JBK - _ism

Jansen Barbieri Karn (JBK)
_ism
1999 Medium Productions/Polydor KK

Produced by: JBK

Personnel:
Steve Jansen: percussive and ambient loops, samples, radio, melodica, harmonica, bass synths, electric piano, additional key s, vocals, drums
Richard Barbieri: keyboards, bass synths, hammond organ, harmonium, electronics, piano, electric piano
Mick Karn: fretless/processed/fuzz bass, additional piano and keys, backing vocals, clarinet, bass clarinet, saxophone, wooden flute

additional personnel:
David Torn: slide/acoustic rhythm guitar, electric guitars, loops, acoustic and electric ouds
Aziz Ibrahim: guitars
Sugizo: radio violin, apeggio guitar
Zoe Niblett: vocals, backing vocals
Masami Tsuchiya: backwards guitar
Theo Travis: saxophone samples (taken from Indigo Falls)*
Nick Cooper: celli, cello
Clive Bell: thai flutes & khenes, flutes

This is noted as the first official full JBK album, although truth be told, these three folks have been working together in various combinations since the late 1970s (as three fourths of Japan and its early 90s one-shot reunion Rain Tree Crow, as guests on each others solo projects, and as guests on others - they played on several Jakko projects, and Barbieri is now a regular member of Porcupine Tree). I am led to believe this is their first full collaborative effort from start to finish under their own names mayhaps?

In any event, JBK is a rarity - megachops, no wanking. As you can tell by the personnel credits, the boys are all multinstrumentalists and exceptionally solid players (particularly Karn, who I would argue is the only bassist since Jaco Pastorius to do anything original on the fretless bass). They occasionally get aggressive, but JBK music in general is a more relaxed affair, with the 3 personalities melding into a comfortable mid-tempo to chilled out pace. But make no mistake, this is not elevator music! No no no my friends. This is quirky pop structures played through a musical blender that mixes organic instruments with electronic washes, and ethno-beat compositions that span from Brasil to Morroco to the Celtic Isles.

The album starts with one of its kickers, The Shallow Pool, which slinks and slithers with its almost upright sounding bass and 16th note high-hat pattern, and Steve Jansen sounding dangerously close to his brother in the vocal department (the enigmatic David Sylvian, who was the 4th member of Japan and Rain Tree Crow), dark and seductive. From there it goes down an eerie path with To The Core which mixes Zoe Niblett's vocals and some tempo changes to make a track that is equal parts Portishead and Kate Bush. Sacrifice, Beast Haunted, and Found in a Shell or Murmurs fall into the realm of "Could have come off of Passion", the Peter Gabriel soundtrack to the movieThe Last Temptation of Christ. There you have dreamy synths, and the creeping sound of Karns bass clarinet seeping into your ears, and a distinct Maghrebi/Middle Eastern symphonic feel. Carry the Ashes makes you think of what you would hear as you made your pilgramage across a nondescript desert - thin layers of delicate sounds placed one atop another, eventually building to a full change five and a half minutes into the track (most compositions fall into the 4:30 to 7:30 minute range).

Red Track Danceplays like a warm Massive Attack song, with a more plaintive vocal track than one would typically hear on a MA album. And Cold Light comes dangerously close to releasable as a single, with a very infectious fuzz bassline, and a melody line even a fan of the bland can follow.

Now, JBK is still somewhat adventurous stuff, so if you only like serrated buzzsaw guitaronics, or the latest in disposable pap, then this is not for you. If however, you tend to plod the land where folks like Massive Attack, Peter Gabriel, and Brian Eno tread, then you are in good shape. This is a pretty lush but lean album (it opts for layering sounds and performance rather than simply innundating the listener with every bleep/sample/noise it can throw), and carries the listener along rather than pushing them.

* Indigo Falls is the name of the band and album that is Richard Barbieri and his wife.