Snorkel
are a six-strong South-London based collective whose members come
from different corners of the alternative scene, bringing together
the tactics of improvisation, electronica, and sound art. ‘Glass
Darkly’ is their debut album released on Slowfoot records,
a London based label specialising in exploring the boundaries
between popular and experimental music and home of innovative
artists such as Robert Logan and Oren Marshall. Taking a quick
glance at the cover art, you get the (false) impression that this
is a mid-90’s trip-hop/acid-rave album. In fact the artwork
is eerily similar to those used on Witchman’s excellent
series of darkcore releases on Deviant records. The old adage
of never judging an album by the cover reigns true in this instance
though and listeners are in for a real sonic experience.
It does take several listens to truly appreciate
this release as initially, the sound can comes across as a bit
of a mish-mash, with a myriad of influences scurrying all over
the place and never really settling. Give it time my friends;
put it on in numerous settings, play it on a good quality system
and then you’ll realise the whole thing works sublimely.
Utilising deep jazz-influenced grooves, this is a dark and creepy
journey that covers a broad spectrum of genres from electric-jazz-dub
to afro-beat to psychedelic experimentation to jungle to darkcore
and everything in between. Bringing together six adventurous sonic
explorers with differing specialties can, in most instances, lead
to an unfocused and muddied offering, especially if musical experimentation
overrides musical harmony. Thankfully, the resultant sounds on
this release are extremely tight, intricately arranged, well produced
and melodious whilst remaining true to the sextet’s experimental
roots and individual influences. Musically, the collective never
take themselves overly seriously, utilising playful (and at times
whimsical) arrangements amongst dark, reverberating soundscapes.
Aesthetically, it’s a bit like a stripped down Amon Tobin
on a Chicago Underground tip, but sonically it’s more like
Massive Attack meets HiM (Jazz) meets Wasteland with the more
subtle elements of Techno Animal and This Heat thrown in for good
measure.
Starting off with the edgy ‘As The
Dust Settles’, the collective harness a hypnotic formula
of dark groove-laden beats and haunting melodies, both of which
are slightly out-of-sync and which are garnished by a smattering
of blip-hop splutters and wailing vocals. The follow-up, ‘Lower
Slaughter’ is an interesting take on avant post-metal with
thick and throbbing industrial motifs coalescing onto a haphazard
terrain of beats and micro-melodies. The chunky and sludgy audio-turbulence
on ‘Bubble Black’ envelops a rather frazzled jazz-noir
soundscape to create a cohesive yet experimental track which is
reminiscent of Isotope 217’s darkest outings. A similar
theme continues forth on ‘Carpet Flying’ but this
time the jazz-noir soundscape is less lethargic, the groove is
better defined and unique vocals hums enter the equation to add
a (in)human touch. The track fizz’s with a really sense
of energy and continues to grow in stature until it sounds like
a tormented afro-dub beast before disappearing into a wasteland
of audio-skree. On ‘The Conversation’, the collective
provide yet another mind-bending avant-jazz feast with out-of-sync
beatscapes coalescing with psyched out phaser effects and progressively
warping melodies, all set within a futuristic astral-Jazz aesthetic.
Really, it sounds like electronic fusion era Miles Davis if he
was arranging in the 22nd century.
Elsewhere, listeners are treated to ‘Alligator’,
a full-bodied, ever-twisting and aggressive track riding atop
an infectious melodic spine with constant tempo variations that
explode forth in to a giddying, psychedelic freak-jazz monster
that will leave you baffled, confused and very satisfied. The
hypnotic and warped ethnic melodic interlude of ‘I Saw It
In The Sky’ makes way for the sub-aqua, proto Jazz-Jungle
of ‘Battle Of The Odd’s’ whilst the lengthy
‘Rub Attractor/My Elephant’ is a whimsical yet thoroughly
dark take on space-jazz influenced dub-step. Sonic space-debris
float swiftly past dark reverberating bass and stripped down uptempo
Jazz motifs, before settling into a dark infectious groove on
top of which sits a gorgeous yet sullen smokey Jazz melody, straight
out of one of HiM’s most contemplative Jazz-noir tracks.
This track is a meandering epic and really provides a disorientating
glimpse at what post-Jazz is capable of. The final track, ‘This
Headphone Mix’ is a unique squat-pop, freak-jazz stomper.
Sounding a bit weird on initial listens, it eventually shines
through with its well-arranged vocals, throbbing melodic core
and busy percussion; elements which make it a really infectious
piece of music that will have you nodding your head like a nu-rave
hippie.
‘Glass Darkly’ proves to be
an audacious yet highly successful experiment in leftfield, futuristic
astral-Jazz fusion, always twisting and turning, yet never losing
sight of its melodic aesthetic. To provide such consistency through-out
the album is a major feat and listeners will undoubtedly have
the CD on constant rotation. A few more infectious Jazz-noir melodies
would have been nice to see drifting across the turbulent and
fractured soundscapes, but this is a small qualm. The best thing
about this release is that listeners no longer have to turn to
America (specifically Chicago) for their experimental, afro laced,
electric-jazz fusion sounds as this a UK collective on a UK label!
Much respect. (KS)
For
fans of: HiM, Isotope 217, Chicago Underground, Fusion era Miles
Davis
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