Artist: The Mount Fuji Doomjazz
Corporation
Album: Succubus
Year: 2009
Line-up: Jason Köhnen - bass
Gideon Kiers – drums
Eelco Bosman – guitars
Hilary Jeffery – trombone,
oscillators
Charlotte Cegarra – vocals
Sarah Anderson - violin
Label: Ad Noisem
She is perfect. A
disciple who mirrors my own image. The essence of evil. A devil on
Earth.
The
Killimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble is a Dutch musical project formed in
2000 focusing on creating new music for already existing silent
movies. The music of the group has been labeled often as dark jazz
which is considered as a form the dark ambient genre bringing
influences contemporary slow tempo jazz mixing them with the dark
atmospheres of Film Noir movies and soundtracks and the mysterious
and surreal vibes of the movies and soundtracks of David Lynch. The
Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation is the alter ego of The Killimanjaro
Darkjazz Ensemble which focuses more on live improvisation still
maintaining the drone and ambient elements in the sound.
On the
15th of January 2009 the band entered the studio to let
some steam out and to get into the mood and groove before going on
tour. They did a 75-minute long improvisation session which was
wisely recorded. Being film enthusiasts the members of the band were
viewing a 1969 movie of Spanish film director Jess Franco called
Succubus which would deservedly also become the title of the
recording of this session. The movie itself is about a female artist
who performs in a nightclub as dominating erotic love queen who
stages sadomasochistic murders. The general ”plot” of the movie
is very vague and hazy but later it is implicated that the woman
under the control of a mysterious man who might be the devil himself.
As the
music relies mostly on free improvisation influenced by the immediate
moods and effects of the movies, the album is not intended to be a
new soundtrack to the movie but rather a love-letter and homage to
the original film. Yet, the music here perfectly captures the
sensual, erotic, murky and at times the surreal atmospheres and moods
which the movie has. Thus, the record becomes a very mesmerizing and
otherwordly experience where it is rather easy for the listener to
lose himself into this hypnotic world of sound. The bass of Köhnen
and the drums of Kiers create the musically pulsating backdrop on top
which we hear the mysterious and tempting vocals of Cegarra which
consist mostly of whispers and chants instead of traditionally sung
verses. The trombone has also a lot room here to create that jazzy
mood and also those fascinating drones.
Succubus
is absolutely an engrossing musical experience which is full of the
eroticism, surreal atmosphere and ominous connotations of its
original source material. As the music was recorded on one take
accompanied by the movies, it is recommended that the listener takes
his time to sit down and listen the album on one sitting –
preferably at night and in the dark to truely get to the proper mood.
You can
listen to the album and purchase it digitally here:
Written
by Παναγιωτιης
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