Lund Quartet - Lund Quartet

  by Andy Cassidy

published: 12 / 10 / 2012

---

Bristol-based Lund Quartet are a curious mixture of jazz, trip-hop and electronica. This, their debut album, is an understated masterpiece of subtlety and quiet confidence. It is difficult to place Lund Quartet anywhere on the musical spectrum, and it seems inevitable that they are compared to fellow Bristolians Portishead. Their sound, however, is more organic than Portishead, and is heavily reliant on Simon Adcock’s skilful piano. In fact, much of the charm of Lund Quartet’s work comes from the fact that they are much closer to straight jazz than many of their contemporaries. The album opens with ‘Sequoia’, a video of which is currently available on YouTube. It is a bass-driven track with an insistent drum pattern and some superb piano from Adcock. The basic jazz trio sound is supplemented with a great horn-section (sampled and replayed on a turntable, complete with scratching) and a wonderfully spare use of the Theremin. The band describe the creation of their sound as “recording a hypnotic groove, then inviting someone to play over it.” This method of “random” composition is extremely effective, and is perfectly in keeping with the group’s jazz sensibilities. Second track ‘Kulde’ opens with some indistinct radio chatter, which is joined by a superbly melodic Theremin and some great use of the turntable. The track then develops into a more or less straight jazz trio piece. That the band can so effortlessly blend traditional jazz with contemporary instrumentation and methodology is as impressive as it is fascinating to listen to. Third track ‘Love’s Madness’ features a sampled vocal from Miriam Makeba. Makeba’s vocal is dark and dusky and is superbly manipulated by DJ Jake Wittlin. The remainder of the album is purely instrumental, and, for me, the addition of the vocal track serves to punctuate the album. Despite my enjoying the group’s music, without the vocal track, the album may have run the risk of being too much of the same – the sequencing and inclusion of the vocal works very well within the context of the album as a whole. This is very much a late night album. Its beauty lies in the fact that it seldom raises above a whisper. It is also an album that improves with each subsequent listen – I have played it five or six times now, and I find that I enjoy it more each time. Lund Quartet are purveyors of high-quality, low-fuss jazz, big on atmosphere and invention. This is an album that could easily sit beside ‘Kind of Blue’ or ‘Moon Safari’, and one which I will be going back to again and again.

Track Listing:-

1 Sequoia
2 Kulde
3 Love's Madness
4 Tulipan
5 Lonn
6 Merula
7 Zill Bell

Band Links:-

http://www.lundquartet.com/
https://www.facebook.com/lundquartet
https://twitter.com/lundquartet
http://lundquartet.tumblr.com/
https://www.youtube.com/user/lundquartet
https://plus.google.com/102491968429252365398

Label Links:-

http://www.afuturewithout.com/
https://en-gb.facebook.com/afuturewithout
http://afuturewithout.bandcamp.com/
https://www.youtube.com/user/afuturewithout
https://plus.google.com/100409672037245252805

Post A Comment

---

Comment

Name

your name

Location

ie London, UK

Submit

Check box to submit

Adam Coxon
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson

Dixie Ernill
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart

Malcolm Carter
Marie Hazelwood
Mark Rowland
Nick Dent-Robinson
Nicky Crewe
Nige Nudds
Philamonjaro
Richard Lewis
Shirley Procter
Spencer Robertshaw
Steev Burgess
Steve Kinrade

Steve Miles
Tommy Gunnarsson
Zena Grieg