Ben Neill - Goldbug
Ben Neill is doing a great job of bridging that ever narrowing gulf between jazz and electronic. Two distinctly cool genres of music that haven't come this close since Miles Davies did his thing back in the golden age.
Admittedly I'm not the worlds foremost expert on trumpet playing, but I do know that it's one of the most expressive instruments on earth, and when played well actually sounds great.
Goldbug, his latest release to date, was written and produced by Neill, with additional input from various players including dj Spooky who does a brief stint on a few tracks.
The music ranges from full on dance tracks to somber ethnic tinged grooves. Heavily processed acoustics to flat in your face dynamics, and the occasional dreamy meandering trip combined with regimented drum machine driven chases.
Rating - 949,886 (out of a possible 1,000,000)
