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[thesunlounge]

Reviews 218: Ed Longo & Applied Arts Ensemble

The newest release on Early Sounds Recordings comes courtesy of Ed Longo & Applied Arts Ensemble. Working across Germany, Switzerland, and Italy during 2017 and 2018, Ed Longo jammed with and recorded a host of adventurous musicians from diverse backgrounds, resulting in his debut LP The Other Fantasy. Conceptually, the record ruminates on the mental chaos of the internet age, concepts of Otherness within the collective consciousness, and our existence in a “continuous state of augmented reality, in which any concept of location, provenance, space and time fades into the ready-made world of escapist fantasies”...cerebral ideas given visual form by Riccardo Corda’s enigmatic art layout. Musically, the record feels right at home within the Early Sounds universe, as kaleidoscopic fusion jams and seaside funk journeys overflow with dazzling woodwind flights, tropical marimba cascades, scatting guitars, liquid slap bass fantasias, exotic live drum panoramas, gemstone Rhodes chords, sleepy synth orchestrations, sexual solos, heady electro-rhythms, and breathtaking vocal performances that sweep the spirit towards fantasy future lands. There are also a couple of blissed out ambient pieces closing each side, with Ed and his cohorts floating down etheric rivers of new age light and exploring sci-fi cityscapes, Blade Runner sax expanses, and noir jazz spirituals.

Ed Longo & Applied Art Ensemble - The Other Fantasy (Early Sounds Recordings, 2019) In “Love On the Line,” the energetic drums of Fabio Giannotti intertwine with electro-cymbal bells and golden hued tambourines. Domenico Andria’s slap bass pushes huge columns of air with its sorcerous funk movements while echo-smothered Rhodes flows, riffing guitars, and wavering cosmic synths background Daniele Lacava’s springtide flute adventures. The acoustic piano of Joel Holmes flows through the mix with dashing atonal runs and rainfall chordscapes before giving way to a wiggling synth solo that sets the air afire. At some point, we transition into a super hip vocal passage as cooing feminine voices and sultry whispers from Manon Girault and Zoé Perko fly over a sunset fusion jam out. Flanged bass explorations sit aside Floydian psychfunk riffs as Daniele alights on further flute solos, all while starshine synths and sci-fi squelches work against explosive drum fills and sizzling hi-hat patterns…everything eventually giving way to a coda of wavering keys, fluttering woodwinds, and pianos dancing on sea blue wave crests. “Arcadian Dream” follows with some of the softest textures to appear across the Early Sounds catalog. Seabirds converse above atmospheres of ocean romanticism and new age clouds billow in alongside acoustic guitar wanderings. Fabio Giannotti now appears on marimba and dances through the sea foam haze with crystalline note trails and gemstone fairy melodies and Nicola Galgari’s lush saxophone layers float amidst heavenly organ swirls…the whole thing evoking Finis Africae and Ariel Kalma as it transports the listener to a mystical forest of light.

“New Life” revels in lush romance vibrations while glassy Rhodes pianos flow above Steven Boreham’s liquid bass grooves and Ivan Ciccarelli’s midnight breakbeats. Congas enter and echoriffing guitars bubble up from underwater depths as celestial string orchestrations hover in the starry sky. Delicious g-funk slides bring it all together for a sensual glide through an equatorial paradise, with scatting synths transitioning into slow motion chime arpeggiations. The interplay between the bass and Tatum Rush’s guitar is pure intoxication, with interlocking riff webs and fiery funk accents playing off of rainbow keyboard atmospheres. Blistering fusion synths trade of solos with LSD-morphed e-pianos while gaseous strings move through the mix and at some point, soft outerspace vapors fly untethered above airy island rhythms. Then, a spellbinding Rhodes descent flutters over Ivan’s anthemic tom fills as we glide back into the sexual funk paradise, now drifting along on sea breeze vibrations and tropical palm frond flutters while Cristiano Pomante waltzes in with an ultra-cool marimba solo…the kind of thing that might waft through Haruomi Hosono’s Paraiso, full as it is of beachside jazz strolls and sunbeam solo dances. And the vibe is pushed even further towards exotic AOR perfection as Björn Magnusson melts over the mix with a radiant guitar solo built from smooth harmonizing descents and swooning sunset slides, even working at times into David Gilmore-esque psych blues screams that are tracked perfectly by the west coast hip-hop slides.

Dub claps refract in “A Palm in the Closet” while euphoric melodies of ocean glass flow forth from Joel Holmes’ Rhodes. Stuttering beats and morphing timbales underly guitar riffs swinging through starsea ripple worlds and Domenico Andria returns with more jaw-dropping slap bass fluidity…that same kind of mesmeric funk bass mastery that he delivered on Pellegrino’s Zodyaco…just pure 70s magic right down to the hot and biting production. Daniele Lacava’s ethereal flutes move between longform dream melodies and city-funk scats and are backed by wigged out theremin synths and hollow square-wave leads, all while Tatum Rush’s jangling guitars effervesce through colorful echolayers. As well, Tatum drops dreamy 90s R&B vocals over the exotic 70s lounge grooves while glistening piano adventures and schmaltzy flights move through the bewildering background fx layers. Closer “Trouble in Paradise” features dopamine cymbal taps and guttural bass guitar drones from Steven Boreham…the recording so deep and physical…as if you can hear the dust popping off of the roundwound strings. Nicola Galgari’s noir-soaked saxophones melt over oceanic Rhodes tapestries and once again the recording is very intimate, showcasing the sounds of warm breath flowing  over reeds. Beneath everything moves a euphoric haze of vibrato hallucinations and tremolo motions and there are vibes of Bohren and Der Club of Gore, Angelo Badalamenti, and John Coltrane at his most narcotic as the song develops into midnight heroin jazz for a sci-fi futureworld, one colored by haunted synth gases and dreamclouds of dark magic.

(images from my personal copy)