s w e e t b e a t s
april.17.2001 - #575
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artist : Extended Spirit
album : Solid Water
year : 1999
label : Sonar Kollektiv / Dialog Records
genre : Lo-Fi
catalogue : SDCD0001
url : www.sonarkollektiv.de
quality : CD 192k HQ True Stereo
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01.Fadin in 03:54
02.Pressure 98 06:45
03.The Hub 05:26
04.Propulsion 06:25
05.Solid Water Intro 00:20
06.Solid Water 05:50
07.Illicity Pt 1 03:51
08.Illicity Pt 2 09:18
09.Pressure 06:33
10.Solid Water (Rainer Truby Trio) 06:02
11.Pressure 98 (Megashira 99) 07:14
12.Solid Water (Beatless) 06:17
13.Propulsion (Avdc Steffen Dixon B) 08:27
13 tracks | 76:22 mins | 105,0 MB
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Solid Water is a prime example of nu-jazz. This genre should really
scare you. You should be alert to the hideous potential of such a
term. Even before I became aware that such a thing existed, I was
experiencing bed-wetting nightmares about Mike Oldfield
collaborating with Jam and Spoon, the concept of Kenny G. cutting
soprano sax-rug with, say, Utah Saints, or the limitless terror of
the Rippingtons jamming with Howie B. This, naturally, precipitates
me into a delirium of no small dimension. But maybe, on the
evidence of Solid Water, I shouldn't be so timid.
First, though, let me get through my barbs: the title, I mean, it's
so George Winston, or maybe it's a leftover from the Winter 1987
Windham Hill compilation. Surely, the band can't be referencing
John Martyn's posthumous advice to fellow folkie, Nick Drake (who
cannot be left alone now, ever since Belle and Sebastian and
Whistler reared their homespun selves - why doesn't anybody pick on
Cat Stevens?). Can they?
Extended Spirit are not corrupted middle-aged men who disguise
themselves in paisley-print vests and open shirts and inundate
God's glorious creation with instrumental bilge water. They are
members of the German movement that has given us God's glorious
creation Jazzanova, Beanfield, and even the Compost Label (named
after the roster's fecundity, no doubt).
Solid Water has a squelchy, squirmy, mulchy, and compostular
opening cut, too. "Fadin' In" does more than, well, fade in; it
gets you in the mood for a joyful sixty minutes, bouncy with
diminished chords and stylish augmented sevenths. Extended Spirit
intend to get modal on your supine booty! "Pressure '98" lulls
initially with breathy female vocals la-la-ling over a subdued
Rhodes piano before the breakbeats thrust forward and roll over on
top of an acoustic bass line. Extended Spirit aren't about to
emulate 4 Hero's labored "Two Pages." Instead, they want their fun
to be your fun.
"Propulsion" could be an Irresistible Force track, if Mixmaster
Morris persuaded A Tribe Called Quest to lend him a silly Q-Tip
sample ("This is how they do it!"). But Extended Spirit don't have
the same "lie down and be counted" agenda as the Irresistible
Force. "Propulsion", an effortless, effervescent groove that makes
you doff your frown and feel a little euphoric, belongs up there
with "Floatation" by erstwhile Balearic wonders, the Grid. The
record's title track is ushered in with slow congas and a sleepy
piano bassline. It's completely overshadowed by "Propulsion," of
course, but it's not without class, by any means.
Before you get into the remixes, "Illicity" will smooth away any
residual wrinkles and give you the chills to boot. Initally, the
track is reliant on strings and a stand-up bass to subdue you, but
it later becomes everything that L.T.J. Bukem has tried to achieve.
(To my ears, Bukem depends too heavily on Vangelis' soundtrack to
"Blade Runner" for inspiration and ambience.)
Though Extended Spirit use very Bukem-esque breakbeats on the later
parts of "Illicity," their eerie, despondent, barely sung sample
("I don't like to be alone/ In the street") casts a shadowy,
baleful pall over the track-- an indistinct menace that marks
Extended Spirit out as vastly superior to the heavy- handed Bukem
and his wearisome acolytes. The album's final track before the
remixes is an original, more robust version of "Pressure" bustling
with rampant hi-hats and a careening melody line bolstered by a
lightning Rhodes piano solo for which Jamiroquai's Jason Kay would
probably trade in his new Lamborghini.
Of the four remixes at the end of the disc, the AVDC's take on
"Propulsion" deserves special mention, being as close to full-on
house music as this record gets, though it'd be a daring DJ who
dropped this tune into the set. AVDC's remix replaces the
resplendent, Mediterreanean vibe of the original with a brooding,
wary, injured groove. When Q-Tip's sample enters, it's more like
words of warning than of applause.
My profound worries about enduring muso- toss, purposeless
melismatics, and concealed new age earnestness have proved entirely
foundless. Extended Spirit's spin on nu-jazz gives you all the
delectable, sunny stuff you could wish for. They've just cut the
joy with a lingering, sobering disquiet.
- written by Paul Cooper
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s w e e t b e a t s
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greetings to klangwerk, mgc, sour, dh, impg & sfe
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