Album 96
Medeski Martin & Wood - Combustication
Drinking: Mast Landing's Gunner's Daughter, a peanut butter milk stout
- "Sugar Craft": An excellent funky intro, I love the slight distortion on the keys. The samples give this song some texture that evokes a feeling of riding around on a hot bustling day, taking in the sounds of people yelling, cat growling, and the general feeling of a city/town. The music is lively and vibrant. At ~2:50 there's a siren sound that breaks into the track like a big fire engine going by.
- "Just Like I Pictured It": This track is smooth with some lovely bass tone. The sauntering pace of the song is perfect for the riff the band is playing around. It creates the feeling of plodding along the street being as chill as can be. The whole experience is quite pleasing to listen to. It doesn't transport me anywhere, but it's just so groovy, I want to loop it over and over. This would be a great track to cook along to.
- "Start·Stop": The album takes a nice change of pace from the previous two tracks with "Start·Stop". It's very textured in its tone and feels like a trance. Sliding into the mix is a captivating drum and bass groove, and it's so natural in feeling that I had to restart the track to make sure it wasn't there from the beginning. The music feels like a mural that could be read as sheet music, it's entrancing. Peppered through are these tasty bass licks. The music grows through the whole track to the brink of feeling menacing but never goes over the edge. At ~4:22 the track enters into this new spacey section. The groove has transported you to deep space. The turntables speak to you in nonsense, almost like someone is trapped in the record trying to break out.
- "Nocturne": The chord progression the bass is playing around captures the sound of looking at a frosty field on an overcast November day. It's cold and bleak, but still pulsing with the potential of life among the deep soil and wildlife. The keys provide a haunting wind sound that backs an excellent bass line. At ~2:00 the windy keys trade out with percussive bird calls. The windy keys return around ~2:40. It's eerie stuff, and it's my favorite track so far.
- "Hey-Hee-Hi-Ho": This track returns the feeling to smooth funky tunes. One of my favorite aspects of the song is the way the instruments are playing with silence, weaving among each other. It's a very cool sound. Not much else to say about this track besides its pleasing funkiness.
- "Whatever Happened To Gus": This track features another really tasty bass lick right of the gate. If you're a fan of bass, this album seems to be a great place to hang your hat as the bass shines on this record. The voice-over featured on this track is really cool. The keys provide some excellent and tense counterpoint to the smooth groove of the bass. The spoken word is captivating. Perhaps it's a piece about a vision, trip, or a dream. Possibly it's highly imaginative pondering about the lost fate of Gus.
- "Latin Shuffle": The song starts with a moment where the drums try to find their feet. Quickly it develops into a fiery Latin feeling, and the bass firmly holds a standard jazz riff over it. The piano echos over the bass and drum and slowly overtakes the rhythm. It's like its exploring a struggle with the bass representing tradition and the drums representing the Latin influences, while the piano is articulating the conflict between the two. This is the longest track on the album. By ~3:30 it's complete chaos between the drums and piano with the bass joining in at ~3:50. At 3:57 the drums segue into a flavorful solo. The track returns to the original riff from the beginning at ~4:50. The band finds mutual harmony at ~6:06 and riffs around at the same pace. There's a groovy keys solo at ~6:34. The song grooves it's way out with a bass solo at ~7:45.
- "Everyday People": This is a Sly And The Family Stone cover. It's an eerie start that segues into the meat of the song. It sounds like the start of a weird carnival horror movie. At ~0:45 the bass brings the keys into the song where the band starts playing with the tune from Sly. A slower track for the band, but there are moments where I feel like the band is chomping at the bit just under the surface, but I have no evidence to back that up beyond instinct. I'm not wowed by this song so far as I round the 4-minute mark. Perhaps it's functioning as a juxtaposition from the original that provides the substance/meaning of this track.
- "Coconut Boogaloo": First of all, fun name. This is a funky fun track. To me, it feels like you're walking through an exotic market where each moment, each stop brings you something funky and new. Fits in with the quirky nature of this groovy jam.
- "Church Of Logic": The title of this song possibly stems from the addition of collaborator DJ Logic. It starts with some fun turntable work over some very quiet and echoing keyboards. It's a quiet track that feels withheld but in an oddly comforting way. DJ Logic plays with the texture created by the band in a very exploratory way. On the face, you wouldn't think it would fit, but it's the same feeling as watching the last few pieces of a puzzle fitting into place and suddenly you see the whole picture.
- "No Ke Ano Ahiahi": I was looking forward to this track as it's a traditional Hawaiian song. As it starts, it's mellow and pleasing. This song keeps you in the zone as it fades in and out of the regular chords and solos. It was a very enjoyable track.
- "Hypnotized": This song starts like a 70's prog-rock song. Did Rush co-opt this intro? Did Medeski Martin & Wood? I love the piano chords that ring through. Someone is using the sound from the beginning and manipulates it to sound like an organ or a highly distorted guitar through a wah-wah pedal, which is wicked cool. This is a very cool jam to close out the alum. It feels like the vehicle and foot traffic of a town on a rainy day.
- "Combustication": This is a hidden track found about 7:37 into Hypnotized. I find it interesting that the title track to the album is a hidden track. It's a very eerie track that's haunting and echoing. It segues into this crazy free-form racket that I can't seem to pull away from. Next, it moves into this tense jam where the keys seem to be locked into two chords over and over while the bass runs loose over it. Perhaps they are trying to personify the life cycle of fire.
Overall Thoughts: I loved the rhythm and groove found on this album especially when it kept changing from being upfront and personal, or interwoven behind the chaos. I envisioned a mad scientist dressed like the grooviest dude playing in a sound laboratory. Because I'm still developing my free-jazz ear, some of this was lost on me. However, I still feel it is a fresh sound and holds up to the pantheon of history that stands behind it.
Photo Credit: https://medeskimartinandwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/MMW-Suits-photo-Danny-Clinch.jpg
Info: This album was released in 1998 via the infamous Blue Note Records, and was recorded in The Magic Shop in New York City. Wikipedia classified it as jazz-funk, jazz fusion, and acid jazz. Allegedly this was also the first commercial jazz album to include a turntablist/DJ in the lineup. Combustication features John Medeski on keyboards, Billy Martin on drums/percussion, Chris Wood on basses/bass drum, DJ Logic on turntables, and Steve Cannon spoke words on track 6.
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