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Chris Joss is self-taught multi-instrumentalist/DJ, from France. Personally, I believe some of the best and most interesting DJs are from France (you know the more famous ones like Air, Dimitri From Paris, Sébastien Léger, etc). I think perhaps it's because they're isolated some of their music choices to French-released vinyls, or their idea of 60s lounge and funk. Also to be fair, although I group Joss with the DJ crowd, I don't believe his latest album Sticks uses any samples. The majority of the album are all written and performed by Joss, with the one-time exceptions of Saxophones by Praful and Vibraphone by Alexander Von Mehren.
Sticks is an all-instrumental album (there are vocals harmonies by Cosmika, but it's rare and mostly used as backdrops). The album takes us on a journey back in time to that 60s/70s era and I never felt listening to the album that it took me into the future. All the instruments sounds very organic, with emphasis on percussions and drums (as noted in the album title) and especially the sitar which happens to appear on several tracks ("Melisma Mercury","Rififi Rococo","Little Nature"), giving it a distinct Indian/Asian sound.
Besides from taking and keeping us in the past, I also felt that Sticks did a wonderful job on mixing between music genres. For instance, the sixties-sounding go-go dancing of "Danger Buds" is paired next to funk-sounding "Rififi Rococo" (which actually sounds strangely like Russian folk music), then back to 60s with a Farfisa organ (?) of "Night Scare", then back to 70s funk with "Root Juice".
What I love is that you're always looking forward to where Joss takes you, at least I was never bored at any given point... Although I will admit the atmospheric song of "Tune Down" was a bit too loungey and way heavy on the bass for my taste.
If you're a vocals/singing fan, I don't recommend this album to you. If you like non-vocals DJ-style type of music, such as Thievery Corporation (they are one my top 10 bands on lastfm), U.N.K.L.E., and those Verve Remixed albums, you'll find Chris Joss right up your musical alley.
Sticks was released last Tuesday, March 10th, you can purchase it at most retailers, however you might have the best luck via the US record label, ESL Music.
Sticks is an all-instrumental album (there are vocals harmonies by Cosmika, but it's rare and mostly used as backdrops). The album takes us on a journey back in time to that 60s/70s era and I never felt listening to the album that it took me into the future. All the instruments sounds very organic, with emphasis on percussions and drums (as noted in the album title) and especially the sitar which happens to appear on several tracks ("Melisma Mercury","Rififi Rococo","Little Nature"), giving it a distinct Indian/Asian sound.
Besides from taking and keeping us in the past, I also felt that Sticks did a wonderful job on mixing between music genres. For instance, the sixties-sounding go-go dancing of "Danger Buds" is paired next to funk-sounding "Rififi Rococo" (which actually sounds strangely like Russian folk music), then back to 60s with a Farfisa organ (?) of "Night Scare", then back to 70s funk with "Root Juice".
What I love is that you're always looking forward to where Joss takes you, at least I was never bored at any given point... Although I will admit the atmospheric song of "Tune Down" was a bit too loungey and way heavy on the bass for my taste.
If you're a vocals/singing fan, I don't recommend this album to you. If you like non-vocals DJ-style type of music, such as Thievery Corporation (they are one my top 10 bands on lastfm), U.N.K.L.E., and those Verve Remixed albums, you'll find Chris Joss right up your musical alley.
Sticks was released last Tuesday, March 10th, you can purchase it at most retailers, however you might have the best luck via the US record label, ESL Music.
03/12/2009 21:13:32 ♥ vu (
) ♥ chrisjoss.free.fr ♥ myspace.com/chrisjoss
