Mako Sica / Hamid Drake, Balancing Tear

'Trapeze' draws on a big drone to begin with, a thick wash of instruments and acts as a pretty enjoyable introduction to this latest from veteran avant Chicago scene band Mako Sica joined by the celebrated percussionist Hamid Drake. 'The Unknown' …

Published: 17 Apr 2020. Updated: 3 years.

'Trapeze' draws on a big drone to begin with, a thick wash of instruments and acts as a pretty enjoyable introduction to this latest from veteran avant Chicago scene band Mako Sica joined by the celebrated percussionist Hamid Drake. 'The Unknown' however is ropier because of the initial scene-setting throaty vocals to begin with although the haunted atmosphere that develops is more interesting. Alas 'Enchanted City' is no better and very hard to engage with. Applause counterintuitively begins the final track but there's more here to get your teeth into and it is my overall pick of a very hit and miss affair. SG

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Track of the day: 'Think about You'

Tiana Major9, signed to Motown, who grew up in Newham, east London, a collaborator with Stormzy on ‘Rainfall,’ has a fine new jazz influenced song called ‘Think About You’ out that begins with an 'UpTown Top Ranking'-type reggae beat and then goes …

Published: 17 Apr 2020. Updated: 22 months.

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Tiana Major9, signed to Motown, who grew up in Newham, east London, a collaborator with Stormzy on ‘Rainfall,’ has a fine new jazz influenced song called ‘Think About You’ out that begins with an 'UpTown Top Ranking'-type reggae beat and then goes into a soulful and then a more open jazz space scatting from around the 2min4secs mark for instance. Robert Glasper and Amy Winehouse are among the singer's influences, her moniker is her ''favourite jazz chord''. Chords, the new thing… who knew?