cobblestone jazz - 23 seconds

three well connected, and experienced blokes making jazz infected minimal electronic music using old school analogue instrumentation.

the results are varied and to be honest after a few listens i am still trying to figure out if i like it, though today i am definitely erring on the side of total addiction.

the main problem for me are the jazz styled keyboard riffs and improvised melodies, yet for all my usual animosity towards self indulgent improvised jazz-fests, i cannot deny, there is something about these extended workouts draws me back over and over again. the best parts, the throb of pbd, the acidic bleeps of dump truck, the sheer orbital styled thrust of india in me, have a certain warm dancefloor pulse that often harks back to the glorious peter ford led ifach record label output with the shared love for old school chicago house and stripped back technology made music coming to the fore.

here there are no big fat digital excess in the sonic trickery, no excessive studio overdubs, instead the production mainly consists of just a thin clicky drum machine, a simple underlying bass line supplemented by either a simple bleep styled jittery loop, or an improvised jazz riff over the top to keep the flow moving.

when these elements all click the results can be very engaging. however, as mentioned, there has to be a certain patience involved on the listeners part as most of these tracks extend well beyond the 6 or 7 minute mark and take some digesting before the penny drops.

as a bonus, they have dropped a 45 minute live set, live at mondo, onto the second disc, which starts off all jazzy and somewhat dry, but gradually builds up to become an absolute killer proving that the lads can obviously knock this stuff out in the live world to stunning effect.

so, if you read any of philip sherburnes various columns, (and you really should), and want to find out just why so many people have fallen for this minimal mood in 2007, then this could easily be an album that could help you along the way.