a r t i s t : The Pyramids
t i t l e : Birth/Speed/Merging
d a t e : 2006
l a b e l : EM (EM1056CD)
g e n r e : Jazz
r l s. d a t e : Jun/2006
t r a c k s : 05
b i t r a t e : VBRkbps
s i z e : 64,0 MB
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We're getting to the point now where EM Records could sell us
pretty much anything. We've come to trust them that much.
Whether it's singing saws, some lost psych oddity, sixties
symphonies made entirely from bird calls, space age bachelor
pad music, or lost jazz funk artifacts, they have such a knack
for unearthing true gems, and then lovingly compiling liner
notes and photos and extra tracks so that the final product is
almost as impressive an -object- as it is a piece of music.
The newset mysterious missive from EM is this long lost
mysterious jazz record, originally released in 1976. We
haven't been able to glean too much about The Pyramids, there
are no liner notes (if that tells you how obscure this
recording was/is) and a Google search turned up almost
exclusively Japanese language sites. But don't let the lack of
background keep you from enjoying this record, cuz it's
definitely one of the most amazing rediscovered free jazz gems
we've heard in ages. And it's not just free jazz, all wild
swirl and skronk. Instead it's an exotic blend of Don Cherry's
Orient, Funkadelic's Maggot Brian, some Art Ensemble Of
Chicago, with wild Eastern sounding tribal rhythms, shuffling
jazzy post bop, fluttering flutes and skronking horns, chanted
vocals, droning buzzing ragas, seventies psychedelic free
folk, propulsive krautfunk jams, some totally chaotic free
jazz here and there, octopoidal drumming and wild shrieking
sax, haunting percussive soundscapes, replete with strange
creaks and whistles, and then before you know it transforming
before your ears into what sounds like traditional African
music with warm muted thumb piano melodies, chanted harmonies,
bird calls, and sweetly melodic flute, rollicking bass heavy
grooves under wild hand drums and carnivalesquee noisemaking.
The final track, the 16 minute long "Black Man And Woman Of
The Nile", is a mellow slow burning groove, with a throbbing
bass riff, warm rich sax runs, shuffling percussion, the whole
thing a laidback, sun drenched, barefoot funkjazz jam, warm
and dreamy and hypnotic, with a short break in the middle for
a brief skronky freakout, and then straight back into it,
eventually drifting off into abstract ambience, softly moaning
horns, dreamy melodies and barely there percussive chatter.
Awesome!
http://www.aquariusrecords.org
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01-Birth/Speed/Merging Suite Part 1: Aomawa [05:35]
02-Birth/Speed/Merging Suite Part 2: Birth/Speed/Merging [07:42]
03-Birth/Speed/Merging Suite Part 3: Reaffirmation [07:37]
04-Jamaican Carnival [06:41]
05-Black Man and Woman of the Nile [16:32]
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44:07 min