Astro Can Caravan - Questral Places
(BV2)
This isn't the type of album you generally read about in fakejazz. Which is funny, because it actually has something to do with jazz. Combining Fela Kuti's groove, the melody and modes of Ethiopian jazz, and Sun Ra's atmosphere and delivery, Questral Places is an exciting, bizarre, and entirely fun album. Led by Otto Eskelinen (piano, organ, accordian), Tomi Kosonen (tenor sax), and Pharoah Pirttikangs (synthesizer, guitar), this sprawling collective consists of 9 core members, with as many as 12 to 20 people in their live shows.
On their album Questral Places there are 5 songs, proper. These are split up by 3 "Astral Movements," which split up the often-hyperactive groove and funk of the songs. With 12 members playing 18 credited instruments from different horns to the obvious "rock" instruments to a euphonium, the sounds can get pretty thick, heavy, and weird. The Astral Movements are where they really stretch out, playing fractured improvisations that cleanse the palette, by whatever means necessary. On the second, that means a messy recording of pummeling bass, which driving a distorted and persistent beat into your head, almost like a noise band. The first is meandering and sloppy, but comparatively, laid back. The opening track basically steals its sound from Ethiopian jazz, before exploding into the kind of wah-guitar solo you'd expect from Major Stars—so over the top and so fun. "Mohenjo-Daro" follows a similar pattern, but organ, synthesizer and an awesome distorted bass are the wild cards. The final (and longest) track, "Nile" is a melancholy and sparse meditation, which hints at Miles Davis' pre-funk era.
While treading scary ground (modern jazz-funk), Astro Can Caravan cram so many bizarre references and so much exciting experimentation into the mix that they avoid all the possible trappings of playing in a genre so fraught with complacent, boring, and trite groups. This is probably the most surprising and unexpected thing I've ever received through fakejazz.
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