Just to prove how aggressively this sumptuous downtempo posse is approaching the live circuit the band have released not one live release this year but two. First up was the strictly limited edition (1500 copies), ‘Ma Fleur Live At The Barbican’ and secondly there’s this, the Orchestra’s attempts to extend the boundaries of their richly elastic material still further at the Royal Albert Hall. For those of you who don’t know, The Cinematic Orchestra is the brainchild of British-based jazz and electronic maestro, Jason Swinscoe who takes fairly novel approach to both live and studio projects, employing not just a couple of likeminded shipmates to help him out on guitar, sax and piano but a huge, full-on ensemble of turnatablists, samplers and a 24 piece Orchestra. And they don’t just play songs: they grow them, each performance being stamped individually with a series of improvisations and real-time production touches.
Featuring vocal contributions from Heidi Vogel, Lou Rhodes (formerly of Lamb) and Brooklyn swinger, Grey Reverend, the disc explores the wonderfully lubricated underbelly of lounge with the kind of licence and indulgence usually reserved for turtle-neck wearing Beat Poets, painters called Dali and progressive rock bands of the 1970s. It’s lush without being pompous, fragile without being weak and as conscious of pace as a 102-year-old marathon runner.
‘LIVE AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL RELEASED 7.4.08