One of Chicago’s most respected musicians, Rob
Mazurek has been at the root of a considerable number
of projects, from the Chicago Underground ensembles
to the jazz/funk fusion Isotope 217, formed with Tortoise
members Jeff Parker, John Herndon and Dan Bitney, to
more low-key projects. He’s also appeared on records
by the likes of Tortoise, Stereolab,
Godspeed You Black Emperor! or the Aluminium Group to
name but a few.
This latest project sees Mazurek team up with Alan Licht
(guitar), Matthew Lux (bass guitar, electronics), Steve
Swell (trombone), Jason Ajemian (double bass, electronics),
and Frank Rosaly (drums), with Tortoise’s John
Herndon, Rick Rizzo (Eleventh Dream Day), Jim Becker
(Califone) and Mikael Jorgensen (Wilco) in supporting
roles. Described as ‘Sun Ra influenced by modern
electronic programming/recording collaborating with
Slayer while visiting Pita and the Mego crew in present
day Austria’, this album is not by any means an
easy record to approach. Throwing elements of free jazz,
noise, metal and dub into the ring, Mazurek an his troops
push their experimentations well beyond breaking point,
providing an intriguing, and often disconcerting, series
of broken landscapes where melodies constantly collide
and rapidly disintegrate before being totally absorbed
by the dark sonic magma which serves as a consistent
backdrop. References to Miles Davis or John Coltrane
can at times be felt, but this is very much the work
of Mazurek which is expressed here, and it is his stamp
that ominously hovers all over this record. From the
heavy footed Green Giraffe and Black Goat
Pt. 1 & 2 to the almost delicate forms
of The Ghost Ship Is Sinking or its alter-ego
Ghost Ships Don’t Sink, Mandarin Movie
cram as much as humanely possible into their compositions,
often risking overload but always remaining in control,
even on the epic cloud of noise that is the closing
The Brightest Building In The World.
Delicacy is certainly not the mot d’ordre here.
Mazurek and his band offer an incredibly dense and obsessive
piece of work that has a tendency to get under the skin
and inflict constant seismic shockwaves. Not for the
faint-hearted, Mandarin Movie drill their way down this
album with a raw sense of urgency, taking everything
in their way, and revive the noise/experimental jazz
template with panache.
4.5/5 |
