Search - Tim Mungenast :: NO SUCH ANIMAL

Cruising the borders between prog rock and jazz

Jan P. Dennis | Monument, CO USA | 02/27/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Why isn't this the hottest thing out there? Too esoteric? Too obscure? Too authentic?



You tell me.



To be perfectly candid, I know nothing about this scene--the interstices between jazz and out-indie rock. So why am I the first person to review this nearly two-year-old disc?



Me, I'm blown away by this obscure musical aesthetic, haunting the spaces that separate jazz from some way-weird instrumental pop-vibe. I guess it's just that guys this edgy have got to ply their trade in obscurity: That's what they're facing, that's their gig. Too out there for the indie crowd, too obscure and lacking jazz creds, they operate in some jazz-indie nether world, heard by few, appreciated by even fewer.



But, hey. There's nothing all that outré happen here--nothing that the intrepid surfer of obscure musics can't relate to: drone, world-jazz, faux Eastern jazz-lounge. This is what you get when major Boston iconoclasts Birdsongs of the Mesozoic and Cul de Sac meet: loosey-goosey jazz-rock of the highest accomplishment and listenability.



Sure, they're lots of safer musics you can glom onto. But you're not going to find much more creative and evocative than this mesmeric set.



Highest recommendation."