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Pineapple Corner was available in France a year ago,
but has only now got a UK release date. It is a nu-jazz collaboration
between DJ Soul G and musician Tony Match and is fresh and interesting, if
disappointing.
What exactly is nu-jazz? On this album it's a little
bit of this (jazz), a little bit of that (world music/ambient), and a little
bit of the other (hip-hop and jungle). It's not an easy combo to pull off,
and Soul G and Tony don't always succeed, but that's not for lack of
ambition.
The collection starts on its musical high-point, a
zenith that the boys never reach again in pure head-bopping terms. Grass
Track has great beats - something that is echoed throughout the whole album.
They underlay a vibe of '60s film title credits music with some groovy kids
driving their car through London, and there's some fine filtering/panning of
that loop.
The next piece is an example of clever production
lacking musical sparkle. A Voice in the Air is undoubtedly original with its
dub beat, hip-hop vocals, bubbling bass, deep electric piano, dust/scratch
sounds and another '60s-kids loop. But it's not a great tune. The same could
be said of Mystical Circle which follows.
The fourth track Aliens gives some insight into the
problem - it's the recipe. Soul G and Tony Match are pushing the limits of
genre here, but Aliens sounds muddy and ineffectively combined. The lads don't have what it takes to pull off the synthesis consistently over eleven tracks.
And when they're using up so much energy concentrating
on mixing unusual genres in a nu-jazz combo, then the melody and rhythm lose
out in the balance. They don't have the energy to do a whole of album of
great music and original production.
But then tracks like Difficulties, Pineapple Corner
and Eternity show just how amazing the result can be when these guys pull
off both. Here is found a genuinely new sound, genuinely enjoyable songs,
and a desire to forgive them for any failings in the rest of the album.
There is no doubt that the whole of the album should
be applauded for its ambition and innovation, but it falls short of being
the release it could have been. Apart from some standout tracks, it's a
collection of brilliant production ideas which aren't quite carried through
to be the songs they had the potential to become.
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