Articles by James Taylor

Ocote Soul Sounds: The Ocote Way

by James Taylor
December 30, 2009

Ocote Soul Sound is the brainchild of two incredibly accomplished musicians, who continue to operate just under the radar;one more project to occupy the diminishingly available time of guitarist Adrian Quesada and flautist Martin Perna. With roots in the otherworldly grooves of label mates and benefactors Thievery Corporation, Ocote Soul Sounds' Coconut Rock (ESL, 2009), builds on the band's “Chicanos in Outer Space" groove by adding a cinematic quality reminiscent of David Axelrod, Weather Report and other fusion era powerhouses.

Ben Neill: Starting a Dub War

by James Taylor
November 3, 2009

To say that Ben Neill plays the trumpet--the instrument of such jazz legends as Miles Davis and Clifford Brown--is an epic understatement. “I think electronica is like a new form of jazz--it's an instrumental form of music that plays out in popular culture but has musical ideas that go beyond the expectations of pop music," says Neill, a student of the electro-acoustic innovations of Robert Moog and minimalist aesthetic of LaMonte Young. Neill specifically plays the mutantrumpet, a self-designed instrument ...

Grupo Fantasma: Sonidos Gold

by James Taylor
July 10, 2008

When you've got Prince's seal of approval, little else matters. Austinites Grupo Fantasma have long been the Purple One's band du jour, logging a two-month residency at his Las Vegas nightclub 3121, a Golden Globes after party performance that saw the band joined by Prince, Talib Kweli, Will.i.am, Mary J. Blige, and Marc Anthony, as well as other performances alongside the icon in London, Miami and the Capital City itself. Sonidos Gold is the best document of ...

Ocote Soul Sounds: The Alchemist Manifesto

by James Taylor
June 10, 2008

Ocote Soul Sounds was born of strange conditions--a failed biodiesel-fueled road trip that lead to jam sessions in Austin, TX, that in turn lead to the cross country trade of mp3s and song ideas, that gave birth to a surprising debut, last years' independently released Electric Tides. Masterminded by two of the freshest voices in new music today, Ocote Soul Sounds is in top form on The Alchemist Manifesto, a worldly mix of sounds found “at the intersection of the ...

Spring Heel Jack: Songs and Themes

by James Taylor
April 22, 2008

Songs and Themes is a visionary fusion of jazz, electronica and chamber music. With its eighth contribution to the Thirsty Ear Records catalog, the production team of Ashley Wales and multi-instrumentalist John Coxon has truly outdone itself. Songs and Themes is ambient and atmospheric while still maintaining a link to the avant-garde. Songs and Themes is as much trumpeter Roy Campbell's record as it is Coxon and Wales.' Beginning with “Church Music," which marries the psychedlia of ...

Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey: Lil Tae Rides Again

by James Taylor
April 15, 2008

Jacob Free Jazz Odyssey's Lil Tae Rides Again unfolds more like an eclectic indie-rock album than the jam band romps they've been known to fashion. A marriage of instrumental post-rock-infused jazz in the vein of Tortoise's brilliant TNT (Thrill Jockey, 1998) and hyperactive avant-funk and digital illbient a la DJ Spooky, Lil Tae is the ultimate in accomplishments, a near perfect reinvention of direction and sound. And perhaps that has more to do with the way this ...

Marco Benevento: A New Form of Fusion

by James Taylor
March 3, 2008

With his work has one-half of the Benevento-Russo Duo, Marco Benevento has helped fuse elements of indie rock, improv jazz and jam band aesthetic, exciting nationwide audiences in clean concert halls, smoky bars, and muddy, open-air festivals like Bonnaroo and Austin City Limits. Benevento is a student of the piano, trained at Berklee School of Music, but he seems most comfortable when surrounded on all sides by a collage of black and white keys, assorted buttons and knobs, trigger pads, ...

Free Form Funk Freqs: Urban Mythology Volume One

by James Taylor
February 21, 2008

Guitarist Vernon Reid, bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma and drummer G. Calvin Weston give the power trio new meaning with Urban Mythology Volume One. Released under the moniker the Free Form Funk Freqs, the album is less jazz and more improvisational rock, powered by Weston's double bass drum and heavy crash, hard rock approach and Reid's space-bending, delay-loving fretwork.

The awesome impact of the trio is also shaped by Tacuma's ability to take a repetitive funk form and keep it ...

Normal Love: Normal Love

by James Taylor
December 24, 2007

Normal Love is a beautiful mess--I'm sure we can all attest to that. But seriously, Normal Love, the band, is a five-piece ensemble from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that straddles the seemingly distant divide between thrash-metal noisecore and 20th Century composition. Their self-titled debut, on boundary busting record label High Two, is a nerve-tingling exposition, as dissonant chords and meandering anti-melodies tug, tear and torture the soul of the listener. It's important to note that the ...

U2's The Joshua Tree Gets Deluxe Multi-Media Treatment in 2007

by James Taylor
December 22, 2007

U2 The Joshua Tree Eagle Vision USA

What can you really say about U2's The Joshua Tree that hasn't already been said? Released in 1987, Joshua Tree propelled the band to international stardom and saw the band move further away from their post-punk roots by introducing blues, R&B, gospel and soul to their sound. Joshua Tree is arguably the most quintessentially American rock album ever recorded, full of adoration as well as antipathy toward ...