Morviscous

Genres: jazz, Avant-Garde, jazz avangarde

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About Morviscous

London-based instrumental five-piece Morviscous are members of a rare breed - a very rare breed. Without being part of any revival or reformed outfit, and far too young to be nostalgists, they're making nifty, wry proggy jazz rock with the feel of what was termed the Canterbury Scene - bands like Hatfield And The North, Gong, National Health, Egg, Henry Cow - combined effortlessly with contemporary post-rock like Don Caballero, Rothko and Bark Psychosis. Its a magical combination. The Canterbury scene was a sound full of wit and verve - complex, imaginative, heavy on jazz harmonies - the indie music of the seventies. Morviscous, however, could only be contemporary: their energy levels are way higher than most of the aforementioned bands, a spark and liveliness, and a leaning away from those cheesier jazz progressions. Morviscous don't do twee. Neither do they fall into the all too common trap of sounding exactly like someone's post-rock record collection: Godspeed! You Black Emperor need not sue this time. And if we're going to talk math rock - which, with a rainbow of different time signatures in every track, we should - the joy of Morviscous is their complete ease with such things. They make it sound so easy - the tune and the mood comes first, big clear melody-led changes that go somewhere meaningful. Only a muso will think they're showing off. On 'Free Pop' ideas dance and flow, new tunes and playful digressions appear out of nowhere, lead the mood down side streets. Ideas are stuffed into this album. Suddenly you're in another part of town, via The Unassuming Warmth Of A Night Bus - what a track, eight minutes of light and shade, uplifting edginess, tension and dark wary humour and the final vibraphone release of a dawn walk home. My Face Your Doily (title of the year) has so much going on that a week of listens later it's still revealing itself. Each composition has a subtlety and depth that lasts; the playing is tight but never self-conscious, production live and natural. For all its adventures, Free Pop hangs together in a satisfying whole, a distinctive Morviscous sound that is slightly dark, with a feel that is in some mysterious way London-flavoured. Above all, this album really does live up to its name: the creative freedom of avant prog delivered with tuneful accessibility. Morviscous are something special. First album 'Free Pop' available now. http://www.morviscous.com/index1.htm

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