The new album from Badge Époque Ensemble is all over the place. Part jazz, and part Brazilian jazz, part funk, and space rock, Self Help, out on Friday via Telephone Explosion, is a delight to listen to. Brimming with ideas, the release finds these players exploring territories that few others are even attempting to reach.
Leader Max Turnball (Slim Twig) pushes the ensemble to light-as-air styles on "Sing a Silent Gospel", the opener here with vocals from Meg Remy (U.S. Girls), even as the excellent "The Sound Where My Head Was" ventures into fields that have been claimed by both Stereolab and Miles in the past. The blend of art rock, funk, and free jazz here, and on the epic "Birds Fly Through Ancient Ruins" is an invigorating one, with nothing seeming nearly as indulgent as this review probably makes it sound. Indeed, there's a real deftness to the approach here that suggests these musicians are having fun crafting what sounds like its own genre. Along with Turnball (Slim Twig), and saxophonist Karen Ng, nearly every other player here deserves some create for making a record that defies easy description.
Self Help is out on Friday via Telephone Explosion.
[Photo: Meg Remy and Colin Medley]