NATHAN VINSON — Bitter Struggle - Inevitable Outcome (review)

NATHAN VINSON — Bitter Struggle - Inevitable Outcome album cover Album · 2011 · Jazz Related Electronica/Hip-Hop Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
js
For those who do not know, Nathan Vinson is a jazz pianist and avant-garde composer who resides in Dallas TX and creates very unique drumnbass/jungle pieces on his PC. Nathan eschews standard verse-chorus structures and instead lets his music software ramble on in a seeming jam session with itself. Many of these pieces are built with techniques known to the modern composer such as setting up processes so that random events are allowed to happen within set parameters chosen by the composer. Certainly the different types of music composition software that are available these days have opened up a floodgate in regards to this sort of music creating technique. In Vinson’s music, for example, a program can run various drum lines, keyboard lines and vocal samples in variations that will never repeat, giving a song a unique performance every time out.

Its really hard to describe this music, maybe you have heard some things by Squarepusher or Aphex Twin that are remotely similar. Other influences that show in the little snippets of keyboard lines include Sun Ra, Martin Denny and Theolonius Monk. Throughout this music there is a quirky humor that brings to mind much of Sun Ra’s small ensemble tongue-in-cheek exotica pieces. The other major presence in many of these pieces is Vinson’s fascination with tweaking vocal samples. All through this record various crazy southern preachers, huckster politicians and angry hillbillies spew random thoughts and syllables, foam at the mouth in their confusion and become unhinged as their own words become their own worst enemy. ‘Splattered Opinions’ in particular is hilarious as a confused and scrambled Walter Brennan sounds more paranoid than usual as he warns of an out of control federal government with bizarre lines like, ‘I can remember when there was no future’. Fortunately Vinson also gives us a break from the vocal samples occasionally with instrumental numbers such as ‘Spray Paint’, which sounds like a Webern/Xennakis styled process derived modern composition backed occasionally by a beatnik on the trap set.

This CD isn’t for everyone, even fans of outsider drumnbass may find this one too odd. A lot of the pieces can get to sounding the same after awhile and the combination of the rambling voices and the low-fi production can get fatiguing. Personally I would recommend the songs on here in smaller doses, or use the best ones as a great add on to any unique experimental-exotica-electronica mix CD.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Jazz Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

JMA TOP 5 Jazz ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
A Love Supreme Post Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
Kind of Blue Cool Jazz
MILES DAVIS
Buy this album from our partners
The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady Progressive Big Band
CHARLES MINGUS
Buy this album from our partners
Blue Train Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
My Favorite Things Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners

New Jazz Artists

New Jazz Releases

Green Puma / Tropical Dandy Jazz Related Rock
THE LINK QUARTET
Buy this album from MMA partners
Vinny Golia Quintet : Can You Outrun Them? 21st Century Modern
VINNY GOLIA
Buy this album from MMA partners
Bow Code Fusion
SAMPO HIUKKANEN
Buy this album from MMA partners
Anthem For No Man’s Land Jazz Related Improv/Composition
ANDREAS SCHAERER
Buy this album from MMA partners
Cabaret Eclectic Fusion
MARIUS NESET
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Jazz Online Videos

Paper Plane Pilot
MIKE DE SOUZA
js· 2 hours ago
Green Puma
THE LINK QUARTET
js· 2 hours ago
Heavy Cream
SAMPO HIUKKANEN
js· 4 hours ago
Sunday afternoon
FURIO DI CASTRI
snobb· 17 hours ago
Harmônicos
FABIANO DO NASCIMENTO
js· 1 day ago
More videos

New JMA Jazz Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Jazz News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed