At the Center is the latest album Jack Dangers has released under the Meat Beat Manifesto name. Does anyone else think that sounds crude? Maybe it's just my imagination. Right. On to the review. I apologize for the awkward moment.
The album overall is bass heavy jazz mixed in with what sounds like five keyboards playing at the same time their own unique noise. The drum loops sway like trees in the wind in the sense that they travel from the left speaker to the right. This mysterious phenomenon has never ceased to mystify me. It's most likely just the sound guy shifting a level button up and down, but to me it is magic. The flute bucks its usual role as icing on the cake and takes the place of a vocal head. Though unarguably skillful, the constant tooting of the fluteman certainly becomes something of a nuisance. On the other hand, the flute-bass combination is what creates the retro vibe. The underwater patterns and guttural bass sax create what sounds like the score to a Dirty Harry movie, cool and suspenseful.
The voice in the spoken word tracks,"Want Ad One" and "Two" sounds suitable in a strange, eerie way. Wise and old fashion the man speaks over rain-sticks and static, in an extremely unusual tone about disturbingly random topic matter. It is interesting but not something I will be hitting the reply button to hear again. Where do they find people like that?
With the crash of a gong Jack Dangers has reinforced his position as a legendary innovator in the world of electronica. I suspect fans of his earlier work will find At the Center to be an enjoyable listen as a whole (there are really no stand-out tracks). They may even be motivated to sneak around town like Clint Eastwood, looking to teach some punks a lesson.
3/4
