New Music From Tonbruket, Sisso
Tonbruket
Masters of Fog
(ACT)
The Swedish quartet Tonbruket has apparently won four Swedish Grammy awards in the jazz category for previous albums, but this writer believes that’s because they probably don’t have a “none of the above” category.
Only in the vaguest sense would you consider much of Tonbruket’s music jazz, and when people hear a piano and upright bass, that’s probably their first impression and assumption.
What Tonbruket creates isn’t even really like fusion, like the typical jazz-rock fusion associated with the term; it doesn’t move too abruptly, choosing to enjoy its moments, and while it takes measured paces, it still dives into unfamiliar ventures.
Bassist Dan Berglund, the founder of the group, played everything from folk to rock to classical before establishing himself in the Swedish jazz scene, and all of this comes together in Tonbruket, which also includes keyboardist Martin Hederos (of The Soundtrack of Our Lives), guitarist Johan Lindström, and percussionist Andreas Werliin.
Parts of Tonbruket’s latest album Masters of Fog are like an artist’s sketchbook, with both detailed parts and loose structures, rather than expressing a sense of formality.
The album opens with the woozy, drifting title track, which is a perfect entry point into Tonbruket’s world, with hazy keyboard notes, a wandering piano, and various moments of synchronicity.
The vibe is somewhat reminiscent of the beginning of Pink Floyd’s “Breathe”, and its sort of like walking a tightrope while drinking a bottle of wine.
Sauntering from one approach to another, at times, Masters of Fog is graced with an elegant string section, while “Entering the Amazonas” is driven by percussion, beeping and what could pass for the bustle of a small factory; “Tonability” has a western soundtrack mood marked with agitated guitar work, while “The Barn” ambles along with a dusty acoustic guitar and rattling rustling.
The constant piano chords of “Chain Rule Formula” evoke some odd mystery taking place in an immaculate apartment building, among muffled guitar skronks, and “The Pavlova Murders” offers puzzling, unanswered questions that don’t torment you, with a series of trilling notes.
Separately, these pieces don’t seem like they want to blow your mind, and it never gets too crazy or off-putting; rather, the album as a whole resides in an off-center, peculiar place with a deceptive serenity; looking out onto the horizon, there’s something approaching—it could be friendly or not—but it doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the sunset.
Sisso
Mateso
(Nyege Nyege Tapes)
This writer distinctly recalls one childhood bout of the flu, and in his delirious, fevered state, his brain had an unusual marching order for his body: to immediately run around inside the house, making laps until he did a hundred of them.
Fortunately, he was stopped by a concerned parent after just a couple of laps, but that crazy memory came to mind when listening to the absurdly stimulating and frantic album Mateso, which messes with both your mind and body.
Mateso is the creation of Sisso, a.k.a. Mohamed Hamza Ally from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, and it seems like it’s dedicated to everyone who has looked at the maximum speed on a car’s speedometer and thought, “Hmm, I wonder if it’ll go that fast” and then fantasized about an opportunity to try.
The eight-song Mateso is available as a vinyl record and a digital download, and a special edition comes with a bonus cassette that has an additional eight tracks that are similar in quality and madness to the main album.
Enhancing the album’s speed-freak antics is a sense of humor, like on the opening track “Biti No-5”, which could be the score for a horror movie portrayed by cartoon characters, watched while the fast-forward button is mashed down. It could also be the soundtrack to a compelling and intense video game, where the music pushes you to go on.
Similarly, “Hatari” has a horror/cartoon split personality, with a sinister mood and Vocoder voice sample (think “Tenebrae” by Goblin) and animated whimsy, among whispery and squeaky sounds.
With jackhammer drums and car horn noises, “New Bit” seems to represent the worst aural aspects about living in a city center, but it has its own annoying charm and even manages to integrate some unexpected tango-esque snippets.
While typical dance songs are around the 120 to 130 beats-per-minute range, Sisso’s tracks turn the dial up, starting around 185 beats-per-minute and going faster, perhaps in some way mirroring today’s for-better-or-for-worse motto of innovation and “progress”: to move fast and break things.
On one hand, Mateso may make you think you are losing your mind. On the other hand, as it conveys a dire sense of urgency and a compulsion to move quickly, it could also make you feel the need to be super-productive.