Kill and Eat - Green Bushes (alright now records)

Kill and Eat's record Green Bushes is a sparse and challenging listen. Released in 2008 and awarded a re-run and set free on March 31st 2009, the three track jazz trip can be described as a tidy clusterfuck of jamming between a few friends and an amalgamation of simple ideas to form complex arrangements. No, I don;t really understand what i mean, so i'll lay it out for you.

Green Bushes leads off with the 18 minute title track, ushered in by quavering vocals that never quite seem to find their place but still managing to carry the delicate piano in the background. The two elements compliment each other and somehow manage to (after a few listens) click in your head. At the five minute mark the piano sways and rolls in like constant breaks on a winter's beach growing with intensity, informing you that soon these breaks will pull further in with intricate fingers on the keys.

It is at this point that the song opens up and experimentation begins with the piano rising and falling from whence it came. Just before nine minutes we hear slight hints at what is to come, the song begins to form its main centrepiece as light taps of wood on metal permeate through a smoky jazz bar piano solo. Mmmm yes this is why it takes 10 minutes to build, because when it does it is beautiful. Before long what i can only make out to be a muted trumpet is introduced to the mix adding another layer of complexity before the song make its final dash to the finish line with triumphant emotion.

The remaining two tracks offer the listener a sketch of what the former song built itself to, offering an upbeat vocal pattern, which at times repitive, gives way to an upbeat piano solo that keeps your feet tapping as drums hold tight the jazz pop cacophony. Closing the album is "Elipses" which to me is a perfect way to cap off the journey that this 30 minute record offers you, complete with distorted trumpet, a piano melody that brings a smile to your face and work on the kit that flows underneath it all.

This music is definately new ground for myself, the jazz fuck-a-bout style that is the first track afetr repeated listens doesn't come off so much as messing about as it does a genius way to build to a pleasant conclusion - and is only complimented by the two 'sketches' that round off a solid effort from this little-known American duo.

You can download the album and donate HERE

Also, check out he label Alright Now Records