Meat Beat Manifesto :: At The Center (Thirsty Ear, CD)

Jack Dangers, operating under the Meat Beat Manifesto rubric but with new members, conjures forth his jazziest album yet with At The Center. Featuring Craig Taborn on keyboards, Dave King of The Bad Plus on drums, and Peter Gordon on flute, the album is a groovy mash-up of Jack’s trademarked big-beat style electronic and cool acoustic jazz. Looking back on the discography, this album represents a huge change in styles from where MBM started with Armed Audio Warfare, but following the curve of Jack’s progression from the soundscapes of Subliminal Sandwich and the jazzy feel of Actual Sounds and Voices, through the dub filter of RUOK? and RUOK …in Dub, this album makes perfect sense. One does wish for Jack’s return to vocals, but in its place are enough amusing samples to distract the listener from their absence.

At the Center is part of Thirsty Ear’s Blue Series, an attempt by the label to stretch the boundaries of jazz into electronic realms. And while the two genres would seem to be diametrically opposed, in Dangers’ hands, they meld seamlessly into a cohesive whole. “Murita Cycles” has a lounge-y groove, with some very nimble brushed-snare work from Dave King. Peter Gordon’s flute contributions are very haunting on the track, meandering over the groove, haunting it. “Want Ads One” and “Want Ads Two” are amusing enough numbers, featuring the band in full flight on part one, in ambient comedown on part two, all overlaid with a voice reading strange want ads. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, and it does not bear repeated listening, but the tracks are a nice enough diversion the first couple of times through the record. “Bohemian Grove” has Jack playing an eastern melody on plucked guitar with Taborn (one suspects) supplying a creepy keyboard drone behind it, making this track a highlight.

Tracks start to sound the same over the length of the album, having similar instrumentation and no vocals to distinguish them, but this is to be expected. But it still works, At The Center, being a concept album not of ideas but of sounds: signature Jack drums, flute solos, and weird electronic tweaks dropping in and flying around the stereo field. Taking lessons from the …in Dub sessions, Dangers uses space with a master’s touch, bringing dub and electronic music in the jazz age. Or jazz into the electronic age. Or dub into the jazz age. Whatever. It works, and Meat Beat remains at the top of their game.

At The Center is out now on Thirsty Ear.