The Dylan Group
Ur-klang Search (Bubble Core 027)

Some kind of interdimensional weirdness has gone on and somehow, Patterns-era Bobby Hutcherson has been melded with Andrea Parker. This is deep haze late night shit alright, but with a serious twist: the vibes is front and center.

The Dylan Group is what would happen if a bus crash en route to percussion camp resulted in a "Lord of the Flies" type situation. Six months along, four of the percussionists are living in a cave away from all the others, letting their hair grow out, feasting on crayfish, and finding uncharted funk in their instruments.

Vibes is the main thing, and then there's marimba and gamelan, fortified with electric bass, plenty of Rhodes, and real drums, among other stuff. It's a full, fantastic sound, an overgrown jazz group gone indie rock and relishing the joy. Real handclaps too!

Ur-klang Search is stylistically all over the place, in a good way, but the overall vibe is pretty much 11pm-or-later chillout: tight grooves with a long reach, trancey vibe lines with plenty of sustain, and keyboard comping that would make Fela smile. A couple of cuts start off with an almost Eastern sounding approach, with real minimalist patterns repeated and locked into a groove; nearly all the cuts end up in some kind of shaggy jungle sound that feels amazing.

These guys have been compared to Tortoise, but I hear it as something different, quite a bit more groove-focused and genuinely jazzy. Lots of layered sound, with keyboards floating in and out and even some guitar toward the end … it's the sort of thing that could easily be just a bunch of guys "experimenting," but these fucks can play.

The great thing is, no one plays outside what the songs need – no empty wanking here; just a whole lot of purposeful sound that drags you in and drowns you in its wash of vibealicious mania.

I describe this to people as "kind of late night electronic chill stuff, but it's acoustic … well, mainly … and furthermore, the ghost of Bobby Hutcherson presides!" People then remind me that Bobby Hutcherson is still alive, and I then start crying to deflect attention away from my faux pas. It's good to hear vibes used in this way again, after some years of banishment to ironic lounge-type acts.

The spacey production allows much room for everything to float around, and gives the live band sound almost a dub feel. This ain't jazz, it ain't funk, it ain't indie rock, and it ain't electronica. I love it when I can't label shit.

Did I mention the cover art is fuckin' great? Everyone should get this album, it's as beautiful a piece of new music as I've heard in awhile. Once again it proves I shouldn't be so quick to give up on white people.

Loud Bassoon rating scale

Review by Ol' Chinky