Artist : Bill Wells & Maher Shalal Hash Baz
Title : Osaka Bridge
Genre : Instrumental
Year : 2006
Date : Jun-2006
Bitrate : VBR kbps
Tracks : 15
Label : Karaoke Kalk
Source : CDDA
Length : 37:06 min
Size : 44,3 MB
Tracklist:
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01.rye & guy 04:53
02.tipsy cat 02:43
03.the dust of months 02:38
04.duck 01:05
05.on the beach boys bus 01:47
06.oddults 01:46
07.liquorice tics 02:15
08.poxy 04:53
09.time takes me so back 03:52
10.family sighs 01:42
11.stabbed in hamburg 01:50
12.the williams sisters 00:38
13.cowtail calypso 01:38
14.banned announcements 01:57
15.on the beach boys bus (reprise) 03:29
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37:06 min
Uniting the disparate elements of Scottish jazz-guru Bill
Wells and Japan's willfully amateur Maher Shalal Hash Baz
ensemble, 'Osaka Bridge' is an album that doesn't shirk
from it's lofty aspirations - bringing a juxtaposition of
styles together and reigning them into collaboration
without losing either party's creative finger-print.
With obvious comparisons ranging from Syd Barrett and David
Axelrod, through to The Incredible String Band and The
Beach Boys, 'Osaka Bridge' pulls threads of jazz, folk,
improvisation, rock and classical - then knits them into a
flowing fabric of strange (yet appealing) lustre. Opening
through the calm-sea of 'Rye and Guy', Wells and Maher
Shalal Hash Baz indulge in some dwindling horns that appear
utterly benign on the surface - but allow your ears to
drift a little deeper and you'll reveal a foreboding
composition that wears it's gravitas with deceptive
lightness.
With rich and generous arrangements from Wells and a
cluttered style from Maher Shalal Hash Bez, 'Osaka' could
have suffered from endless aural friction as polarised
styles repelled the other - yet whilst this conflict might
have prompted moments of interest, the overall stance of
collaboration is much more satisfying over a full LP.
Managing to sound not unlike Air's soundtrack work on 'The
Dust Of Moths', particular highlights emerge when Reiko
Kudo (wife of Maher leader Tori Kudo) takes to the mic for
vocal duties - with the campfire torch song 'Time Takes Me
So Back' and it's treated piano a genuine joy. Similarly,
the Tori Kudo fronted 'Cowtail Calypso' (a song that arose
when Wells asked Kudo to sing Roger MillerÆs 'King Of The
Road' over a syncopated, propulsive melody) is both
esoteric and thoroughly appealing, whilst the broiling
rhythms and spittal-flecked horns of 'Liquorice Tics' can't
help but bring a smile to your face.
Closing through the piano-led fragility of 'On The Beach
Boys Bus (Reprise)', Bill Wells & Maher Shalal Hash Baz
have crafted an album that enhances any mood and deserves
to be heard well beyond the broadsheet-ghetto to which it's
intellectual stance could readily have it consigned.
Welling up! Buy!