearing Williamson sneering ‘I’m a fookin’ nightmaaare’ actually made me feel quite warm and fuzzy in a weird way. The track comes from ‘jazz musician turned underground rap mogul’ Pan Amsterdam’s latest record ‘HA Chu’ (out now).

If you like this try my review of ‘Charms’ by Armand Hammer.

– 34:50 –

YOUNG JESUS – FAITH

SADDLE CREEK

There’s a strain of rock music that stretches back to bands like Shudder to Think and Sunny Day Real Estate that is, I think, heavily influenced by jazz. LA band, Young Jesus are very much that scene’s modern heirs apparent. And so, while ‘Faith’ may have all the sonic textures of a rock track, there’s so much experimentation and dynamism that it gets my jazz Spidey-senses tingling. The track comes from the album, ‘Welcome to Conceptual Beach’ which is out now.

If you like this try my review of ‘Pearly’ by Palm.

– 41:53 –

SPAZA – SIZWILE

MUSHROOM HOUR HALF HOUR

Improvisational collective, SPAZA’s latest album ‘Uprize!’ is a soundtrack to a film charting the majority black student uprising in Soweto, South Africa in 1976. The protests were met with police brutality and the deaths of at least 176 people and the album was recorded while footage of the incident was projected on to the wall of the recording studio. On ‘Sizwile’ the band’s grief and the utter disbelief are palpable. That it was recorded in 2016 but released now is no coincidence.

If you like this try my review of ‘This Walk’ by Jyoti.

***

CEASE-FIRE

You can find all of the tracks reviewed above in the 45 Revolutions per Minute playlist below or click to access the Future Jazz 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.

Until next time, love and noise.

– SV –

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