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Hailing from NYC, we bring forth an interesting CD worthy of mention combining multiple genres in an eclectic downtempo diverse offering from Jettatura in their latest album release.
A bit of a different CD comes under the scrutiny of i:Vibes, and it comes from a lesser known act called Jettatura, hailing from NYC, their offering of eclectic electro beats is definitely something different.
However you take the music of NYC's Jettatura, and whether you hone in on its fatback beatscapes or its eerie, sampladelic high-end, you'll come away with a haunting combination of cinematic sounds, rock to electro-textures and stone grooves. But while they may be eclectic in influence, the two-man group -drummer/producer Dave Hill Jr. and multi-instrumentalist James Rotondi- have turned their free flowing creative operating system into a dark, compelling style that could be a spooky cousin to Jon Hassell's global funk minimalism; Sigur Ros's ambient-rock abstractions; Talvin Singh's motoric ethno-techno; Angelo Badalamenti's emo-surf intrigue; Dan the Automator's art-hop orchestrations; or even the lap-top blip-hop of Autechre and Kid606. But if Jettatura is that arty, it's still economical; four-minute instrumental songs based around a brooding breed of hooks and vamps.
Taking their name from traditional Italian magic -"Jettatura" signifies the "casting of the evil eye," though it might speak to any projection of supernatural inner force- Hill and Rotondi began exploring their artistic chemistry in Seattle in 1998, under the auspices of ex-Santana great Michael Shrieve, who fit the drummer and guitarist together for a West Coast tour with ultra-literate songstress McKinley.
Tracklist:
1. Lock Horns
2. Battling Maxo (download mp3 sample)
3. Bed of Stars
4. Farouche (download mp3 sample)
5. Jade Gate
6. Cobalt
7. Ghetto Foot
8. Zippermoth
9. As I Remember You
10. Turn a Blind Eye
11. Tight Corner
Beginning with Lock Horns, you can almost imagine this to start a "Back to Mine" set or the beginnings of a breakbeat set from the likes of Fabric or such. A bass heavy, eerie and almost psychadelic track, Lock Horns definitively creates a dark vibe which borders on a plethora of genres and signifies the sound which Jettatura are aiming to contest with. Although dark and eerie with 4/4 breaks dabbed in throughout the track as the underlier, the track creates a solid atmosphere and stems to have a new creative sound to it.
Battling Maxo, a title which I won't ask to find out it's significance is a journey into a crossover between trip-hop, ambient and beats in a very downtempo but minimalistic tone. But that doesn't give you any preparation for the upcoming track which borders on rock, trip-hop and a glide of techno across the speakers. Bed of Stars comes through as a funked up ultra-slowed BPM rock track which may suffice to those into industrial rock or techno.
Just looking at the title name of the next track;Farouche brings up the ethnicity of the track without even hearing it, with its waterdrops, guitars and chimes throughout this downtempo dreamer, which you may imagine hearing when you watch the aftermath scene of an event taking place deep down underground in the darkness, with only dim lights casting long shadows, or perhaps in a more music oriention; on an old Portishead production.
Jade Gate brings the distortion up another level with its high-level wave distortions and almost goa like instruments combined with an almost subtle breaks sequence attempting to break through the melody of the track. I personally felt that there was too much on this track, complicating the very nice melody in a way which I can only describe as being mildly harsh. Very eclectic almost leftfield industrial triphop in just under 5 minutes of electronic-scapes.
As we proceed towards the latter part of the CD, Cobalt rings up gentle snares and a complementary reign balearic guitar before grinding its way from the summery guitar feel to an electric one in a song I can describe as sunset music... quite refreshing, but the phased sounds are slightly getting to me by now...
When I was looking through the tracklist, the title which struck me was that of the next track Ghetto Foot, and I wasn't sure whether I was looking forward to it or not. Starting off with a seemingly industrial rock base, I thought that perhaps this was only the mild introductions of the track, but it went forward to being the same electronic guitar sequence, and I made my choice for my least favourite of the album here.
Zippermoth sounds exactly what the title portrays it as. Subtle, eerie and quite retro without making too much of the sound. This is definitely music to slowly unwind to before you break out the Craig Armstrong or some chilled balaeric beats and is an interesting track.. but then before long, we switch over to track 10 with As I Remember You an almost 60s-esque jazz/blues number, and gets my pick for the winning track so far with a very chilled, atmospheric ambience, making it a perfect suplement to the aftermaths of Ghetto Foot and Zippermoth and this is 100% chilled grooves for the sunsets and mornings on the beach... If only we all lived on a beach?
Anyway, back to reality.. Turn a Blind Eye doesn't digress too much from the previous track except that some additional bass structure has been added and the pace is moved up a notch giving signs that the CD is coming to the end and leading nicely to our finale of Tight Corner, which is the definition of chillout in a surreal escape to the edge of the world and back, combined with the subtle jabs of guitar, synths, strings and other instruments over the course of four and a half minutes before gliding to a gradual finish and the end of a truly interesting musical journey for me.
All-in-all, the CD is something very different to what I would imagine you would be accustomed to, with a combination of elements from trip hop, industrial, rock, breakbeat, jazz, blues and the subtle rise of balaeric influences within only the space of 12 tracks.
Perhaps not for everyone, but I recommend this CD for those who are looking for something different, or some music to put on when you chill with old friends as this brings across a true ensemble of emotions, styles and influences I have never seen within a CD before.
I'd give it a 9/10 for experimental-ness
9/10 for diversity
but a slight fall in the middle which put the entirety at 6.5/10
Released on Sixty One Sixty Eight Records
Jettatura's Website
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