Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Soundscape Orchestra: Nexus
Soundscape Orchestra: Nexus
ByThe complex identity of the city is captured musically on Nexus, the debut from the Swedish six-piece ensemble Soundscape Orchestra. Their ambitions are high with cover art provided by artist Per Josephson. His picture of a dynamic cityscape caught between technological abstraction and figurative detail fits the music perfectly as the music moves between organic grooves and mechanical manipulations and beats. Swirling flutes and chiming vibraphones intertwine with a bumpy bass riff and lively percussion on "Khumbu," while "Wicked Waltz" picks up speed with a swinging rhythm and a clarinet dance in Klezmer-style patterns broken by a Rhodes solo and robot-bleeps. It's both old-school and futuristically funky.
Thomas Wingren is the man behind the rhythms; he mixes percussion and programming in a complex tapestry but, with the support of bassist Robert Erlandsson and drummer Calle Rasmusson, he never loses track of a bodily groove. There's a slow lounge-feeling to "Bells" with a flute motif provided by Peter Fredman and Anders Astrand's splashes of vibraphone. Surprisingly, it all ends in an electronic funk-fest with Adam Forkelid spacing out on keyboards and synths.
No matter what they do, the musicians keep a perfect balance between soundscapes and contemporary grooves. It's possible to hear the heritage from Weather Report and electric Miles, but Soundscape Orchestra bring new elements from electronic music, lounge and R&B into the mix and, in the process, they create an urban fusion sound for the 21st century.
Track Listing
Khumbu; Wicked Waltz; Nexus; Floating; Huffle Ruff; Bells; Sneak Around; The End.
Personnel
Thomas Wingren
percussionThomas Wingren: live electronics, percussion, programming; Adam Forkelid: keyboards, additional synths; Anders Åstrand: vibraphone; Peter Fredman: soprano saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet, flute; Calle Rasmusson: drums.
Album information
Title: Nexus | Year Released: 2018 | Record Label: Do Music Records
< Previous
20 Years of One Man’s Jazz
Next >
The Second Coming
Comments
About Thomas Wingren
Instrument: Percussion
Related Articles | Concerts | Albums | Photos | Similar To