Alien Ensemble [Alien Transistor Promo]

Scheduled for release on June 20th via Micha and Marcus Acher's very own Alien Transistor imprint is the debut longplay piece of Micha Acher's 2010-founded, seven headed Alien Ensemble - an initimate, non-electronic gathering of three The Notwist-members and four further musicians with whom Acher shares a mutual history of playing in various bands or projects for years. This, alongside the shared love for Jazz, is the common denominator for the acoustic journey their self-titled debut provides which can be best described as a blue, melancholia-infused, free floating and certainly Psychedelia-loving vision of Jazz (Not Jazz) that knows about the tradition of Film Noir, epic love and, at some point, Easy Listening and Exotica without following traditional rules of any of the mentioned genres at all. It's more like they're catering a kind of acoustic painting which, in the third track that's ironically entitled "1", erupts, bursts into a surprising, free and wild action performance before finding the cinematic 50s or 60s trail again. This is the path wandered in the epic "Thousand Lights District" as well before the tune's drifting into live played Easy'n'Bass areas for contemporary dancefloors. Overall - a grower for sure, but more an album made for late fall moments than for early summer nights.