Search
Close this search box.

PULPFUSION: Modern Jazz (2013)

Right then – how about some Modern Jazz. Wait – come back! I’m on about Pulpfusion‘s forthcoming LP Modern Jazz not ‘modern jazz.’ Yes – Pulpfusion – that Swiss ‘ghetto metal’ merchant who makes Junkie XL and The Prodigy sound like chamber music. Has he found a new musical direction? ‘Nu-fusion’ perhaps? A ‘ghetto funk’ On The Corner? Nothing so hideous. The title track might open with a slab of smokey breaks that might have made it onto a Mo Wax comp. back in the day and second track Ashtray might sport a trumpet but by the time we get that far the breaks have accelerated into b-boy breaks territory. Which is a location Pulpfusion stays in for one more track before being unable to hold himself back any more and unleashing the metal guitar loops for the aptly titled Psycho. Nothing jazzy about that. Then as if feeling guilty our man follows this up with the Orbital-like ambience of Nachtschatten. That’s ‘nightshade’ to non-German speakers of course. From one extreme to the other then – contrapuntal? You decide.

Admittedly Funky Jazzy Time does have a fusion-like ambience to its broken beats, the superb Pain & Hurt carries a soul jazzy breaks vibe filtered through what sounds a bit like Vangelis-style synths and closer Dream features a lone jazzy trumpet but you’ll also hear blues, rock and ambient influences on the remainder of the album. Of particular note are the Herbie Hancock-ish Brownshugar, big-ass blues breaks jam Feelin The Blues and the upliftingly percussive organ jam Keep Calm. And of course no discussion of this LP should pass without mention of the superbly titled Grey Hairs On Balls. All in all a hugely varied set of largely instrumental grooves demonstrating a mellower side to this Swiss beat scientist than you may have hitherto imagined existed.
(Out 4 November on Pig Balls)

Leave a Reply

CATEGORIES

TAGS

RECENT

ARCHIVE