Merchants Of Air
  • Home
  • Reviews
    • Albums
    • Concerts
  • Premieres
  • Interviews
  • Giveaways
  • Playlists
  • Shop
    • Merchants Of Air releases
  • About us
    • About Us
    • Writers Wanted
    • Logos and banner
    • Advertise
    • Mailinglist

Sknail - Snail Charmers

19/5/2015

Comments

 
website
Foto
The first time this album visited my CD player, I couldn't play it right away because of a phonecall.  During that phonecall, I watched the stunning artwork inside the digipac (it was a lot more interesting than the voice on the other side).  It shows pictures of instruments played by humanoid machines, somewhere in the line of Björk's 'All Is Full Of Love' video, but I like these pictures more than that video.  These are beautiful examples of man meets machine in an eternal musical performance, a true futuristic jazz club.

That is actually exactly what Sknail represents.  Snail Charmers is a highly surprising album, bringing us a refreshing blend of jazz and glitch/IDM.  So if you ever wondered what it would sound like when John Coltrane would meet Autechre, this Swiss project is your answer.  Backed-up by musicians like Nya (vocals), Yannick Barman (trumpet), Philippe Ehinger (bass clarinet), Guy-Francois Leuenberger (piano), Alain Dessauges & Patrice Moret (double bass), Sknail (production, electronics, programming) created a highly technical piece of magic.

While the band and the producers create an intimate jazz club atmosphere, vocalist Nya raps, somewhere in the vein of some dub reggae artists like Linton Kwesi Johnson.  This gives the album an extra edge and makes songs like 'Slow Poison' and title track 'Snail Charmers' true pearls.  'Anthem' takes things a bit slower, nugding towards the sheer gloomy beauty of dark jazz.  There's a lot of room for elaborate solo's, freely floating on deep double bass and weird background electronics.

And there lies the true genius of this album.  This is not an IDM album with some jazz poured into.  No, this is high quality jazz music, supported by electronics.  Sknail respects the artists and the genre in such a way that he gives them the freedom to exercise their skills to the fullest.  In fact, I like this more than I like most jazz.  Most jazz drummers make me nervous.  This doesn't, this is warm, enjoyable music, even in its experimental character.

'Lacrima' is my favourite track on the album, mainly because of the earlier mentioned dark jazz feel and also because of the minimal but rhytmic glitch-electronics it drives on.  Somehow, Sknail manages to avoid musical chaos and barely avoids crossing the edge between music and noise.  Still, the album has something weird, not suitable for people who like their music easy to digest.  It takes some experience to be able to enjoy this but it's definitely worth checking out.

In all, Snail Charmers is a brilliant jazz album, foreseeing a bright future for this unique genre.  It's a perfect marriage between jazz and electronics, that's for sure.  It's clearly not easy-listening music but Sknail deserves a lot of credit and attention for this daring mix.  


Serge
Comments
    subscribe to our newsletter

    Genres

    All
    Acoustic
    Alternative
    Ambient
    Avant Garde
    Avant-garde
    Black Metal
    Blues
    Children
    Classical
    Country
    Crust
    Dark Ambient
    Dark Jazz
    Darkwave
    Death Metal
    Doom
    Dream Pop
    Drone
    Drum & Bass
    Dub
    Dubstep
    EBM
    Electro
    Electronic
    Ethereal
    Experimental
    Folk
    Folk Metal
    Funk
    Gothic
    Grindcore
    Grunge
    Hardcore
    Hard Rock
    Heavy Metal
    Hip Hop
    Hip-hop
    Idm
    Indie
    Industrial
    Instrumental
    Jazz
    Krautrock
    Martial
    Math Rock
    Metal
    Metalcore
    Neo Classical
    Neo-classical
    Neo Folk
    Neo-folk
    Noise
    Noise Rock
    Noise-rock
    Nu Metal
    Nu-metal
    Opera
    Pop
    Post Metal
    Post Punk
    Post Rock
    Progressive
    Psychedelic
    Psytrance
    Punk
    Reggae
    Rock
    Score
    Shoegaze
    Singer/songwriter
    Sludge
    Soul
    Southern Rock
    Speed Metal
    Stoner
    Symphonic Metal
    Synthpop
    Techno
    Thrash
    Triphop
    Trip-hop
    World

    Archives

    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015

Find us on

facebook
google+
twitter
tumblr
​
minds

About Us

Contact
FAQ
Logos and banners
© COPYRIGHT 2015. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.