Week 3 - Avantdale Bowling Club (Self Titled) - The shape of rap to come

The answer to the question “what if jazz and rap had a baby”, my first listen of this album was at 7 in the morning after an all nighter in early 2020 and it blew my mind. It was a revolutionary sound. It opens with an ominous and chaotic saxophone that sounds like it belongs in the background of noir cinema before the drums settle and the vocals come in. The instrumentals are dark and have a uniquely hard-boiled quality. Building on the ideas of free jazz explored by Ornette Coleman in his albums, the instrumental also has that looseness that isn’t typical of mainstream jazz styling. The vocals let slip the influences that shape them, reminiscent of Logic’s early work as well as Kendrick Lamar, the album is a treat for all jazz fans looking to get into rap as well as rap fans intrigued by jazz.

My favourites

1. F(r)iends - The bass line and repetitive keys maintain the tempo as the lyrics go berzerk. The flute instrumentation is a great accent one notices over multiple listens. Strings in a rap track are a welcome change.
   

2. Pocket Lint - Rap and brass heavy jazz. Can’t really ask for more. The Kendrick Lamar influence makes a subtle cameo here
   

3. Old Dogs - the sample of Hiroshi Suzuki’s Romance will be familiar to all those who go on a late night youtube algorithm deep dive. Certainly not the first to sample this song, but I do like what he did with it. By slowing it down he gave himself the space on the track to spit great bars while also having a memorable hook over the melody. Something to be said about Japanese jazz, managing to still stay relevant decades after its initial release. (Japanese Jazz recommendations will come soon)