Nadja & OvO: The Life and Death of a Wasp (4/5)

Year: 2010

Genre: Noir Doomjazz

Label: Adaigo 830

TRT: 34:16

Nadja has made some excellent music, and some extremely boring music, so I always approach a new release with a healthy level of skepticism. By about a minute into this one however, I completely forgot to be skeptical. This is completely different from anything else Aidan Baker or OvO has ever done. Yes, it's still gloomy, yes at times it's got some doomy drone, but the atmosphere here is very noir and has a feel more like Bohren & der Club of Gore than Jesu. This is also a strange album due to it's subject matter, with creepy Jarboe-esque vocalizations meant to be the wasp that is doomed to a liquid grave. It's weird as hell. And I love it.

01 Movement 1: A Wasp Flying Around the Sugar Jar

02 Movement 2: Trapped in the Jar

03 Movement 3: Put Some Sugar in My Cup, Please

04 Movement 4: Drowned in Coffee

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Bohren & der Club of Gore: Dolores (4.5/5)

Year: 2008

Genre: Slowburn Doom Jazz Noir

Label: Ipecac

TRT: 58:23

This band kept popping up on my radar, and after one particularly avid fan beseeched me to bump them up in my queue, I obliged.

This is the definition of "mood" music. Dark, slow paced, schmaltzy and ominous, Bohren & der Club of Gore took jazz and made it what they wanted it to be, not what it was "supposed" to be. It really blows my mind how much I enjoy this, as jazz has never really been very agreeable to my sensibilities. The best thing is, apparently their early catalog is even better than this one.

I highly recommend putting this on while you read a good book, it sets an absolutely spectacular atmosphere.

01 Staub

02 Karin

03 Schwarze Biene (Black Maja)

04 Unkerich

05 Still am Tresen

06 Welk

07 Von Schnäbeln

08 Orgelblut

09 Faul

10 Welten

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The Roots: Phrenology (5/5)

Year: 2002

Genre: Hip-Hop

Label: MCA

TRT: 60:47

Growing up in an environment surrounded by a variety of musical genres such as: Hip-Hop, R&B, Soul, Jazz, and Blues, it really is no wonder that I was immediately drawn to the stylings of The Roots. When I first discovered this band, it was one of their earlier cds Do You Want More?!!!??! that drew me in with it's heavy jazz influence, spoken word poetry, and live instruments, which was like nothing that was playing at the time.

With the release of Phrenology, starting from the concept of the title to the hidden tracks at the very end, I was once again intrigued. This disc shows The Roots experimenting with different sounds and again mixing different genres to create an interesting album from start to finish. Held by some critics as an instant classic and others as superfluous experimentalism, it stands to reason that despite the mixed reviews, after giving Phrenology a listen one can't help but commend this band for having the audacity to stretch the limits and go beyond what was expected.

1. Phrentrow
2. Rock You
3. Sacrifice (feat. Nelly Furtado)
4. Rolling With Heat (feat. Talib Kweli)
5. WAOK Roll Call
6. Thought At Work
7. The Seed 2.0 (feat. Cody Chestnutt)
8. Break You Off (feat. Musiq)
9. Water
10. Quills
11. Pussy Galore
12. Complexity (feat. Jill Scott)
13. Something In The Way Of Things [In Town] (feat. Amiri Baraka)

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