Harmony & Abyss by Matthew Shipp

John Hilderbrand Avatar

While listening to Harmony and Abyss, the latest release by Matthew Shipp, the word futuristic keeps coming to mind. So if it’s “future” music, then when do we reach that future? I’m thinking we’re there now.

Shipp takes a step beyond his last release, the excellent Equilibrium, and incorporates industrial sounds and free jazz. No one sounds like Shipp. No matter where he ventures in his musical journey, you can always sense him at the center, even when he forges into electronica that I’ve only heard the like of from Squarepusher (on “String Theory”). It doesn’t hurt that he’s joined by longtime associates William Parker on bass, Gerald Cleaver on drums, and FLAM on programming, slicing, dicing, and synths.

Matthew Shipp: he’s not ahead of his time. He’s the sound of jazz today.

John Hilderbrand Avatar

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