March AOTM #2: Antiphon by Alfa Mist

Album of the Month: Antiphon - Alfa Mist

The way that jazz is perceived really crosses the full spectrum of artistic quality and integrity. At the absolute high end, you have your groundbreaking and experimental artists, your Coltrane's, your Mingus's, your Coleman's. Lauded for their genius or criticized for their obtuseness and pretentiousness. Then you have the middle stuff, your everyday John and Mary, but what's so interesting about jazz is that despite reaching that absolute pinnacle, it also manages to have entire subgenres that are given little respect to their name.

Modern Nu Jazz and Fusion are I think, overlooked for this reason. There are some notable exceptions like Nala Sinephro, but by in large, I have found that people wildly overlook the talented, uniquely enthralling sound that Yussef Dayes, BADBADNOTGOOD, or Alfa Mist have developed from a crossover of melodic hooks, ambient electronic elements, and hip-hop derived drumming. And I think Alfa Mist's Antiphon is one of the absolute best examples of this, music content to do one thing and do that one thing well.

Alfa Mist himself plays keys on the record, washing the album in melodious but suitably atypical jazz chords. His playing is flowing and dripping, like his mind was half-way caught somewhere else, and his playing is the background noise of his brain. The drumming across the record, though, is by far my favourite part. Similar to the astoundingly talented Youssef Dayes, drummer Jamie Houghton plays incredibly tight and equally complex grooves, melding with the soundscapes developed by the horn harmonies and electronic effects.

The first song, "Keep On", demonstrates everything that I love about this album. Subdued, but attention-grabbing drumming, with swinging cymbals and a constant stream of snare and ghost notes. Alfa Mist's keys give the song direction, momentum that builds to the song's end. Then you have the horns: bright, turbulent trumpet and warm saxophone, carrying the bulk of the melody. And on top of that you have some fantastic electric guitar and bass work, contributing to the solos alongside the horns and the atmosphere alongside the keys.

"Breathe" breaks up the album a bit, introducing some beautiful vocals from Kaya Thomas-Dyke. The song is driven by these vocals and a repetitive but very satisfying keyboard part from Alfa Mist that plays off of the rhythm of the track in a cascading sort of way. And the rest of the tracks on the record play out in similar ways, rock rock-solid performances across the board, a gorgeous production and mixing job, and just enough variety to keep things interesting. Like the piano and strings at the end of "Breathe", the spoken word segments throughout the album, and the rap on "7th October". All around, Antiphon is a deliciously smooth modern jazz record that showcases a number of strong instrumental performances and effective songwriting.