Conjuring an acidic dreamscape inspired by the Mojave Desert, Seattle's
High Pulp deliver a heady, psychedelic blend of jazz improvisation and electronic grooves on 2023's
Days in the Desert. The follow-up to 2022's
Pursuit of Ends, the album features the core ensemble of drummer/bandleader
Bobby Granfelt, keyboardists
Rob Homan and
Antoine Martel, guitarist
Scott Rixon, and saxophonists
Andrew Morrill and
Victory Nguyen. At the center of much of
High Pulp's sound are their woozy, kinetic percussion grooves, drawn equally from electronic drum'n'bass traditions as from the swinging, modal, and spiritual jazz of players like
Tony Williams and
Lenny White. Most of the tracks straddle the line between electronic production and improvisatory jazz, like the opening "Slaw," which starts with bleepy robot synths but ends in a dark chamber jazz cloud of white noise and reed harmonies. Equally balanced is "Fast Asleep," whose laid-back snare drum groove and Baroque sax lines bring to mind
Thrust-era
Herbie Hancock. Joining
High Pulp are a handful of guest collaborators, including tenor saxophonist
James Brandon Lewis, who spits fiery atonal bop lines against a verdant sine wave of electric guitar twang and woody drums on the drony "Dirtmouth." We also get electronic producer
Daedelus, who adds fractals of synths to the group's bright horn hits on "(If You Don't Leave) The City Will Kill You." Elsewhere, harpist
Brandee Younger builds a shimmering string wall on the spacey "Solanin" and
Tortoise guitarist
Jeff Parker offers blues asides on the '70s R&B-inflected "Unified Dakotas." There are equally potent contributions by guitarist
Kurt Rosenwinkel, keyboardist
Telemakus, and bassist
MonoNeon.
Days in the Desert is a spiraling, hallucinatory experience, blurring the boundaries between studio-crafted ambient soundscapes and an engaging live jam. ~ Matt Collar
