according to the press release this is chris’s fifth album, but i have to say i have never heard of the mans work despite printed assurances of his involvement with much of the london scene in the 90s.
however, i can’t deny, i am rather pleased to have been given a chance to hear this incense heavy album
as the title, and the excellent cover art implies, the album is collision of jazz drum sticks and the moods created when you light up a few incense sticks.
quite simply it’s 45 minutes of instrumental 70s cop soundtrack funk with added sitars, plenty of wah wah, and a lot of ear-n-spine pleasing melodic grooves.
easy reference point : a clash of david holmes oceans 11 and 12 soundtracks via the big beat loops of indian ropeman.
the music, the majority of which is played by the obviously talented multi instrumentalist chris, is beautifully produced, staying faithfully respectful to the genre that it clearly is in homage to, meaning that the music is warm, vibrant and an absolute delight to listen to.
there are no real individual highlights as such, as the laid back party vibe is consistent throughout, however, with the extra horn section riffs, the dirty funk of danger buds is of particular note, and the more mellow moods of the fat bass-n-sax loops of melisima mercury is just gorgeous. of course i can’t help but be willingly seduced by the beautiful low and slow cinematic jazz licks of tune down, the use of open mike drums, finger picked bass lines and clean electric guitar makes me want to go back through my david axelrod archive once again.
perhaps the fact that chris has restrained from adding special guest vocalists to any of the music is a factor why the album works for me, as this means i can focus on the groove and atmospherics (night scare is almost "get carter"-esque in its murderous intent) and not have to ignore some karaoke styled overdubs that often are added to this type of project.
now that david holmes has moved on from this kind of groove and discovered krautrock fuzz, maybe hollywood can add chris joss’s name to the list of future soundtrack hopefuls.
all in all, sticks is an unexpected treat, and highly recommended.
more detail : here