Nostalgia 77 And The Monster - The Taxidermist on CD

Description

Semi-schizoid producer Benedic Lamdin, who trades under the name Nostalgia 77, has worked in a variety of styles. Starting out in hip hop and heavy funk, he drifted into jazz orchestration, which led to the release of the acclaimed Everything Under the Sun in 2007.Subsequent collaborations with British soul singer Alice Russell, down-tempo remixer Bonobo, experimental jazz duo Keith and Julie Tippett, and nu-folk troubadour Jeb Loy Nichols have helped spread awareness of his talents.The latest Lamdin offering, billed as Nostaliga 77 and the Monster, is a thoroughly intriguing instrumental set, staffed with an impressive line-up of leading British jazz heads, including organist Ross Stanley, experimental pianist Matthew Bourne, Italian-born trumpeter Fulvio Sigurta, and composer/multi-instrumentalist James Allsopp (here on sax and clarinet). They’re all backed by drummer Tim Giles and bassist/composer Riaan Vosloo.The best thing about The Taxidermist is that you can’t predict what’s coming next. The title track has a bouncing bass with hints of funk in it, the drummer vamping on a "flying cymbal" riff, but the organ sounds like a rocket ship revving its engine in a carport, while the trumpet and sax blow quizzically resigned melodies.The Last Few Days forms a nice showcase for Bourne’s piano chops, a slightly dubwise mix heightening the tension of the track, while the dual-reed melody of Algernon seems pleasantly light.Oblique crawler Zippy Slipper sounds like an outtake from a detective flick, and Angels and Demons is agreeably all over the map, starting out as a slow trumpet dirge, but soon morphing into a cacophony of Afrobeat clavinet, barking horns and pseudo-Latin rhythms.The further you head, the more complex the stew becomes, and the more flavourful. Rather than being some mariachi madness, Sunrise in Mexico has soulful organ licks and bebop horn lines, and the closing number is led by a beautifully emotive sax, equal parts mournful and celebratory, its trumpet counterpart momentarily hinting at George Gershwin’s Summertime.The disc reaches the finish line all too soon, but fear not: the journey sounds just as good on repeat listening. --David KatzFind more music at the BBC This link will take you off Amazon in a new window Product Description Nostalgia 77 has been heartily championed by the likes of Gilles Peterson (BBC R1/6Music) and Jamie Cullum (BBC R2), for his solo work as well as collaborations with an eclectic list of talents including Jeb Loy Nichols (Island), Beth Rowley (Universal) and Alice Russell, among others. His latest album under the main Nostalgia 77 alias was 2011 s critically acclaimed The Sleepwalking Society , his most heavily vocal album yet, which saw him working with the velvet voiced German singer Josa Peit and showcasing his songwriting skills, to high acclaim and heavy tastemaker support including Guy Garvey, Nemone and Stuart Maconie on BBC 6Music. The Taxidermist brings together the spoils of a handful of experimental recording sessions which took place earlier this year, featuring some of the UK s most eminent jazz talents on the current scene; on hearing the resulting material, Nostalgia 77 s label Tru Thoughts snapped it up for an album release. The title track which was the first cut to make it out of the studio, before the album had even been conceived - was premiered on BBC Radio 2 by Jamie Cullum, alongside an in-depth interview with Benedic Lamdin (the man behind Nostalgia 77). This track will be made available as a free download on the album s release. Here is an insight into the motivations and the madness behind the Monster, in Lamdin s own words... Did you ever have a family pet that died and which you stuffed so that it would remain with you for ever more? Behaviour like this is hard to explain and it may have to remain one of life's mysteries. 

Track Listings
1 The Taxidermist
2 The Last Few Days
3 Algernon
4 The Ignored
5 Zippy Slipper
6 Angels & Demons
7 At Play
8 Sunrise In Mexico
9 By The Light Of Your Eyes