There are times where I take a chance on an album by the cover artwork and how catchy the name sounds. This is one of those times where the words Machine and Jazz were brought together and piqued my interest. Honestly, I wasn’t sure what I would be in for, maybe some musique concrète and if that was the case I would be quickly making a lateral pass to Scott to continue his education and avoid sustaining any anguish by furthering mine. However, the mustachioed man on the cover lead me to think that this album might be something entirely different, possibly something weird and wonderful like The Pinker Tones.
The challenge facing me in listening to the album is my lack of perspective. I have never heard of the group before and added to that this is a remix album so context is lacking. Adding a dash of frustration is the fact that my Google-Fu is weak today and the most information that I can dredge up from the Internets® are European record shops and the band’s page which is all in French. Luckily, the band took pity on those who lack a more through education in language and drafted a brief biography in English and encapsulated in a PDF.
Sayag Jazz Machine bills itself as exploring “jazz and bossa roots to feed into the sextet’s alchemy of jungle, electro and drum ‘n’ bass,” which is in fact a very apt description. Anachro’mix Experiences is like a group of Turntablists and Junglists raiding crates of cabaret music from the 20’s and 30’s all amidst a wild carnival like atmosphere. It is uninhibited, bold, loud, bizarre, mysterious, and intoxicating like a bottle of absinthe deep in the night. For example, the track “Eely Gep” plays like Rova Saxaphone Quartet’s “Suite for a Better World” being worked over by DJ Shadow and then in turn passed on to Aphex Twin. Mind numbing.
The pace of the album swirls about wildly from the secretive opening numbers like “Flipper Down (Memories Mix)” where the lyrics boast about the happy days that lie just ahead but in contrast the music belies a tension and a darker almost Gothic mood which contradicts that optimism. That darkness is not necessarily so black or heavy that it becomes unbearable. It is sly, sophisticated, and possibly just a touch weary which allow the beats to continue bouncing along like a carnival barker beckoning in the nth crowd that evening. “Zapata (2600 mix)” features a lyrical soprano saxophone line that soars over the breakbeat but eventually gives way to sleepy trumpet that waves the listener along with little energy; the youthful went on break yielding to the tired and slightly bored.
It is the contrast of textures and sounds that makes this album so enticing. The juxtaposition of Cabaret, Downtempo, Hip-Hop, and Jungle is a compelling take on music and gives the feeling that Sayag Jazz Machine has a great sense of humor when they approach composing from a modern-retro-futurism perspective. While we have not yet pulled into the third month of this year Anachro’mix Experiences is on my list for Best of 2006. It is just that good.
For a taste of Sayag Jazz Machine head over to their website and check out the eight free MP3s their as well as two videos. As for me, I am going see if I can get their other albums imported to the musically bankrupt suburbs of Connecticut.
