pest - all out fall out
from the one single i have heard by pest i have to admit i never expected an album of such grin inducing pleasure. sonic styles from this 5 piece collective (with a lot more on the extras list!) range from dodgy backstreet oompah band, to cutup freakiness, via some downright dirty funk, with a splattering of genuine 70's wah wah guitar.
when it all clicks into place however, the results are something else altogether. especially on the vocally enhanced 'wu ju' where carboot sale samples clash to a dubby beat, as all manner of weirdness is going on, but when eska mtungwazi (or is it band member adrian ?) starts giving us a lowdown on the things that we like, the flow is the perfect focal point for the track making this stand out from the instrumentals that dominate for so many reasons. that's not to say that the rest of the album falls off. no no, just that 'wu ju' should make the whole world smile if there is any justice. following this highlight with some freaky sax/electric piano jazz moods in 'downward steps' showing the diversity, nee sonic ambition, on offer throughout. 'ogres' is another one where the cheeky vocals match the spaced out bass noise that dictates the direction, prior to some wonderful rich ambient strings and an excess of old school analogue squiggles. by the third listen this stuff really begins to hit home, as other 'glad i bought this moments' include the addictively catchy loops of 'cous cous', cut up film vocals added to the live drum/hammond organ action of 'rumourtism', a track which totally mutates at 3 minutes with an almighty massive guitar noise just before a horn section come in as if they have been let loose from labelmates herbalisers studio.
i suspect all this makes it sound like a right mess of noise ? well, it is, but the sheer craft and attention to detail means that tracks rarely sound cluttered, as the production separates the sparkling and vibrant instrumentation, which is often a mix of live (trombone ! electric bass cello!) and machine based sources, so that the listener is literally headspinning in sound induced joy for much of this 56 minute groove heavy journey.
clever clever and very enjoyable - this is the kind of pestering i could endure for many an hour.