Skalpel: Konfusion (Ninja Tune)
Whenever one is in the frame of mind which insists on only one genre of music to absorb, it’s a given than absolutely nothing else will do. You know the scenario: you’ve had a couple of tunes burning into your mind all day, and promise yourself that as soon as you get back from work/pub/church/jail that you will find a selection of whatever your particular aural tipple may be, and dive in.
Skalpel review by Tommo
You can preview and hear the album online here
Eastern European DJs/producers Marcin Cichy and Igor Pudlo (AKA) Skalpel know exactly what they like. And what they like is ‘60s and ‘70s Polish Jazz. What they love to do is cut up the dark riffs, the subtle licks, and the tight beats, and create a contemporary sound, losing none of the artistic freedom of the subject matter.
After a successful tour with stable mate DJ Vadim and his Russian Percussion in 2000, critical acclaim followed for their debut eponymous Ninja Tune release, featuring singles 1958 and Breakout. Highly influential in their native Poland, they have tapped into a mine of previously untapped material to create the unmistakable Skalpel sound.
Now the boys are back with a box-fresh album: Konfusion. A deep, thoughtful retrospective sound, again influenced, and almost entirely made up from the Communist-baiting Polish Jazz scene, this is an album rich in mood and culture, while funky and slick.
On the first couple of listens, there is actually little to differentiate between tracks: all are driven by a rolling, sinister double-bass groove, pepped-up by frenetic jazz and funk beats and stylish horns. Fans of some of the jazzier Peshay tracks and the Cinematic Orchestra may feel at home in this chin-stroking arena, while others may at first write it off as a one-trick pony with little more to add after the opening track.
The opening track itself, Shivers, is a relaxed, jaunty jazz number centred by soulful clarinet and technical guitar. The mood is immediately made considerably darker in Flying Officer: deep, melodic Brown Paper Bag style bass is cut up with a tight, funky breakbeat while subtle jazz tones enter almost imperceptibly at first. Frenetic solos from Hammond organ, sax and the skins make this one of the standout tracks on Konfusion. Satisfying, moody and sexy.
Long Distance Call feels less of a track in its own right; more a variation on the previous track, and the same can be said for Hiperbole, to which the track is segued into almost without notice. The title track could be accused of the same, were it not for the squeaking sax and menacing bass.
The album can feel like one long trawl through the back alleys of a shady Cinema Noir soundtrack album. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing, if you’re in that type of mood. This isn’t the type of album to encourage a flagging party to cut some rug- indeed, the vibes are such that even when you are concentrating on listening to it hard, conversation inevitably arises, often relegating Konfusion to background music only.
The album is flawless in its execution of bringing the scene Skalpel clearly love so dearly into the 21st Century, and its immediate sense of similarity is punctuated by some stunning exceptions. The last third of Deep Breath is graced by haunting, smoked-silken vocals of a Beth Gibbons’ quality; while Test Drive- the pick of the bunch- heads toward ‘70s cops n’ robbers car-chase territory. Intense brass hits merge with ominous sax, complete with the screeching tyres of rear-wheel drive V8 muscle cars broad-sliding through eight lanes of San Francisco highway. The crime committed here is that the track is by far the shortest on the already brief album. Ninja thoughtfully include a bonus disc featuring remixes from the first Skalpel album, featuring remixes from Quantic, Dr Rubberfunk and the Skalpel duo themselves.
Konfusion is a piece of music that will certainly appeal to Sartre-reading beatniks, but the quality of the breaks and beats involved in this serious work are such that it ventures into the realms of achingly contemporary DJ production. Surgical in execution of production, yet organic in undeniable soul, it’s not immediately accessible to all, but work at this one, and you will be grateful you did.
Available on Ninja Tune http://www.ninjatune.net/