Familiar Science

by JOYFULTALK

Overview

JOYFULTALK's music evolved from the post-industrial techno abstractions of its earliest two releases to a much more refined, ambitious blend of gamelan-like rhythmic patterns and post-minimalist arrangements with 2020's excellent A Separation of Being. Familiar Science takes a vastly different approach than the project's other albums, with leader Jay Crocker collaborating with several experienced improvisational musicians and building compositions from frenetic, chopped-up drum samples. The result is darker, denser, and more sonically overwhelming than any previous JOYFULTALK release. It's hard to wrap one's head around it at first, but once it starts to make sense, it's fascinating. "Body Stone" opens the album with cascading choral patterns, which are then smothered by deconstructed drums and angular saxophone figures. "Take It to the Grave" is more approachable, starting out with tense, choppy loops before settling into a more hypnotic rhythm, ending up somewhere between fusion and dark jazz. "Particle Riot" revisits the polyrhythmic percussion of past JOYFULTALK recordings, but splatters it with Ornette Coleman-style sax soloing fed through electronic processing, gradually making it sound more hallucinogenic. "Blissed for a Minute" is a momentary switch to a warmer, gentler mood, with inviting flute and sax melodies swaying along to busy percussion and handclaps. Then "Hagiography" plunges back into unhinged free jazz chaos, with cavernous production deepening the paranoia. "Stop Freaking Out!" has clean guitar notes, but the fluttering drums seem just on the verge of breaking down into mayhem. Instead, they keep bobbing along like a light object floating on water, refusing to get pulled under the surface. ~ Paul Simpson

Product Details

Release Date:	05/06/2022
Label:	Constellation
UPC:	0666561016319
Rank:	111302

Album Credits

Performance Credits

JOYFULTALK   Primary Artist