Farahser
Elastic, 2024
8/10
The drummer Nick Fraser and multi-instrumentalist John Kameel come together for these 8 free jazz, improvised and electronic fueled songs that might bring to mind names like Matthew Shipp, Vijay Iyer and Eli Keszler.
“Flatland” starts the listen with a dense background amid playful keys and much attention to ambience in a mysterious fashion, and “Twigs” follows with electronic tinkering and mesmerizing piano that blends synthetic with organic in interesting ways.
At the halfway point, “Waltz” matches firm keys with unpredictable drumming, while “Dirge” finds a lower place to reside, where some buzzing and drumming acrobatics make this the album’s best.
“The Churn” and “Elevator” exit the listen, The former is intimate and soft, where a cinematic quality enters, and the latter emits a dreaminess that swirls with intrigue.
An often ghostly, chromatic and pulsating affair, Kameel and Fraser create an ethereal and tonally expressive body of work that you could never listen to just once.
Travels well with: Tim Brady- Imagine Many Guitars; Nova Pon- Symphonies Of Mother And Child