Tyondai Braxton's Central Market
09/18/09 00:02
Tyondai Braxton "Central Market" (LP) on Warp
Other Music [NYC]
Over the last few years, Tyondai Braxton (son of virtuoso jazzer Anthony Braxton) has gone from relative obscurity to media darling thanks to his association with post-post-rock rockers Battles. With that band he showed that there was life in rock music yet, infusing the genre with a creativity and hyperactivity the scene is still reeling from. Being one of the guiding forces in Battles, it was surely only a matter of time before his lofty ambitions were realized on a further solo effort (this is Braxton's second lone full-length), and ambitious Central Market certainly is. Composing for the Wordless Music Orchestra has obviously given Braxton a freedom he never had with Battles, and the chunky rock edge we associate with the band is all but lost in a flurry of lush cinematics and blurred electronics. The closest relative I can bring to mind would be Fantomas, not necessarily in the sound itself but in the scope and complexity of Braxton's compositions -- these pieces could have been chopped from 1/2" reels of 1940s Disney Soundtracks and assembled plunderphonic-style before being replayed by the orchestra. Sure, his vision is going to leave many listeners cold -- it's certainly polarized the OM office -- but Central Market is a vivid, Technicolor listening experience far removed from anything else you're likely to stumble across this year. Who knew modern classical music could be so damned playful? [JT]
Listen: J. City
Other Music [NYC]
Over the last few years, Tyondai Braxton (son of virtuoso jazzer Anthony Braxton) has gone from relative obscurity to media darling thanks to his association with post-post-rock rockers Battles. With that band he showed that there was life in rock music yet, infusing the genre with a creativity and hyperactivity the scene is still reeling from. Being one of the guiding forces in Battles, it was surely only a matter of time before his lofty ambitions were realized on a further solo effort (this is Braxton's second lone full-length), and ambitious Central Market certainly is. Composing for the Wordless Music Orchestra has obviously given Braxton a freedom he never had with Battles, and the chunky rock edge we associate with the band is all but lost in a flurry of lush cinematics and blurred electronics. The closest relative I can bring to mind would be Fantomas, not necessarily in the sound itself but in the scope and complexity of Braxton's compositions -- these pieces could have been chopped from 1/2" reels of 1940s Disney Soundtracks and assembled plunderphonic-style before being replayed by the orchestra. Sure, his vision is going to leave many listeners cold -- it's certainly polarized the OM office -- but Central Market is a vivid, Technicolor listening experience far removed from anything else you're likely to stumble across this year. Who knew modern classical music could be so damned playful? [JT]
Listen: J. City