– GUERRILLA WARFARE –

If your real name is Shabaka Hutchings, and you fancy giving yourself a ‘zany’ pseudonym, King Shabaka isn’t exactly the most creative thing you could have gone for. But then, I suppose the London-based tenor saxophonist felt he had to at least make a token effort when his colleagues Danalogue The Conqueror (keyboards) and Betamax Killer (drums) – who really do have the sorts of names (Dan Leavers and Max Hallett) that you might want to spice up – came up with theirs.

Perhaps Shabaka simply felt creatively drained after he’d led the band to create The Comet is Coming’s debut EP Prophecy – after all, he and his colleagues had spawned a psychedelic jazz / electronic freak-out that would pave the way for one of the most exciting and revolutionary modern musical movements coming out of the UK.

Four years later, they return with some slightly abbreviated names (Danalogue and Betamax… King Shabaka remains as was) and an album – Trust in the Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery – that takes the trio’s work to an even weirder and more wonderful level.

This is never more evident than on Super Zodiac, where punk drum beats meet a staccato sax line that resurrects the ghost of Lord Rockingham’s Hoots Mon, all accompanied by the usual cosmic chaos.

But the moments that really see the track soar are those that reach ascension through a truly beatific set of chords from Danalogue’s keys.

Trust in the Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery is out now through Impulse!

More From This Week’s Mix:

DJEUHDJOAH & LIEUTENANT NICHOLSON | “EL NINO”
BLACK FLOWER | “FUTURE FLORA”
JPEGMAFIA | “THE WHO”
KENDRICK SCOTT ORACLE | “>>>>>>>>>VOICES”

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 –