Paris Lounge / Berlin Lounge
Various Artists
Wagram
A very nicely-done set of concept albums. Each one consists of two discs, one “by Day (12PM)” and one “by Night (12AM).” I’m not sure how representative the tone of each disc is of the actual time and place, but my favorite has to be Berlin’s nighttime. Paris has a jazzier influence, which can be enjoyable, but Berlin’s sound is indubitably funkier, and in the Teutonic darkness there lurks a deep groove I would never have suspected from Germany. Christian Zimmerman’s “Diary of a Lost Girl” is a cross between classic bossa nova and Arthur Lyman’s tiki flourishes, glued together by an insistent birimbau sound that alternates with electric piano showers. Damn effective. Truby Trio – a name you’ll be sick of soon enough – weigh in with a rumbling “A Go Go,” which comes down on you like a rack of crime dramas.
Seamlessly blending into one another, the tracks in each disc are a cohesive reality, unique not just for its tempo and mood but for some undefinable geosocial character. That’s fancy talk, but your ears will understand.
Wagram Music, distributed by Musicrama: http://www.musicrama.com
