BADBADNOTGOOD – III Innovative Leisure IL2019CD (2014)
Rock meets jazz, more in the sense of jazz-inflected prog rock (Zappa‘s Hot Rats) than rock-inflected jazz (Miles‘ Bitches Brew). Though they can still play straight jazz to boot (“differently, still”). But this is surely a group of musicians more steeped in math rock (Battles, Don Caballero), electronic music (DJ Shadow) and hip-hop (Prefuse 73) than the sorts of things first-generation jazz fusion artists were listening to. These Canadian youngsters play well. Mostly they go for a harmlessly aggressive, moody atmosphere. They don’t try to shove technical prowess in your face, which is what makes this so listenable.