Various Artists – Brainfeeder Sampler (2015)

Rough Trade is more than a record store. In a time when record stores aren't doing that well as many people have stopped buying albums, it's really refreshing having this kind of next generation record store close by. Rough Trade doesn't just sell records. They also have great curated lists of new albums, they sell books related to music and equipment to play your music with, they organise talks and gigs etc. and there's a nice cafe in the shop. One of my favourite things about them is that when you buy albums from them, you sometimes get free sampler CDs along with your purchase. This is a great way to get acquainted with new music. I got this sampler when I bought the amazing album The Epic, by Kamasi Washington. There are only a few songs and most of it is a bit too experimental for my taste, but it's still nice to get out of the comfort zone to hear something completely new.



This sampler has some experimental jazz songs, some experimental soul and some electronic music that I couldn't quite categorise. I have to admit that a couple of songs on this album are outright irritating and I can't really listen to them for longer periods of time, but there are also a couple of very interesting songs here.

The album starts with an experimental slowly pulsing soul song Lone Wolf and Cub by Thundercat and some other musicians, such as the legendary Herbie Hancock. The song starts with an atmospheric and slow soul/funk song with sexy rhythms. The ending of the song sounds more like experimental space music of the late 70's. The second song is a jazz song called Drum Battle by Kneebody. The song is quite funky and there are some great classic jazz elements. On the other hand, there are some parts that are a bit too experimental for my taste. When the electric guitars come in with raunchy overdrive, I don't know if I like the song that much anymore. The song is over 10 minutes long and some parts are great, some not so much. After this, we hear the song Awakening by DJ Paypal. This is apparently supposed to be like electronic free jazz. Mostly the looping saxophone just annoys me and I would much rather hear real drums than these electronic beats. There are some pleasant old-school jazz parts, but all in all the song is a bit too chaotic. Puzzle by Lapalux & Andreya Triana is a slow, almost a trip hop song with some jazzy elements. There's also a seductive soul rhythm in the song. The song is a bit too lounge-jazz-like for my taste, but at least it's easy to listen to. The last song, Xiangjiao by Iglooghost is outright annoying. This is apparently the musical style called wonky. It's all over the place sounding electronic music with fast rhythm changes and annoying samples and sounds. I really don't understand this kind of music. To me it's just annoying noise.

Drum Battle by Kneebody actually sounds a lot better live. I found this live video of them playing the song and it's actually quite good like this. The sounds are more authentic than on the album version. Maybe I'm a bit purist when it comes to jazz.

Listen to the album on Spotify.