WILT_2022-40

A playlist of songs that intrigued me from Sunday to Saturday. Week of 2 Oct 2022 to 8 Oct 2022.

1. Trust the Journey – Theon Cross
2. 40tude – Theon Cross
3. Watching Over (Bless Up Dad) – Theon Cross
4. Forward Progression II – Theon Cross
5. Yoshi Orange – Ebi Soda
6. Postcards – Waldo’s Gift
7. Telepathic DNA – Soccer96
8. Something to Do in the Future – Ebi Soda
9. Blenda – Charlotte Adigery, Bolis Pupul
10. Love Your Grace – Vega Trails
11. Unknown Jam – Azymuth
12. Amalgation – DoomCannon
13. Epic Dream – Vega Trails
14. Spiral – The Vernon Spring
15. Floral And Botanical Explorations – Robohands
16. Movement I, II, III – Lapalux

Hyperlink to Spotify playlist: WILT_2022-40

Notes

We start with a burst of four tracks by Theon Cross. I was already interested when I came across the tuba player last week, and this week I managed to solidify that Cross is an important revelation in my appreciation of jazz and music.

For starters, the tuba might be considered an unorthodox, or backing instrument in most music arrangements, but in his music, Cross brings his ideas on the form into the spotlight by writing music to be performed by the bass cannon of the classical world.

On tracks like 40tude when the first bass notes hit, the reverberation is so unlike anything you might have heard before. Coupled with an energetic but controlled rhythm performance, the bass and melody all have room to shine without needing to be too processed. This is the future of dance, jazz, afro-beat all in one.

Trust the Journey is a euphoric performance and also a terrific opener to lull you into the potential of Cross’s music. When we ultimately crescendo, the musicians swell in not the usual flourishes and shimmering, but rather in the intensity of its breaths. It is actually very breath taking.

On Watching Over (Bless Up Dad), Cross slows down and also softens. With such a heavy-set tone, one wonders about the exploration of intimacy with the instrument. Like a very large animal animal in a relatively small room, that is when the instrument like the tuba is led rather than leads. The role falls to the bass saxophone which gently guides Cross’s tuba parts into achingly melodic passages that navigate the darkness without knocking down anything. It’s a dance in darkness, and you trust the leader, and the process of being led.

Man Forward Progression II comes on, and you have a shred of reggae or dub in you, you will bouncing off your feet. From the opening drum fill, you know this track is going to dig deep, and when the bass drops, you’re going to want a tuba at every dub jam.

After Cross’s album, Intra-I (2021) ended, I did not know where the rest of the week was going to take me. Somewhere somehow Yoshi Orange by Ebi Soda came on, and I must have been captivated its broken beats and very tight snare drum.

Postcards by Waldo’s Gift was added probably because I was intrigued by the bass part being featured so prominently. But don’t let that fool you, there’s a guitar part in the middle of the song that features some great experimental tones.

The tone of the bassline on Soccer96’s Telepathic DNA is extremely tight, with just a bit of its top end clipping off providing the much needed tension that sits so well in the smidgen above the gorgeous free-flowing drum arrangement. It’s over in under two minutes, but I think that ephemeral nature makes it fleetingly special.

The trumpet arrangement and solo on Something to Do in the Future is a beautiful performance allows itself to be supported by some very ethereal guitar parts, and a solid bass and rhythm section. It sort of comes and goes, but this playlist would not be complete without it.

Blenda is a bit out of the blue, but I decided to include it because I found the synth arrangement extremely dance-able to, and also extremely bold in its rather minimal arrangement.

This week’s playlist was originally supposed to end with Love Your Grace by Vega Trails. What a beautiful feather in the cap to end on a beautiful double bass performance that commands the higher registers while also writing the rules of the universe with its commanding lower registers, but the week still had more to give, and I am here to receive.

Unknown Jam by Azymuth came on. The tones are so old school, but damn, they are too cool. The bass tone is an absolute carpet muncher, especially on those sliding double stops. Oh my goodness, some pornos can only wish they were this sexy. By the way, the keyboard solo in the middle is also a joy. But I am a bass player, so I am a little biased.

I checked the DoomCannon’s music because of the artist’s name. I mean, c’mon, DOOMCANNON. I am so glad that I did. DoomCannon’s progressive to jazz is exciting, pure, and riveting. On Amalgation, you get the sense that he does not want to bore you, or rather, bore himself. The musical arrangements are schizophrenic, frenetic, but ultimately, they want to tell you that music is beautiful and exciting. So don’t be beholden to what you know, and be beholden to what the universe can still teach you.

Vega Trails finds its way back here. Perhaps it’s a good time to share some background about who they are.

Vega Trails are a new project from double-bassist and composer Milo Fitzpatrick, a founder member of Portico Quartet and features saxophonist Jordan Smart (Mammal Hands, Sunda Arc) in a richly powerful duo bringing together two powerfully charismatic musicians. The project was born out of a desire to bring the elements of bass and melody to the foreground in their rawest form.

From the Vega Trails website

Now the track Epic Dreams makes sense.

Spiral by The Vernon Spring I added because I thought it was a beautiful interlude that condensed so many musical ideas all at once.

Floral And Botanical Explorations is also another interlude that I simply had to add because too much music is written as holes, whereas ideas come as parts. This is one of them, especially when the saxophone comes in, but also fades out. It doesn’t know what it needs to be except in that particular point in time.

And the previous concept could not be more overturned in how we end this week’s playlist. Movement I, II, III by Lapalux explores a multitude of ideas that runs the gamut of sketches, introductions, false starts, before saying, fuck it, here are some amazing beats and i hope you actually die from listening to them because I sacrificed portions of my sanity to make this.

What a week. I love Week Forty. And as a public service announcement, there are twelve weeks left to 2022.