Method Of Defiance: Inamorata is a dark, hypnotic record featuring historic musicians alongside contemporary drum and bass artists from the UK, Europe and the US. Carefully selected and processed drum breaks were given to the musicians, who reacted to them in a live session, adding their virtuoso playing to the breaks’ dynamics. The material was then arranged, produced and mastered at a studio in New York.
To get all the information about the forthcoming album first-hand, we contacted the project coordinator, Robert Soares [1].
“The concept of the fusion projects came from what Bill Laswell [2] and I were doing together; above all, it is based on our love of Miles Davis’s “electric” period: 1969–1975, when he mixed jazz, funk and rock to create something new. In fact, Miles’s idea was to make the musicians play automatically, rather than according to pre-prepared ideas. If you are lucky, with enough spontaneity in the experiments, there is a chance of opening up new territories where people have never been before. It is something out of science fiction, believe me: we are the aliens we are constantly searching for in science and films, but we are too stupid to realize our potential. Method Of Defiance—the name we gave these fusion ideas—is a kind of reaction to the situation at the beginning of the 21st century, where everything is based above all on people with a very destructive and rebellious mindset that leads us to war. But I think there are better ways to be rebellious, for example, bringing electronic breakbeat producers and traditional musicians together, provoking both people’s astonishment and contempt—this is better than making bombs. The power of chaos is very much in the spirit of the 21st century, so we have our own version of chaos.”
Inamorata consists of a dozen tracks featuring various drum and bass musicians, from Black Sun Empire and Corrupt Souls to Paradox and Fanu. The project’s producer, musician Bill Laswell, who has 30 years of experience, plays bass guitar on all the tracks; the other musicians join the recording by playing guitar, trumpet, saxophone, keyboards and even violin.
“It’s great to work with guys like Corrupt Souls, BSE, Fanu, Paradox, SPL, D-Star, Submerged and practically mix them together with Herbie Hancock, Graham Haynes, Nils Petter Molvaer and some of the finest musicians from Miles Davis's band — Pete Cosey and Dave Liebman... All of this is a great honor for me. But let's not forget that it was Bill Laswell who handled the arranging and production of these projects, and that every musician who took part deserves a mention as well. I merely helped shape the idea and assisted with selecting the artists and developing the concept.”
Although the album was recorded with the participation of many different musicians, all the tracks share a common dark atmosphere, offering the listener a dangerous opportunity to explore the depths of human consciousness. It was Robert who ensured that the musicians' playing remained within the album's concept:
“I directed them down the right path: go far, but return to Earth; don't get lost in the infinity of space. Be virtuosic, but don't overdo it. We are all dark, so bring your natural darkness into the music. Darkness not in the sense of terrifying monsters stalking you, but darkness as in the blues, when you're stuck in a long, dark tunnel and can't see the light at the end, because that's quite familiar to human beings. We started from this point of departure and got exactly what we wanted. Everything boils over, setting your imagination in motion with all your technical skill, and no other way.”
Method Of Defiance: Inamorata will be released in September 2007 on OHM Resistance and Sanctuary Records and will be distributed by Darla and Nu Urban Music. The album will be released both on vinyl and on CD. The vinyl version will consist of three records and a picture-disc sampler.
Fanu vs. Bill Laswell: Fusion Project II
So, while the first of Bill Laswell’s drum and bass fusion projects is already supposed to be released, the second project has already been recorded and mastered. Robert Soares calls it the “official continuation of Inamorata”. Although the project was announced as early as June, the album and its constituent tracks still remain unnamed.
Robert wrote an article about neurofunk for Wikipedia [3], where he pointed out the connection between this drum and bass subgenre and 1970s music: “If you pay attention to the “Origin” section, where the connection between Matrix and “In a Silent Way” by Miles Davis is indicated, the connection between the sound of Optical’s label Virus and p-funk, you will discover that neuro was actually an obvious development of techstep, but was seriously based on dark funk and jazz in the style of the electric period Miles Davis and Funkadelic. In 2001, I met Jamie Matrix and he explained to me that “Climate” was written under the inspiration of the jazz funk with a dark atmosphere from the album “In a Silent Way” by Miles Davis, with the addition of elements from drum and bass and house.”
"Inspired by this and such labels, names, and phenomena as Virus, Metro, 1210, DSCI 4, No U-Turn, Sinthetix, Miles Davis, p-funk, Sly, Don Cherry, Detroit techno, dub, Chicago house, I began writing about neurofunk for Wikipedia, gathering ideas together in order to materialize this project with Fanu / Molvaer / Haynes and Worrell / Laswell, which was conceived as a direct interpretation of “The Origins of Neurofunk”, so this album is an attempt to make neuro without techno and house elements or fast background breaks, but with people playing live instruments, which brings even greater differences, although the connection remains.”
All the tracks on this album were recorded by the same group of musicians. The drum and bass part is represented by the talented Finnish producer Fanu. Bill Laswell, as in the previous project, remains responsible for bass guitar, Nils Petter Molvaer and Graham Haynes play trumpet and Bernie Worrell on keyboards.
At least one musician in this incredible lineup directly connects the project to the origins of the idea. Robert clarifies: "Bernie Worrell was the only keyboardist in Parliament Funkadelic from the very beginning until the breakup, so he is one of the founders of heavyweight dark funk."
The project is scheduled for release in November–December 2007. Details about formats and distributors have not yet been specified.
Robert expects a great deal from these projects: "Personally, I believe that these fusion albums—and albums only—are the key to the future, because they can inspire the younger generation to put together a band and get rid of the stale format of ’80s bands. Bring laptops with loads of breakbeats, change the way the guitar is played, remove old-fashioned singers, replace them with drum and bass or hip-hop MCs, drummers should improvise, not be conservative, and synthetic basslines combined with live bass guitar should be front and center."
So, two major projects are almost out in the world, excellent work has been done, and who knows, perhaps this is only the beginning of something completely new. In any case, Robert already has further plans: "The blend of drum and bass and techno that Raiden is making inspires me, so I think that, if everything goes according to plan, the next project will be with him, Propaganda, the guys from Ohm, Tech Itch, Guy Licata, who plays techstep on live drums, and someone else. But it won’t be called MOD. Method of Defiance—that is a concept for a completely diverse lineup. We’re practically forcing drum and bass down America’s throat until they realize that they helped create it by making Detroit techno and Chicago house."
Notes
[1] Robert Soares began his career in the late 1980s as an A&R manager at Celluloid Records, the now-defunct label that was home to Bill Laswell as well as John Zorn, Fab Five Freddy, Afrika Bambaataa, Fela Kuti, Toure Kunda, Kassav, Peter Brötzmann, Last Exit, Massacre, Golden Palominos and many other avant-garde musicians and producers. Celluloid was built on jazz, experimental music, early New York hip-hop and world music. After it went bankrupt, Soares and Laswell used its groundwork to launch Subharmonic, a proto–drum and bass ambient-dub label whose main aim was to use drum and bass as a tool for a new avant-garde.
[2] Bill Laswell, born on 12 February 1955 in Salem, Illinois, and raised in Albion, Michigan, is an American bassist, producer and record-label owner, married to the Ethiopian singer Gigi. He has taken part in hundreds of recordings with musicians from all over the world. His work spans funk, many forms of world music, jazz, dub and ambient, but also the heavier end of rock, including metal and hardcore punk. The critic Chris Brazier summed up his approach as a “music of collisions”: bringing together musicians from very different but complementary worlds to see what happens.
[3] Neurofunk (“neuro” for short) is a drum and bass subgenre that grew out of techstep in London in 1997–1998, in the work of Ed Rush, Optical and Matrix. It went on to absorb heavy, dark forms of funk along with techno, house and jazz influences. Its hallmarks are steady bassline stabs, a sharp, rhythmically structured beat and a refined dark atmosphere. Ed Rush & Optical’s 1998 debut album Wormhole on Virus Recordings is an early prototype of the sound that set it apart from techstep.
Method Of Defiance: Inamorata – tracklist
- TA'WIL - Submerged (breaks/OHM Resistance/U.S.), Pharoah Sanders (Alto Saxophone/John Coltrane quartet), Bill Laswell (Bass).
- HUMANOID - Paradox (breaks/Reinforced Recordings/Paradox Music/UK), Toshinori Kondo (trumpet), Buckethead (guitars), Bernie Worrell (keyboards/Parliament Funkadelic), Bill Laswell (bass).
- HIDDEN KILLER - Black Sun Empire (breaks/DSCI4 Recordings/BSE Recordings/Holland), Graham Haynes (trumpet), Pete Cosey (guitars/Miles Davis), Bill Laswell (bass).
- AMENTA: D-star (breaks/Metalheadz/UK), Byard Lancaster (alto saxophone/John Coltrane/Roland Kirk), Pete Cosey (guitars/Miles Davis), Bill Laswell (bass).
- PANEPHA - Paradox (breaks/Reinforced Recordings/Paradox Music/UK), Herbie Hancock (keyboards/Miles Davis/Headhunters), Bill Laswell (bass).
- BABYLON DECODER - Amit (breaks/Commercial Suicide Records/Metalheadz/UK), Toshinori Kondo (trumpet), Buckethead (guitars), Bill Laswell (bass).
- AIBI-VIRUS: SPL (breaks/Tech Itch Recordings/Freak Recordings/U.S.), Masada String Trio (violins), John Zorn (alto saxophone), Bill Laswell (bass).
- ANTI-JAZZ GLITCH: Outrage (breaks/Metalheadz/UK), Craig Taborn (keyboards/machines/Carl Craig/Detroit Techno), Bill Laswell (bass).
- BLACK WATER - Fanu (breaks/Lightless Recordings/Finland), Graham Haynes (trumpet), Byard Lancaster (Alto Saxophone/John Coltrane/ Roland Kirk), Bill Laswell (bass).
- PATTERN ENGINE - Evol Intent (breaks/Renegade Hardware/U.S.), Dave Liebman (Alto saxophone/Miles Davis), Bill Laswell (bass).
- AETHER - Karsh Kale (drums/tabla), Nils Peter Molvaer (trumpet/Universal Music/ECM), Bill Laswell (bass).
- REMAINS - Corrupt Souls (breaks+vortex/Moving Shadow/BSE recordings), Bill Laswell (bass).
Text: r.dee, R. Soares.
