Tyondai Braxton
Central Market

Release Date: 2009 | Tracklist

Tyondai Braxton is a member of Battles and son of free jazz saxophonist Anthony Braxton. His career has focused on taking rock instrumentation to a level of sophistication reserved for more academic genres such as jazz and classical. 'Central Market' takes Braxton's previous ideas and transplants them into the classical realm. Minimalism has always been common place in Battles' sound, but 'Central Market' takes the influence of composers like Steve Reich and Terry Riley and runs with it. Strings, kazoos, and Philip Glass style vocals all find their way into the record and more impressively are all successful in how they are implicated. Modernist composers like Igor Stravinsky also have influence on the playfulness of 'Central Market'. Many might say Braxton is attempting to bring classical to his more rock oriented fans, but that almost seems opposite of what he is doing. Instead of creating a tribute of a sound he is instead just imbuing his already unique take on music with an orchestral presence.

'Central Market' seems to be designed with two parts in mind. The first half of the record is decidedly more light hearted where the second half focuses on more loop based and darker tones. 'Uffe's Workshop' and 'The Duck And The Butcher' both encompass the first half of the record perfectly. 'Uffe's Workshop' notable for its use of the vocal techniques found on 2007's 'Mirrored'. 'The Duck And The Butcher' blends various kazoos into a circular piece that seems to be continually catching back up to itself. Centerpiece 'Platinum Rows' bridges the two halves of the record by managing to remain upbeat throughout while using extreme dissonance. The latter half of the record is marked by the most individually stunning tracks. 'J City' the most reminiscent of an actual rock song builds on loops of guitars coming off similar to something from 'Remain in Light'. The track while entirely different from the rest of the record completely states what 'Central Market' is about. The music on this record is attempting to do something as new as 'Mirrored'. Instead of rhythmic exploration Braxton is working with a variety of harmonic and melodic developments and in doing so has made a refreshing and similar counterpoint to 'Mirrored'. 'Central Market' may not be as calculated, but it is more fun and in general more easy to digest. It will be interesting from here to see how Braxton's and Battles' views collide.

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3.6 great

Rank: #0 for 2009