Floating Points and Pharoah Sanders and London Symphony Orchestra - Promises (2021)

I think it's swell that some of my friends who usually only have time for yelpy indie or glossy pop checked this out. They certainly wouldn't have if I was just recommending it myself, like most of the shit I like and don't have anyone to share enthusiasm with. Kudos to the marketing departments responsible. Accessible middlebrow coffee table guff is a great gateway drug. For example, think about all the kids diving down ambient music rabbit holes because of the Minecraft soundtrack? Maybe because of this they'll all discover those "better" genre albums soon. Many won't, but some will get hooked.

That's fair - we all need our gateways and I'm sure that Promises will have turned a few people onto Black Unity, Thembi et al.

It actually surprises me that pop/indie listeners find this accessible. It's an extended composition without that much in the way of hooks or grooves, even compared to a lot of other jazz or classical releases.

I really believe all the extramusical "cool" factors are sustaining their interest where otherwise you'd be correct.

It's the ambient thing innit?

It is, I think!

what does Stanley Crouch think of this?

― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, February 9, 2022 5:59 AM

this is king of rhetorical questions on this topic.

Wow this is not the record I would have ever thought would kick off this kind of vitriol.

I like that this thread is basically the same 7 posts on a loop

It actually surprises me that pop/indie listeners find this accessible. It's an extended composition without that much in the way of hooks or grooves, even compared to a lot of other jazz or classical releases.

― The sensual shock (Sund4r), Wednesday, February 9, 2022 9:27 AM (twenty-one minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

I really believe all the extramusical "cool" factors are sustaining their interest where otherwise you'd be correct.

― Evan, Wednesday, February 9, 2022 9:32 AM (seventeen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

I think calm music has been much more popular in the last few years (for obvious reasons, i find that so with myself as well)

though it's jazz i think it recalls music for airports (the meditative repeated theme) more than a lot of jazz, so i'd say it fits with the general popularity of ambient

I like that this thread is basically the same 7 posts on a loop

― rob, Wednesday, February 9, 2022 10:50 AM (two minutes ago)

if only Dorian still posted here

Hebden is more interesting than FP, but that's a low bar ;) He's done some ok stuff, but it never goes hard enough for me.

― Composition 40b (Stew), Wednesday, February 9, 2022 3:16 PM (thirty-four minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

fair point. i think the hardest he goes is with more club-focused edits and stuff under "percussions" and some other name i'm forgetting, those have a nice raw feel. but i like him because he has a great sense of what is a hook, which is probably not what you're looking for.

There's room for coffee table dad-jazz AND edgy new work, it's not like this record is taking someone else's spot. I feel like the words "London Symphony Orchestra" are adding a lot of weight (perceived prestige & expectations) too...I bet if it was just billed as a duo collab with Pharoah & Floating Points then people wouldn't be nearly so irate.

This doesn't sound like coffee table Dad-jazz to me, though. Honestly, Julian Lage and Avataar might be closer to that description and I preferred those. Anyway, I'm saving the real vitriol for when Boomkat-classical starts topping polls.

Boomkat-classical

the real grifters, yeah?

(jokes)

sund4r posting vmic!

So, is boomkat classical the giles peterson of the classical world then?

(um, what is vmic?)

very much in character

what's boomkat classical?

Borrowed the term from this thread: The "classical" music you buy from Boomkat (2010): a thread to discuss Sylvain Chauveau, Johann Johannsson, Peter Broderick, Olafur Arnalds and others

What I've heard of the Richter/Johansson/Hauschka kind of thing. 130701-classical an even purer distillation: http://130701.com/artists/

I'm guessing the forthcoming Alabaster De Plume album on International Anthem will be this year's Promises. Praised in certain quarters, but hated in others haha! To get my tuppence in, I find his wide-eyed crusty vibe really precious and the music is derivative and basic. While I find Promises pleasant but dull, Gold actively annoys me.

vocals are gonna limit that record's horizon with big fans of Instrumentals Vol 1

If you want unearned vitriol, the uncritical love of everything on the International Anthem label gets me (and there is plenty of good stuff on that label, for sure).

The Sound Of My Feet On This Earth Is A Song To Your Spirit is instrumental. x post

ben lamar gay and the new jeff parker rule on international anthem

oh cool just went to their site and they are doing a jamie branch's fly or die live album, was lucky enough to catch them this summer, one of the three shows i've attended (was outside) and really loved it

Yep

Branch at first didn’t appeal to me but the live album changed my mind. Waiting to see them at Big Ears.

I'm still not sold but haven't listened to the live album

i will say she's has a really engaging and quirky stage presence and i'm sure that helped

also i hadn't heard her before i saw the band

yeah Jamie Branch live presence is def part of the package

I like both Fly Or Die albums, but probably because I lack critical listening skills

International Anthem have put out some of my favourite records of the past few years (Jamie Branch, Ben LaMar Gay, Angel Bat Dawid & Irreversible Entanglements especially) but of all the UK acts they could have gone for... That said, it kinda makes sense. One of the first things they did was that Rob Jacobs album, which was kind of post-Animal Collective quirky singer-songwriter stuff that I couldn't get with. The DePlume reminds me a bit of that. The instrumental album was nice enough and I can totally get why it hit the spot for folks during the first lockdown, but his quirky vocals are an acquired taste. Genuine LOLs at the Nigel Tufnel comparison.

Yeah, IA have put out some absolutely amazing music but they are far from infallible. (I’m kind of an Angel Bat Dawid skeptic, and I’m not really sold on Ben LaMar Gay, either.)

Also, Fly Or Die totally rule live. I saw them the day of the Kyle Rittenhouse court travesty and she had the whole crowd chanting "Fuck white supremacy". Over the course of the gig she turned that anger into joy, with Chad Taylor doing incredible things on drums. Big Ears line up is great: several IA faves plus Andrew Cyrille, Ches Smith's totally great contemporary jazz meets Haitian voudon group We All Break... damn!

Ches Smith and Chad Taylor are two of my main guys on drums, love them

Chad Taylor is a fave of mine too.

https://imgflip.com/i/64p0ax

https://i.imgflip.com/64p0ax.jpg

damn, i'm impressed tbh!