broadway project - in finite
now signed to the manchester's grand central records, dan berridge has probably found his natural home for the widescreen productions that he releases under the broadway project moniker. as before the base of these 13 tracks is instrumental hip hop with the mood being decidedly blue and melancholy. this time there is wider plan in action as there is a lot of presence of jazz as well as more journeys down the path that dan started with his 'autumn breaks' ep, where the bass guitar and music of bill laswell were investigated, resulting in some excellent pieces of music (most of which is featured here for those unlucky enough to find that 12"), none more so than on 'blood temple' with its intense bass noir throb.
before we hit the world music experiments though we have the jazz - from the clarinet solo (or whatever that solo is !) on opening ''k', the improv sax line in 'partisan', to the heavily featured brushed live drums. all of which gives the album a feel of a dj and jazz trio late night session, where the audience have left to find more illicit up tempo fun, leaving the band to let loose with their love for broken solos and scratchy loops.
while it can be easy to discount a lot of this type of music as a cast off from dj shadow, there is something special here. this could be down to the sheer quality of the actual production, the spacious atmospherics, the mournful piano melodies that hinge most of these tracks to their surrounding, i am not sure, but, i am certain that when the mood requires some respite from the harsh realities of the day to day, then this album has indeed become a welcome companion. dark and moody, mean and broody atmospheres makes this a heavy album in places but when dan drops in such wonderfully evocative pieces such as 'ancient voices' (more creaky noises, coldplay styled piano, and general sonic weirdness - which despite that crap description holds all these disparate ingredients together in such a way that you feel that this track has been around forever) then you come to realise that dan is indeed being watched by hollywood soundtrack executives as we speak/read/listen. if not, then there is indeed some severe injustices in the world of instrumental music.