Just as perfumers are wont to do, The Cancel integrates elements of jazz, lounge and instrumental hip-hop with the auditory essences of the world RJD2 cultivates his own tunes in–sashaying into velvety musical elegance.
Popping and locking from beat to beat, this Ukranian duo discharge tunes that take me back to the lounge parties where I spent time in the mid-evening burn off of day in Capri, an Italian island just west of Naples. Wide piano notes zigzag with the more slender ivory-keyed tones while brushing shoulders with the rich squeak-holler-holler-puff of a saxophone trying to have its way with the purpure moan of the bass and jazz guitar.
the glamorous Hollywood jazz tune instantly conjuring the old nightclubs created in black and white on the screen behind which you know mouths are crimson-lipped
“Evening” opens with the tempting fingers of a saxophone pushing through the soft grey haze of atmospherics before the piano cuts in to dance with the shimmy of cymbals. A jazz “lite” track, it’s the aperitif before the appetizer or the second course or the rest of the meal one takes in at a late night supper.
Where “Evening” prepares the palate, “Everybody,” is the glamorous Hollywood jazz tune instantly conjuring the old nightclubs created in black and white on the screen behind which you know mouths are crimson-lipped and every player is tuxedo-cloaked and ballgown-draped. A softer number surely meant for nightcap time is the caress of “NY in Night,” whose percussive hum is heartbeat-like and dotted with the wah! wah! wah! of a trumpet manipulated with the butt of a plunger in between exhales of clarinet.
More jazz than lounge and more mellow than instrumental hip-hop, The Cancel has put together a stealthy collection of songs whose spirit might exist in the early pages of Ralph Ellison‘s, “The Invisible Man.” Altogether an ambrosial and incredibly surprising discovery from east Europe, The Cancel is a solid listen at any time of day.
The Cancel is found online at Soundcloud, Twitter, Facebook and Bandcamp.
“NY in Night”
“Evening”
Sal Christ is a writer with headphones glued to her ears. Getting some hang time upside down daily is of the utmost importance, as is an obsession with the PCH. For more music action, follow her on Twitter or email her.
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