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Product Description
Review
It was John Peel who observed that "Cowdenbeath nil, Stenhousmuir nil" is the most depressing phrase in the English language. That's as may be, but if you happen to take an interest in improvised music, "but is it jazz?" gives it a good run for its money.
Most often the assumption behind the question is if it is jazz then it's good music, if it isn't then it's bad. But, as much as we all love jazz, does anyone actually think that it's the only music that is worth anything? Time to move on. Jazz criticism isn't dead, it just stinks.
To see how out of touch this question is you just have to look at the music. Recently a British arts body set out to give development grants to Britain's most promising young jazz musicians. Of the eight they chose (including two from Acoustic Ladyland), only one actually described their music as jazz. What is going on here? Musicians notoriously don't like labels but perhaps there's something more. Maybe the word jazz has become something of a millstone round a rising musician's neck. After all, who wants to play a music in which Michael Parkinson is the most powerful man?
Enter Acoustic Ladyland, part of a growing scene of jazz musicians by background, but whose music is neither jazz nor non-jazz. Post-jazz you might say. Sister band to the equally excellent Polar Bear (with whom they share three members) they're key parts of the not to be underestimated London musicians' collective F-IRE, whose DIY, 'just get out there' ethic owes much to punk.
And it seems punk is also the vital musical ingredient in this new sound too. A little bit of it goes a long way in making the scales (and chords for that matter) fall from a jazz musicians eyes. Forget about the 'tradition' - here's improvisation with an Oedipus complex. While fellow travelers like The Thing, Spaceways Inc and The Bad Plus have been exploring their own skronk versions of The White Stripes, PJ Harvey and Nirvana, Acoustic Ladyland have penned their own blistering set and in Last Chance Disco, produced the first classic of the post-jazz movement.
Song titles like "Iggy", "Nico" and "Ludwig Van Ramone" leave you in no doubt as to what's ahead and just to make the point crystal clear the first track thrashes by in less than two minutes of turbo charged call and response riffage. Sixty minutes follow of life-affirmingly dumb shrieks, stomps and power chords. Not to suggest that there's no musical interest; Tom Cawley's fender rhodes on "Iggy" darts back and forth across the barline followed by Seb Rochford's stunning drumming just as if they were playing "Inner Urge". And on "Luwdig Van Ramone", saxophonist and bandleader Pete Wareham's solo manages to connect "Baker Street" with Josh Wink's "Higher State of Consciousness". What many a po-faced purist may dismiss as mere pop music actually is full of improviser's detail.
It's a music that contains just as much of early seventies free jazzers The Trio as it does The Gang of Four. What's more, like Herbie Hancock and Miles Davis before them, they've fallen through to a whole new universe of grooves.
What really comes across when you listen to this landmark release though, is the almost palpable relief and joy of talented musicians finally letting themselves play what they secretly always wanted to. Shoplift this record, the criminal record will be worth it. --Russell Finch
Find more music at the BBC This link will take you off Amazon in a new window
CD Description
Last year's album by Acoustic Ladyland rightly picked up plaudits from all quarters of the jazz world, showing an inventive and accomplished band forging fusions of jazz with other popular music forms. During the year since that record, the band has been working and refining its sound, so much so that on recent London showcase gigs they risked blowing their audiences right back into the venue bar. A gritty, 70s fusion sound with distorted fender rhodes sounds to the fore combines with inventive use of material and some highly accomplished musicianship (particular from star drummer Seb Rochford) to make LAST CHANCE DISCO a real highlight among the jazz releases of 2005. Jazzwise's cover story on the band that ran in February quite rightly said that "All the rules have changed" in the contemporary jazz world and this album is comprehensive proof of that. Tour dates: 14th April Future RockNRoll - On the Rocks, London/Saturday 23rd April Vibe Bar, London (album launch party)/6 May Jazz Sous les Pommiers - Coutances, France/14 May - The Spitz/Sunday 15th May The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth/ Thursday 19th May The Wardrobe, Leeds/ Friday 20th/21st May One Eleven, Sheffield/ Monday 23rd May Arts Centre, Norwich/ Saturday 28th May Bath Jazz Festival/ Thursday 2nd June Swindon Arts Centre/ Tuesday 4th June Cranleigh Arts Centre/ 9 June The Barfly, London/ Tuesday 21st June Glasgow Jazz Festival/ Wednesday 22nd June Lemon Tree, Aberdeen/25 - Glastonbury Festival (tbc) / 30 June The Bunker - Metro, London/Saturday 2nd July The Spiegeltent, Birmingham Jazz Festival/5 July Vienne Jazz Festival, France (tbc)/ 11 July Belgrade Theatre, Coventry
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Live, its an awesome package, and on record it's the same story. They really have done it again, and this time they didn't need Hendrix. It's another triumph for London-based gurus Acoustic Ladyland. Their eagerly awaited follow-up to Camouflage sees them move in a new, but not unwelcome, direction. Where Camouflage's acoustic approach feels like contemporary jazz (the ludicrously gifted Pete Wareham sounding positively Coltranesque at times), this latest release has its feet firmly in rock heritage; Tom Herbert plays electric bass throughout, churning out riffs with venom and conviction, and Seb Rochford (hair today, hair tomorrow) thunders around the kit with his usual, and baffling, combination of vitriol and grace. But it is Wareham who steals the show, his sax playing at times mimicing everything from shrieking electric guitars to shrieking punk vocals. He even sings on 'Perfect Bitch'. Ideal.
Its a truly wonderful racket these virtuosos make. The production is absolutely amazing; they've managed to create a breathtaking depth of sound that Queens of the Stoneage would be proud of. And the tunes aren't half bad, to boot. Whether it be the righteous soulful bellowing of 'Ludwig Van Ramone', or the infectious bass hook from 'Deckchair', their simplicity and directness mean they begged to be hummed repeatedly all day long. Even thrash attack 'Thing' manages to be tuneful.
Perhaps not one for the jazz purists, but whether this is jazz is a long and silly debate that I'm sure won't keep the band awake at night. 'Iggy' is pure punk, and some of the ska-tinged drumming also throws us off the jazz scent. Its simply big, loud and intriguingly scary, which only makes the balladic opening to 'Of You' (written by Wareham and his wife) all the more beautiful. Who cares what it is, its the nicest thing you can possibly do for your ears (although they probably won't like you for it).
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Given this album as a birthday gift with the words 'its sax led jazz, but a bit punky'. This gets nowhere near the truth! Yes there is punk, yes there is jazz but the influences, both musical and non, go so much further than that. Listening to this is like going on a journey that speeds up, slows down, gathers momentum again and all the time everything seems fresh and new. A wonderful, wonderful album which deserves to be widely heard and then it will be widely enjoyed. Spread the word!
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
From the opening bars of the first track, Iggy, the energy of the music is fabulous. Even when the pace slows for a quieter, keyboard driven track like Trial and Error, it is a lively experience.
Peter Wareham blows his horn with total confidence and an ability to jam that is a revelation. The remainder of the group contribute with equal talent to the demented and bounding sound.
This is an album to play in a fast car, foot down, heading for the horizon.
Peter Wareham blows his horn with total confidence and an ability to jam that is a revelation. The remainder of the group contribute with equal talent to the demented and bounding sound.
This is an album to play in a fast car, foot down, heading for the horizon.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Lke the music...shame about the CD pressing
Can't really disagree with the previous reviews - loud, thrashy, out of control....thumbs up!
What spoils things, and results in the 3 stars, is the poor quality of the... Read more
What spoils things, and results in the 3 stars, is the poor quality of the... Read more
Published 20 months ago by N Hughes
i hate jazz!
ive spent years saying "oh i really hate jazz"--ive stopped saying it now.this is brilliant.
Published on 26 Jun 2005 by Mr. Kevin J. Brown
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