Final Floor - Throttle Elevator Music (2021)

Ideated from: going through some of my “best of month” lists I’ve been keeping for years.

This is off the “best of month, April 2021” list. Other things on this list: Ding Dong. You’re Dead by the Hedvig Mollestad Trio, Playing House by MEER, Reflections by Vikingur Olafson

The most notable member of TEM was Kamasi Washington, who is not only the king of west coast cosmic jazz after his album The Epic, but also a man-about-town contributor who works with Thundercat and Flying Lotus and played on Kendrick’s To Pimp A Butterfly.

Their approach was to take on the intersection of jazz and punk. They did a pretty good job of it. They don’t seem to still be an ongoing band, partly because what they were doing seems kind of mined out, and partly because Washington is probably booked solid forever now. But they apparently recorded a lot when they were together, because they’ve released several collections of extra tracks and outtakes from their sessions since they stopped.

This is (allegedly) the last of those collections, and it’s arranged so that there’s more conventional jazz in front, something resembling post-rock in the middle, and more punky, angular stuff at the back. The “punky” part never gets as raw as some of their previous outings but is still a fun mix to listen to.

Tracks I Liked

Caste Off - Sounds a lot like a Washington solo track, which is fine by me.

Heart of Hearing - a transitional track between the two main sounds of the album.

Fast Remorse - one of the more punk-style cuts. Rumbling bass and great sax growls.