Ketan Bhatti - Nodding Terms [Col Legno]

How to fuse New Contemporary Music with a groove and proper club references? This fusion is exactly what Ketan Bhatti aimed to create on his new album, employing both the German-Icelandic Ensemble Adapter as well as Paul Frick and Jan Brauer from the famed Brandt Brauer Frick-outfit for this journey which resulted in "Nodding Terms", a full on 13 track album released via Col Legno on May 18th, 2k18. The result of this collaborational attempt to transfer Ketan Bhatti's vision into sound brings us Jazz / Future Jazz-infused slow grooves like the opener "Insel Vor Tounisbuurg", the lively, uptempo and danger-annunciating attitude of "Modul 5" which defo would be a great contribution to the score of a spy flic noir which as well should be a proper dancefloor smash for advanced Dancefloor Jazz audiences, the demanding, yet hypnotic Future Jazz of the 9+ minutes spanning super thrill that is "Laughter Leading" or the calmer, noir'esque, tongue-in-cheek experimentalisms of "Ferntendenz" which also has been remixed by Paul Frick in a well respectful, borderline Ambient House meets NuJazz manner reminiscent of remix works by the likes of Bugge Wesseltoft throughout his 'New Conceptions Of Jazz'-phase in the early noughties. Furthermore we see the title track "Nodding Terms" emulate creepy, tense Electronica in a fascinating, yet slightly unsettling, spine-tingling manner, "Umziehaktion" gets down on a percussive tip with hammering pianos and seductive brass going polyrhythmic whilst the so-called 'Brauers Rumpelkammer Remix' take on the same tune gives us more of a Matthew Herbert-resembling feel and is the only tune on this whole album we can really imagine to be fully functional at least on advanced electronic club floors. Anyway, an interesting approach for sure and defo one of the better organic adaptations of electronic music in general.

Album artwork on Instagram!