a r t i s t : Roland P. Young
t i t l e : Isophonic Boogie Woogie
d a t e : 2005
l a b e l : EM (EM1045CD)
g e n r e : Jazz
r l s. d a t e : Jun/2006
t r a c k s : 07
b i t r a t e : VBRkbps
s i z e : 65,6 MB
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Sometimes you know a record is gonna blow your mind before you
even throw it on. Which is most definitely the case with
Isophonic Boogie Woogie by Roland P. Young. Heck, it's called
Isophonic Boogie Woogie after all! And it's on the seemingly
infallible (and impossible to pin down) EM records from Japan
who have quickly become our new favorite label, having
released Jim Fassett's Symphony Of The Birds, Moolah's Woe Ye
Demons Possessed and Sam Moore's MOOOHIEEE! and those are just
the ones we've reviewed so far. Plus it's got super tripped
out black and white hand drawn cover art, three heads,
presumably all Mr. Young, one with a well groomed afro, one
with headphones, one with crazy hair that drifts skyward like
tentacles, and a third eye right in the center of his
forehead, while surrounding the heads are leaves and
electronic equipment, and ankhs, and black suns, scorpions,
saxophones, sailing ships and cars and pyramids, and a bunch
of little Roland P. Young's walking up hillsides, jamming on
guitars, getting into cars... you get the idea. This is some
seriously far out stuff, and we haven't even heard a note of
music, and that's a heck of a lot of trippiness to live up to.
Thankfully, Isophonic Boogie Woogie is as weird and as wacked
as all the above business would lead you to believe.
Originally released in 1980, Isophonic Boogie Woogie was the
first realization of Young's unique version of free jazz
music, which he referred to as "Afro spiritual minimal
electronic space music" which on closer listening is WAY more
spot on. Young employs an unlikely arsenal: kalimba,
saxophone, voice, clarinet, electronic bass clarinet, bells,
chimes, electronic drones, electronic pulse and electronic
accoutrements (!), to craft his spaced out free jazz
minimalism. The first track is a warm melodic fugue, woven
from the reverberating steel of the kalimba (sounding like a
muted mellow version of Konono No.1 actually) with soaring
falsetto vocals, before eventually a saxophone joins in,
playing soft moody melodies over the rich bed of the kalimba.
So nice. Wouldn't mind a whole record of this. But Young has
different ideas. The second track is a brief but aggressive
blast of solo clarinet, emitting gritty rumbles, a series of
droney duck calls, very textural and oblique, and really
mysterious sounding. As is the next track, an ominous low end
groove, warm distorted and muted melodies, the electronic bass
clarinet strangely alien sounding, a groovy jazzy thrum,
pulsing and throbbing each note with a strange texture and a
bizarre electronic after image that makes the whole thing
sound that much more dark and droney. The record's centerpiece
(and longest track) is "Loveliness", a 15 minute drift of
dense ambient whirs, subtle drones, tinkling chimes, softly
struck bells, sizzling cymbals and all sorts of percussive
clatter, all beneath a wild free jazz workout, skronks and
squeaks and trills, impossible melodies, a tangled free form
melodic freakout. Afro spiritual minimal electronic space
music indeed! The last track is another long one, with more of
that alien sounding electronic bass clarinet, the notes and
tones low and rough, with lots of reverbed echoes, the track
starts as a thick corrosive drone of rumbling warbling horns,
mumbled vocals and all sorts of spacey effects, swooping and
swooning, before the clarinet begins to explore its freedom
and offers up a litany of strange sounds, from free jazz
skronk to percussive patter to playful melodic figures, before
drifting back into a droning murky swirl.
Some of the coolest, weirdest, most far out free jazz we've
heard for sure, and another check in the 'right fucking on!'
column for EM!
This reissue includes two bonus tracks, one a shuffling funky
rhythm, with primitive drum machine over a warm distant sonic
glow. swooning sax, like mood music from some long forgotten
eighties soundtrack, the other a soft stretch of dreamy
mediation music, subtle electronic pulses beneath a swirling
wash of moaning horns and shifting subtle tones. Both more
melodic and less tripped out than the original tracks but cool
nonetheless.
Like all the EM reissues, this includes extensive liner notes
(all in Japanese, sorry), tons of photos, original album
artwork and more.
http://www.aquariusrecords.org
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01-Crystal Motions [14:49]
02-Flutter Fly Flounce [01:53]
03-Row Land [07:38]
04-Loveliness [15:31]
05-Velvet Dream [13:35]
06-Magenta Sky [06:42]
07-Stillness [08:13]
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68:21 min