Bleep

The Tied & Tickled Trio hold nothing short of legendary status in their native Germany and amongst the ranks of the world's most celebrated jazz/electronc fusionists. Made up of a core of artists that are well known to us from Weilheim bands such as the Notwist and Lali Puna, Tied and Tickled at long last deliver their third album - this time round for the excellent Morr Music imprint. With "Observing Systems" the Tied & Tickled Trio refine ideas of "space??? through an intense and continuously inspiring musical past, encompassing the modal delights of classic jazz arrangements and instrumentation, the cavernous rhythm structures of dub and the sophistication of modern electronic developments. In the intersection of these elements, Tied & Tickled somehow make music history extremely lively again. "Organic" is the talismanic word which serves as theme for "Observing Systems". Pieces such as "The Long Tomorrow", "Freakmachine" and "3.4.e" were recorded in the studio with a full big band line-up - and without any digital post-production. The large group unit succeeds in creating a solid groove, just check the bass vamp on "3.4.e" , a 'funk' which gives the album extra coherence, an almost Dub-like depth and lends itself to quite sublime passages of group improvisation. "Observing Systems" sounds rawer yet more natural; the electronic-produced tracks subscribe to the same overall approach. The three "Radio Sun" interludes refer both to Sun Ra`s intuitive Spacejazz experiments as well as a scientific project which transforms solar radio waves into music; "Sun Music" so to speak. The song "Radio Jovian" could be the primordial soup of analogue synthesizer music itself, before piano and sax elevate from the buzzing and brooding drone with subtle poignancy. Invisible, cosmic waves form into distant, eerie sounds, 'Like Armstrong + Laika' wears the percussion of steppers music next to the composure of an electronic outfit, functioning at the height of its powers. Already receiving rave reactions from the cutting edge of the jazz audience, this is an album likely to blow up in no uncertain terms. Mighty.