The Swedish, Gothenburg-based duo Joxfield ProjeX – keyboards player Janne Yan Andersson and guitarist Stefan Oax Ek, have been experimenting with all kinds of left-off-center music – avant-whatever- since the times both were pupils in elementary school during the early sixties. Joxfield ProjeX have been quite busy since 2005 releasing a string of of experimental, improvised albums, often hosting like-minded musicians as former King Crimson’s drummer Pat Mastelotto, Acid Mothers Temple’s guitarist Makoto Kawabata and fellow-Japanese sax player Ryoko Ono.
«Black» marks an end of an era of Joxfield ProjeX activity, mostly between 2013 to 2017 but with some additional pieces dating back to 2007. It is a mammoth, digital-only release – 32 pieces that last for about two hours and fifty minutes. «Black» offers the many sides and incarnations of Joxfield ProjeX, a restless sonic roller coaster of fragmented ideas and pulses. This endless mix blends dense noisy textures matched with techno beats, infectious, funky pulse that flirts with distorted, effects-laden, fusion guitar, childish, alien-sounding drones, psychedelic-spacey flights, industrial drones, suggestive cinematic pieces and even historical radio snippets.
It is recommended to consume the massive «Black» in small doses. No better way to deal with this time-consuming, calling-for-tougher-editing release. Then you can enjoy pieces like the impressive, cinematic piece «Be Careful With That Crowbar Eugene», obviously, corresponding with Pink Floyd’s classic «Careful With That Axe, Eugene» (from «Ummagumma», Harvest, 1969); or the spoken voice of Japanese avant-garde author Kenji Siratori, who wrote the cyberpunk classic «Blood Electric» (Creation Books, 2002), who adds a dark-enigmatic dramatic dimension to «Kenji Insane Asylum»; Cotton Casino, from Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O, and Kawabata deepens this vein on the concise «One Trbor»; «Drinking Tea On A Calm Day» flows with tons of brutal, intense energy; «The Innocent Dreamer» suggests exotic, Far-Eastern vibes.
Eyal Hareuveni
Janne Yan Andersson (keys, comp, samples, eff), Stefan Oax Ek (g, samples, eff), Cotton Casino (v), Makoto Kawabata (g), Ryoko Ono (as), Kenji Siratori (spoken word)
