RPE Duo
Bananas
Wave Folder Records
My, how jazz has fallen. From the blistering rhythms and percussive frenzy of the post-war generation we have now left all that high energy behind. Today jazz contemplate less exhausting music based on electronic manipulations rather than beating on bits of wood and ivory and brass. Weirder still, I now have an actual New Zealand jazz disk in my hands, or more properly, on my hard drive. Frankly, I would have classed this as electronica or experimental, but I will respect the press release and tag this as jazz. I’m looking at 15 tracks, mostly vocal free, but all with interesting rhythmic structures and undertones of electronic effects.
The titles have little obvious connection to the soundscapes; I can offer no good explanation as to where “Campfire in Space” or “Raw Skeleton” relates to the quiet whistle tones of slight reverb or beep boop beeps fit into one title or another. But they are engaging, and most tracks clock in around 2:30 so you’re never committed to one soundscape for longer than a pop tune attention span. Quirky, invigorating, and electronic, this is an album for the connoisseur of odd sounds who has no desire to dance or bang their head. Perhaps its really jazz. I’ll have to think about that, and maybe that’s the whole purpose here.
-bm
https://rpeduo.bandcamp.com/; https://wavefolder.bandcamp.com/album/bananas
