Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Alon Nechushtan: Dark Forces

114

Alon Nechushtan: Dark Forces

By

View read count
Alon Nechushtan: Dark Forces
The idea of placing a variety of daring instrumental personalities within different electronic-based sound collage nightmares is bold but, ultimately, hard to classify or grab onto. Dark Forces can't truly be called electronic music since the whole point of the music surrounds the integration of electronic and human elements, and it's hard to view it as free improvisation, since Alon Nechustan has painstakingly painted each musical canvas. Some might call it ambient music, but that tag usually describes a more transcendent form of musical meditation, or sonic numbness that doesn't really line up with Nechustan's doomy, futuristic picture of electronic disturbance, and no other descriptor really seems to do the music any justice.

An impressive collection of musical renegades was brought onboard for this project, and the only downside of the presence of these prized personnel comes from their not always having enough room to truly assert themselves. Tenor saxophonist Oleg Raskin comes out like a terrifying bird of prey at one point during his album-opening appearance, while cellist Okkyung Lee finds the right balance between soloist and soundscape collaborator and bassist Mark Dresser works nearly as well in his own setting; but other normally formidable voices. like trombonist Steve Swell and tuba titan Marcus Rojas, are never heard to their potential.

The pieces themselves are frightening trips through the darkest recesses of the human mind, as Nechustan creates a form of musical psychopathy that terrifies more from its potential for what may come around the corner than what is actually there. In this respect, Nechustan is able to conjure the elements of fear and uncertainty that reign supreme in the heads of horror movie lovers, while also creating left-of-center music that's out of this world. Dark Forces truly paints Nechustan as a downtown doomsayer, capable of crafting devilish musical works that combine man and machine in disturbing fashion.

Track Listing

DarkForces 1; DarkForces 2; DarkForces 3; DarkForces 4; DarkForces 5; DarkForces 6; DarkForces 7; DarkForces 8; DarkForces 9; DarkForces 10.

Personnel

Alon Nechustan: electronics, keyboards; Oleg Raskin: tenor saxophone (1); Steve Swell: bass trombone (2); Mark Dresser: bass (3); Robert Dick: bass flute (4); Ned Rothberg: bass clarinet (5); Briggan Krauss: baritone saxophone (6); Marcus Rojas: tuba (7); Okkyung Lee: cello (8); Nate Wooley: trumpet (9); Henry Kaiser: guitar (10); Eliott Sharp: guitar (10).

Album information

Title: Dark Forces | Year Released: 2011 | Record Label: Creative Sources Recordings

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.