26.07.2006
Like any music-fanatic, I have lots of music. So much in fact that sometimes keeping track of what I actually have can be a bothersome job.
Call me zealous, but I do feel the need to know every song I have, what band, what album and how it sounds. So that if I should ever feel like listening to that song, I can whip it up in an instant.
Since I'm already clogged with seemingly more music than I can handle, I haven't really had much interest in getting any more music lately. However at this year's Roskilde festival I heard a few truly stunning bands, which made me reconsider. Tied & Tickled Trio was one of those bands.
Their music is a mainly a form of deep, dark jazz with elements from dub.
Their CD/DVD "a.r.c." consists of one-track CD with a long version of their song "a.r.c." and DVD with lots of material, including a live performance of their previous album "Observing systems". The video quality is utterly rubbish, but the sound is beyond belief and so is their performance.
The performance starts with "The long tomorrow", a stunning piece which keeps the focus on the jazz. While the composition is rather simple (as many other unforgetable jazz tunes) the nerve and intensity is breathtaking. The horn-section just builds up and up and up again, and you are left there with no choice but to listening it all trough. Simply breathtaking.
Another outstanding performance is "Motorik", a insane electric piece which just drags about halfway into the song with nothing but electronic noises and dub-beats. At this point it all just explodes. Distorted saxophone solos competing for the listeners attention with seemingly randomly modulated synths.
Its dark, its deep, it has nerve and it has groove. For those who thought jazz had been on a standstill since the 60s, here's the proof you were wrong.
God, I love finding new music like this!