Jan 15 2019
Best of 2018 #17: Trio HLK – “Standard Time”
There’s so many ways to utilize the music of the past as the source of inspiration for the music of today. Trio HLK (along with guests Evelyn Glennie and Steve Lehman) present a before-and-after comparative of deconstructed standards, where the original work serves as the seed for a massive transformation into something quite new. The before and after pictures are not always apparent. In fact, a certain level of disconnect should be expected going in. However, that’s the charm of the album, and its intelligence. In that same way a puzzle can be considered a source of entertainment even as it forces a brain to go into overdrive and the nervous system to persevere ’til the solution is found, Standard Time coaxes a deep dive into the memory banks for something familiar as it simultaneously keeps the attention focused on its playful expressionism of the new.
Released on Ubuntu Music.
Music from Edinburgh, Scotland.
Read more on Bird is the Worm.
This bizarre yet immaculately orchestrated session from Jeroen Kimman’s Orquesta del Tiempo Perdido is one of the most intriguing things I’ve heard all year. In the spirit of the diverse expressionism of the Kamikaze Ground Crew but with an emphasis on alien eccentricities rather than terrestrial oddities, Kimman’s ensemble finds a curious convergence between the whimsy of children songs and space-age effects and all of it balanced upon a slender, fluid melody that cuts down the heart of each of these fascinating tunes. Nothing here sounds normal, and, yet, by the time the album reaches its conclusion, there is something comfortingly, strangely familiar about it. Were I to create a Favorites of 2018 list, it’s quite likely that Stille would earn the top spot.
The lyricism of this recording borders on the epic, which in itself makes Pagan Panic pretty damn special. But the casual ease in which it’s offered up makes for a contrast in expression that puts this recording on an entirely different plateau. Some albums have an emotional impact of such strength that it elicits the feeling of having undergone a journey, of experienced an arc not unlike a storybook character. The 2018 release from Manu Pékar is one such example, and one of the best to see the light of day in 2018.
When I made this album
Jan 15 2019
Best of 2018 #16: Sarathy Korwar – “My East Is Your West”
Released on Gearbox Records.
Music from London, UK.
I wrote about this album for The Bandcamp Daily.
Available at: Bandcamp | Amazon
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By davesumner • Recap: Best of 2018 • 0 • Tags: Gearbox Records, Jazz - Best of 2018, London, Sarathy Korwar