Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Kush: Streams of Consciousness Volume Two

140

Kush: Streams of Consciousness Volume Two

By

View read count
Kush: Streams of Consciousness Volume Two
There are no hidden agendas behind this Canadian electronics-oriented band. As stated on the ensemble's website, the music aims to please via a feelgood type manifesto, where jazz, house music, ethereal musings and solid instrumentation coalesce into a fastidiously assembled package. Marked by wah-wah trumpet lines, steady beats and layered effects, the ensemble looms as groove merchants, underscored by several acutely-placed detours.

The program features prismatic soundscapes and ethereal electronics treatments. However, the musicians diversify the sound processing component with jazzy and danceable riffs. On "Sugar Pusher," keyboardist Eddie Bullen revs up an airy, melodic vibe via his sweet-toned electric piano phrasings, spiced with a modern jazz tinge. The band soothes the mind and uplifts the soul by spreading a dense framework, consisting of thoughtful arrangements. With drifting themes and ascending crescendos, Kush perpetuates a happy-go-lucky muse that is not sugarcoated into oblivion, evidenced by similar units, steeped within these hybrid electronica-jazz formats.

The piece titled "Free with a Vengeance," projects an Indo-fusion outlook, accentuated by what could be a digitally-processed female voice track. Hence, Kush ventures into a world-music sculpted motif, brimming with good cheer and a harmonious motif-building exercise. Among other positive attributes, Kush transcends the norm by instilling an artistic aura into a few of the many roads previously traversed by other units of this ilk.

Track Listing

Love is the Currency (Part 1); Love is the Currency (Part 2), Frredom to Love; Shake Me Please; Sugar Pusher; Desirable Cycle of Fate; Lost In Your Own Mind; Farewell Soulfinger; Freeloaders Remorse; Glamazon; Free With a Vengeance; Dirty Budgie.

Personnel

Kush
 

Etric Lyons: fretless bass, vocals, programming, arranging, mixing and producing;, Eddie Bulien: keyboards; Bryden Baird: trumpets, effects;, Robert Sibony: drums and percussion; Serge Nikol: acoustic guitar; Jason Duncan aka Simply Jason: programming; Steve Major: mastering.

Album information

Title: Streams of Consciousness Volume Two | Year Released: 2010 | Record Label: SOCAN

Tags

Comments

About Kush

Articles | Concerts | Albums | Photos | Similar

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

Eternal Moments
Yoko Yates
From "The Hellhole"
Marshall Crenshaw
Tramonto
John Taylor

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.