Loka: Fire Shepherds (Ninja Tune/Flavour)

 |   |  <1 min read

Loka: Fire Shepherds (Ninja Tune/Flavour)

This duo out of Liverpool spring a real surprise on their debut album: it is cinematic-sounding electronica but much of it -- after the gritty sci-fi sonics of the opening two tracks -- is clearly influenced by the expansive mid 60s jazz sounds of John Coltrane (long and loping rhythms) and the early 70s urgency of Miles Davis when he hooked up with the sound of the street and plugged in with an electric band.

On paper that sounds like a real mishmash, but here it makes curiously good sense, especially when the pace and intensity slows around the midpoint.

I won't lie to you, the first two tracks -- which run out to around 15 minutes in total -- are probably best enjoyed on an open highway rather than in your lounge.

But after that the fragile trumpet comes in over the supple and funky electronica, there are washes of wah-wah pedal guitars, and those repeated bass figures you hear in great jazz. If you have any affection for Miles Davis albums like Jack Johnson or like the idea of a challenging fusion of 70s jazz rock and smart late 90s electronica then this one is for you.

It's a real grower.

Share It

Your Comments

post a comment

More from this section   Music at Elsewhere articles index

A Mountain of One: Institute of Joy (Pod)

A Mountain of One: Institute of Joy (Pod)

After a couple of much sought after EPs the London duo of Zeben Jameson and Mo Morris here (with a lot of help from their friends) unveiled their much anticipated debut album last year. And quite... > Read more

Neil Young and Promise of the Real: The Visitor (Warners)

Neil Young and Promise of the Real: The Visitor (Warners)

You have to go a long way back to find a truly great and new – not just a “pretty good” – Neil Young studio album. As Elsewhere has noted, much of his best stuff has been... > Read more

Elsewhere at Elsewhere

Public Image Limited; Death Disco (1979)

Public Image Limited; Death Disco (1979)

Described by Peter Shapiro in Turn the Beat Around; The Secret History of Disco as "perhaps the most uncompromising record ever to make the Top 20 chart [in Britain]" this extraordinary... > Read more

GUEST ARTIST ANGELA KEOGHAN opens her portfolio of the quirky and cute

GUEST ARTIST ANGELA KEOGHAN opens her portfolio of the quirky and cute

When New Zealand artist/photographer Angela Keoghan this week won the 2012 award for best album cover for her work on Bannerman's Dearly Departed (right), you looked again at it and realised how... > Read more