Talibam! - Hard Vibe (ESP - DISK' 2018)

Talibam! delights in creating music that cannot be pinned down within the safe-spaces of existing genres. With each new album, Talibam! reinvents their methodological palette in order to bolster a fresh clarity of joyous auditory surprise, something their fans have come to depend on. Talibam! focuses on compositional clarity, with reverence for their diverse interest in genre. On this new album they push the pulse of Motorik rhythm through a Psychedelic Jazz filter. This time out, they have created a sonic edifice so radical, so intricate in its density, that additional hands were required to bring it to life; thus was born the Talibam! Hard Vibe Band with Matt Nelson (Battle Trance, tUnE-yArDs) and Ron Stabinsky (Mostly Other People Do the Killing, Peter Evans Quintet, Relâche) joining Mottel (CSC Funk Band, Alien Whale, Nymph,   Platinum Vision) and Village Voice "Best Drummer in New York" Shea (Mostly Other People Do the Killing, Rhys Chatham, People featuring Mary Halvorson).

The scientists in the Talibam! laboratory describe the results thusly: The HARD VIBE composition transforms aspects of rhythm changes into a disciplined sequence of minor key modulations to create a rigorous Hard Vibe obstacle course for the soloists over a tight melodic/rhythmic grid. Inspired by Herbie Hancock's '70s cosmic music, long-form repetitive works such as Miles Davis's On the Corner, Charlie Parker's "Salt Peanuts," Tenor Sax endurance soloists, Albert Ayler's New Grass, the legendary organ brutality of Larry Young, and the NYC Avant-Garde Rock Minimalism of Rhys Chatham and Glenn Branca, Hard Vibe maintains an infectious pulse with virtuosic structural jazz improvisation. The Jan Hammer/'80s soundtrack-inspired Keytar payoff (second half of side B) brings festival audiences to its feet in epic dance and ripping solo proportions. But those are inspirations more than ingredients. As we at ESP-Disk' are fond of saying, "You never heard such sounds in your life."

"Talibam! manage to cast themselves as a powerful rhythm section... It's pretty cool to hear the Manhattan abstracters create such a cool free jazz/free rock hybrid." - Byron Coley

"Co-conspirators Matthew Mottel and Kevin Shea have something in common with John Coxon and Ashley Wales of Spring Heel Jack in their application of multiple instruments, electronics and collaborators to create an eclectic musical milieu." - Derek Taylor

"This is wildly new music, fresh in its approach to the collision of melody, harmony and rhythm that makes for quite a soup for the songs to swim in." - Raul d'Gama Rose

"Amid the fun and exuberance a clever brain and a strong heart of integrity beats." - Lisa Thatcher

01. Infinite Hard Vibe Pt. 1 19:44

02. Infinite Hard Vibe Pt. 2 19:21

Matthew Mottel: Fender Rhodes, synthesizer

Matt Nelson: tenor saxophone

Kevin Shea: drums

Ron Stabinsky: Hammond B3 organ

John Olson (Wolf Eyes): cover art