Empty Space Orchestra’s self-titled full-length doesn’t unseat Stetson, but it certainly makes a run for it. The trick with ESO is that they know how to balance their songwriting. If total mood pieces and obliterating guitar work are on opposite sides, ESO is running down the line between the two, grabbing stuff from both sides. […]
Colin Stetson
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Always Be Happy, but Stay Evil — Garage a Trois
I’m not going to lie: About half the reason I wanted to hear this was because of its fantastical name. I’ve been getting into Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey’s post-everything jazz mash-ups recently, and Garage A Trois is one step further down the rung toward true jazz. Garage A Trois is described as a “post rock/freak […]
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Duke Garwood — Dreamboatsafari
After hearing Duke Garwood’s chilled-out guitar ruminations “Jesus Got a Gun” and “Summer Gold” (the latter of which I featured on OKS), I was totally stoked for an album based around acoustic talking blues. Instead, “Dreamboatsafari” is mostly skronk-heavy blues/jazz disc with a couple mellow tunes thrown in. And when I mean skronk-heavy, I mean […]
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Colin Stetson — New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges
Colin Stetson (Tom Waits, Arcade Fire, TV on the Radio, among others) is of the last category, as his upcoming album, “New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges,” is a cerebral experience unlike any other I’ve heard. It drops Feb. 22. Stetson plays saxophones primarily; there’s one 76-second French horn suite, but the bulk of the […]