Week 4 - The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble - Chaotic, hardboiled soundtrack to your life.

This week I chose to dive deeper into the previously touched upon idea of jazz-noir. After listening to last week’s album recommendation a few times, I was hooked. As with many of my musical finds, I stumbled upon this week’s recommendation on accident. Long live the spotify algorithm. TKDE was originally founded as a project to compose new music for old silent films, including Murnau’s Nosferatu and Lang’s Metropolis. This chaotic, avant garde sound that the septet are able to produce is not in-your-face; it’s an ambient and looming uneasiness as each song takes you into its own universe. The noir sound, deeply rooted in german expressionist cinema, puts you in a trance as the combination of analogue instruments and digital sound morph and mutate to create an eerie cinematic experience. Some songs left me with the same uneasiness as the opening long take to Welles’s A Touch of Evil. I can’t deny that this sound isn’t for everyone however for those wishing to go on a hyper-stylized sin-city-like experience, this is the album for you.

Just a warning. This is an avant-garde album; songs like Lobby, Amygdhala or Vegas can invoke complicated reactions. Do tread lightly. I promise next month’s recommendations won’t be so dark.

My Favourites (or at least what I think most of you would like)

1. Adaptation of the Koto Song. - the piano lays out a steady, haunting, repetitive melody that reverberates in your ears creating a sense of distance, atmosphere and dread. Dark, sorrowful and beautiful.
   

2. Parallel Corners - The muted guitar and the swing in the drum give a jarring sense of lightheartedness to an otherwise ominous track. The range of emotions I felt on first listen is unparalleled.
   

3. Guernican Perspectives - for as sparse as it initially sounds, the song paints a picture deep within your minds eye.

If you happen to like this album, you can check out an album called Dolomiten by Manet