Before even considering the music, the mix of this CD is outstanding. Helmed by post-rock don John McIntyre, and mixed by hip-hop engineer Scotty Hard and pianist Vijay Iyer, the sound of The Chicago Project should subliminally grab the attention of casual listeners. The mix is full and powerful, like a rock record, not wispy and atmospheric, as is the case with so much jazz production. Roberts’ beautiful burnished tone on alto commands attention throughout with fluidly melodic ideas within assertive phrasing. Her three duets with avowed inspiration Fred Anderson (number three in her Myspace influences) are phenomenal saxophone sparring matches. Guitarist Jeff Parker, McIntyre’s band-mate in Tortoise, is becoming more expressive all the time, and his instrument is flattered by the production. His sensitive textures in “For Razi” match well with Roberts’ tone and Frank Rosaly’s mallet-driven cymbals. Josh Abrams’ bass is the unifying element in the mix, adding muscle to the already excellent songwriting. The Chicago Project’s invention never lets up and its production guarantees repeat listening. (Central Control International)
Arc -
Arkhangelsk 4257
Aidan Baker’s Nadja have been receiving more and more attention for their incredible fusion of metal, ambience and experimentation. Between his solo work and his doom-y Nadja project, Baker’s racked up well over 20 recordings in the last year. ARC, though, have been relatively less active. The “r”
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Shot x Shot -
Let Nature Square 2643
Philly’s Shot x Shot quartet delivered a striking debut a couple years back with their self-titled disc for High Two. Recorded in a hugely reverberant church, it showed the quartet reworking gritty free-bop into grandly overarching soundscapes. Their newest disc has more conventional acoustics but
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Budos Band -
The cobra that's poised to attack on the front cover of The Budos Band III isn't just aesthetically cool; it's an apt metaphor for the Staten Island, NY-bred ten-piece thus far. The underrated Budos Band's tough, instrumental fusion of Afrobeat and vintage American funk and jazz (self-dubbed...
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Weezer. For her.
A prolific, popular group for 16 years, Weezer must be aware that fans cite their 1994 self-titled debut and its 1996 follow-up, Pinkerton, as their best works....
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Kick-Ass 3292 (Matthew Vaughn) Kick-Ass — an intense superhero movie based on an indie book by comics vet Mark Millar — doesn't just want to play in the big boys' sandbox; it wants to piss in it and run away giggling. Reasoning that if people want to be Paris Hilton, why can't they want to be Spider-Man, high school nerd...Full Review
Matana Roberts
Aidan Baker’s Nadja have been receiving more and more attention for their incredible fusion of metal, ambience and experimentation. Between his solo work and his doom-y Nadja project, Baker’s racked up well over 20 recordings in the last year. ARC, though, have been relatively less active. The “r”
...
Philly’s Shot x Shot quartet delivered a striking debut a couple years back with their self-titled disc for High Two. Recorded in a hugely reverberant church, it showed the quartet reworking gritty free-bop into grandly overarching soundscapes. Their newest disc has more conventional acoustics but
...
The cobra that's poised to attack on the front cover of The Budos Band III isn't just aesthetically cool; it's an apt metaphor for the Staten Island, NY-bred ten-piece thus far. The underrated Budos Band's tough, instrumental fusion of Afrobeat and vintage American funk and jazz (self-dubbed...
A prolific, popular group for 16 years, Weezer must be aware that fans cite their 1994 self-titled debut and its 1996 follow-up, Pinkerton, as their best works....
Kick-Ass — an intense superhero movie based on an indie book by comics vet Mark Millar — doesn't just want to play in the big boys' sandbox; it wants to piss in it and run away giggling. Reasoning that if people want to be Paris Hilton, why can't they want to be Spider-Man, high school nerd...
