Customer Reviews

Globalpositioningrecord

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Om trio - who recently called it quits due to financial contraints - always deserved a larger following than they had. Their music, while accessable and groove-laden, at the same time had complexity to it. Brian Felix, the keyboard player, often uses various effects to manipulate the sound of his instrument - in essence, quickly sampling himself. Ilya Stemkovsky stays in the pocket most of the time, dropping a handful of fills on the album, but when he does, they're huge. Pete Novembre follows a similar path. But to think of the band as a group of three individuals is the wrong way to go about it. Om trio's greatest achievement is that they sound like one unit, whereas often times trios like Medeski Martin and Wood sound like three guys trying to impress each other. The Om trio isn't trying to impress anyone; they're just trying to make good music, and they most definatly succeed.

I agree with the previous reviewer completely. This album is extremely focused and really funky. The musicianship is top notch and it sounds actually MODERN. Don't get me wrong, I love straight-ahead piano trio jazz as well, but this stuff almost seems ahead of its time: cool arrangements and subtle but interesting interplay. I also dig the fact that these guys get heavy!! Not like the Bad Plus which is like a bombastic faux-aggression. These guys obviosly grew up listening to rock music and the feel of this record is unique. The track "Tor S" is really nuts at the end and "Hedd" has a very cool vibe to it -- aided by a bunch of sly percussion and hip keyboard delay work. Great rhythm section too. Just locked in, keeping it grooving -- but you can tell they have lots of chops which they do display when you least expect it. As for the MMW comparison -- yeah maybe only in the instrumentation and the fact that both are instrumental groove bands -- but MMW is coming from jazz while this stuff is rock and fusion and trippy electro type stuff. A surprising record for sure. It is a real shame they had to stop.