Bleep

Having bubbled in the NYC underground for some time now, Onyx Collective have signed a deal with Big Dada that will see the label front two EPs and a full-length from the Manhattan jazzers. Lower East Suite: Part One is the first of the three records to see daylight, and it provides much to get excited about for the subsequent drops. The group pick their way through the history of America’s classical music with care and reverence, incorporating samples of speech and found sounds into their music in a manner not a million miles from Madlib or Romare. The band’s playing is limber and full-bodied, capable of swinging like the greats (‘175 Canal St.’), kicking into a punchy groove (‘Mambo Pancakes’), or providing the soundtrack for some closing-time bottle-sloshing (‘Color Images’, ‘Market St.’).