Anybody with a taste for avantt garde jazz fusion general weirdness, ambient over the edge sound and affect and effective is gonna flip over Manu Koch and Filtron M’s ‘s Mandatory Underground, a terrific four composition -but long, 27 minutes, EP which sounds like Weather Report one second and some dark angled the xx style ambient dark blinds on blacked out windows the next.
I’ll write more about it i soon but first here is the press release:
“Filtron M is an expanding music platform founded by New York based pianist, keyboarder and composer Manu Koch which serves as a distinctive filter in the age of musical and cultural multiplicity. Filtron M’s new release “Mandatory Underground” consists of various units such as Astoria Roots and Unique Afrique that showcase Manu’s compositions and the broad community of international musicians he’s been part of for nearly two decades. The overall emphasis is on each musician’s individuality, improvisation, exploration of groove and rhythm while drawing from a wide range of stylistic and cultural influences.
Since his New York arrival in 2000 Manu Koch has been very active in the city’s diverse Brazilian music scene, toured with afro-pop star Angélique Kidjo, performed with Fantcha, the Cape Verdean protégé of Cesária Évora, and participated in projects by Miles Davis/Santana bassist Benny Rietveld. In 2011 Manu Koch released his debut album Triple Life which layed down the groundwork for his Filtron M concept. The same year he started touring internationally with the New York Gypsy All-Stars and became a vital element in singer/songwriter/guitarist/producer’s Tomas Donckér’s ‘Global Soul’ movement with his participation in various True Groove productions as well as the critically acclaimed ‘Power Of The Trinity’ project.
Mandatory Underground features two tracks by each Filtron M unit, Unique Afrique with Patrick Andy on bass, Harvey Wirht on drums and Brahim Fribgane on percussion, and Astoria Roots with Panagiotis Andreou on bass, Mauricio Zottarelli on drums and Sebastian Nickoll on congas.”
Yes, of course you noticed the True Groove connection, the EP is on Doncker’s superb record label and while the music is difficult by definition, much more so than Doncker himselves delving into Ethiopian pop and dance trance funk, it rewards listening with revelations. The trick here is don’t concentrate on Manu, he’ll come for you when he wants you, concentrate on the beats, which are consistently hooky, they are like little tommy guns on all four tracks and they will keep your ears centered while you ride away on keyboards that kinda sound Enoish and Ornette Colemanish within a coupla bars of each other.
Grade: A-
