loka - fire shepherds
well they say patience is a virtue, but this liverpudlian duo, karl and mark, have really stretched the phrase to the max. a track on the xen cuts compilation in 2000, then a remix here and there, and one single in the following 6 years aint exactly going to pay the rent now is it.
oh well, the album is at last here with some suitably freaky/gorgeous artwork to make the package even more mysterious. considering i totally fell for the david axelrod groove of the blockhead remix of '‘Sunday Séance’, that they managed to muster recently, i have to admit that the album does fall into the "one for the jazz heads" box. the music is instrumental, multi-layered, multi facetted, and one that will please many of the ninja tune fans, just that i fond it difficult to listen to without skipping a chunk of it here and there.
for me, the jazz side of ninja tunes output has always been an area of neglect as i rarely enjoy the chinstroking groove. while i can appreciate the wonderful production, the intricate arrangements, the love of the beat, there is often something that i find missing to make me revisit and fall in love with. guess i just like a few noisy scratch samples, and a few messy vocal loops to win me over. i like my music cheap-n-cheerful as opposed to thought provoking.
don't get me wrong, the music that loka have meticulously crafted is exactly that, music that is crafted, meticulously. it's just that i rarely find myself in the mood for such high brow entertainment, and 10 minutes improv pieces such as 'freda mae' definitely have me reaching for the skip button. luckily the freeform excess is followed by the much more welcome 'beginningless', with a lovely mellow laid back feel, subtle twANG guitar and haunting trumpet. MORE LIKE THIS PLEASE !
TO summarise : if skalpels recent releases have thrilled, then you are going to love this.
genuinely.