Jakob Thorkild Trio: Art Sleaze

In the crowded scene of Scandinavian high energy, punk jazz outfits the new trio of Danish guitarist Jakob Thorkild and is an exception due to its bold vision, and experienced, and resourceful personnel. Thorkild himself is a member of another trio from such genre that focuses on in-your-face, intense output, Motherfucker, and his duo Bodaboda which recently collaborated with sax titan Peter Brötzmann. His trio feature excellent improvisers— Nils Bo Davidson on the electric bass and P.O. Jørgens on the drums, who previously collaborated with Brötzmann—offers a broader and varied palette of powerful sounds.

Thorkild's concept for the trio attempts to define a distinct sound nurtured with intense energy of rock and punk but still versatile, and open to personal interpretations that are grounded with the legacies of modern jazz and free improvised music. The inspiration for the title of this trio's debut album, as well as the pieces and titles, came from the alternative, soft porn site Suicide Girls and its highly visual, unconventional, and often heavily tattooed ideals of female beauty. Thorkild wanted the trio's music to express similar careless, sensual, and colorful ideas, without conforming to any common ideas of how such ideas should sound if were marketed by the mass media.

The tight, rhythmic interplay of Davidsen and Jørgens keeps Thorkild on his toes, challenging him constantly with their playful and fast shifting pulse. On "Black Heart" they force him to adapt his thorny guitar excursions to an addictive funky beat, and both push him over the edge with messy, primitive outbursts on "Blauen Rosen." The 11-minute title piece features this trio at its best—with a heavy and dirty sound, raw and intense power, still delivered with a clear sense of directness and a highly collaborative and playful interaction that alternates organically between walls of noise and abstract drones. This piece highlights Thorkild as a determined and resourceful improviser, twisting and torturing the guitar in order to produce a sound of his own. The closing piece, the tight and upbeat "Deutchland," succeeds to create an intoxicating, buzzing drone that in a better world should have become a dance anthem.

Bold, provocative yet highly enjoyable in its uncompromising manner.