ViperHouse did a show with Liquid Soul a few months ago. They are really
nice people. I suppose that one description of them would be a heavy
hitting version of Groove Collective . . .they are very horn heavy, but
in a straight forward, powerful, 70's way, whereas I see GC to be more
be-bopish in there lines and smoother. I had a lot of fun checking them
out.
My one main criticism was that they tended to ignore their vocalists
(male rap -who does all freestyle-, and a female vox - who had a unique
style), which to me is a definite problem in the acid jazz world. Take
Groove Collective for instance, here are all these "boys" with their
horns thinking they're all hip and stuff, and then every so often they
"let" their vocalist do a number. This bugs me for two reasons:
(1) it shows that the band isn't interested in working with their
vocalist or that they are up to the challenge of creating engaging vocal
stuff that is able to compare to the instrumental stuff (i.e. it is
either an instrumental or a vocal tune- and if it is vocal tune than it
is esentially and r&b/pop/soul tune). (2) i find that attitude to be
elitist and sexist (if the singer is a woman- which in aj is often the
case).
Anyway, enough of my thoughts. Liquid Soul hits heavy and they are
tight, and I had fun, despite my criticisms. But then, I'm always way
too critical. :)
peace,
brian
p.s. currently listening to Skizm, Combustible Edison, and Brooklyn Funk
Essentials.