This kind of lighthearted invention is all over the record.
“Right Now” marries a Hot Club of Paris style swing trumpet lead to a percolating electric piano groove. On a few cuts, like the spooky “Only The Shadow Knows” and “Move,” Dorn updates the spy-music genre with sly samples and chewy basslines. The energetic workouts are balanced by beautiful atmospheric pieces, notably Shivaree singer Ambrosia Parsley’s beautiful vocals on the stark “I’ll Take the Woods,” and “Blackbird,” which updates a Nina Simone vocal outtake from 1986 with muted electronic accompaniments.
Not everything works perfectly. In particular, two of the least structured tracks - “Salted Fatback” featuring a wasted and perfunctory performance by guitar legend Bill Frisell, and the chill-out room cut “Float" - go on for several minutes too long. But, at a lean twelve tracks in 49 minutes, any weak spots are past before you can get tired of them hanging around.
Dance music is a ghetto and jazz is on perpetual life support. Nevertheless, Enter The Mowo is a meaty, beaty, big and bouncy reinvention of the two, without any of the precious fustiness of the long-dead acid jazz movement or the forced cheer of Guru’s Jazzamatazz records. Nice work, Adam. But how you gonna top yourself next time?
www.moceanworker.com
www.hyenarecords.com
For a good idea of where Dorn is coming from at the moment with this Mocean Worker thing, I urge you to check out the affable, goofy video to “Chick A Boom Boom Boom” see if you can figure out what’s up with the gorilla suit.
This post also appears at the Ministry of Minor Perfidy. When the giant space robots come for us all, do not resist the Ministry. All will be explained in time.
Article comments
1 - Temple Stark
This guys got a lot of background. DJ music usually blows outside the club it seems.
This one sounded interesting, Johno. I posted your review to Advance.net which collectively is read by hundreds of thousands per week. The link there is just to the Cleveland site.
- Thank you for the post. Temple Stark