Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
We can wait all our lives for that one jazz album to match our own infectious energy, and when it finally arrives, we are either unprepared for the sheer scope of the imagination utilised, or we become struck by awe at the momentous audacity taken in producing the unsuspected brilliance.
There is no halfway measure when it comes to Jazz, and in a flash of cool and deliberately paced musicianship of the Viennese trio Blueblut, that experimental drive pounds at the heart and the mind as if being on a ride through a kaleidoscope of colours and sounds that leave the listener dizzy and panting, straining on a leash for more.
Blueblut’s Lutebulb is insanely rich, pulsating with passion and pride, and one that lights a fuse under the soul as it catches the subtly and frenetic attitude of the music as though an explosion of warmth is about to spread across the area in which the listener stands with expectation and sizeable drama.
The band’s fifth album release sees Pamelia Stickney, Chris Janks, and Mark Holub show their on-beat experimental side to even greater depth and maturity, and across the tracks Cocktail, Clarinot, Aumba, Arrobark, Tuna, and Kaktusgetränk, and with generous contributions from their special guests Willi Landl and Eldis la Rosa, the sense of abundance and loaded pleasure is entertaining, resplendent, and fortifying.
Lutebulb is a carnival ride, it is a rollercoaster which has no way of slowing down, it is on a fast loop which gives the guts a kick but the mind a thrill. The sense of musical addiction is spellbinding, overpowering, enriching, undaunted by the unprogressive flavour so many adhere to with stubborn and barren indulgence instead of allowing themselves to rejoice in the flavour of genius.
Lutebulb is genius, it is a rocket engineered to scour the far corners of space but understanding the potential of exploration is limited by the minds on board; be open, let the music free you, for in an album of ideas we can all witness the forever.
Blueblut release Lutebulb on May 3rd via Janka Industries.
Ian D. Hall