Moleslope's jazz post rock blendo "Changing" from the stunningly diverse debut "SLOPE"

AP Track Review

When Dewfall Records, an independent label out of Tokyo sent me the track Changing by Moleslope I simply responded with two words: "simply badass" and the song is just that. It is the first track off of their debut 7 track album entitled "SLOPE" just released December 13th of last year (2019). At the core of Moleslope are two keyboardists and synth players, Chie Takizawa and Mami Matsuzaka (who live face each other on stage) with 5 other members lending their ever shifting sounds to the fray. While Changing is a dazzling chunky jazz groove with stair stepping falls and jumps of horns and an exquisite sideways drum patterns that diverts into an otherworldly sonic barrage of dissonance and then into a topsy turvy sax solo other songs bend Moleslope's musical prism in other ways. Take for example the evocatively and sinisterly cool track Killer. The sultry bass, perfectly placed key sustains and wicked drum fills are enough to make you float off the ground but there is so much more going on. Like a lot of Moleslope's compositions, the song takes you on a ride, an adventure, a cinematic journey. I will not ruin Killer with spoilers but it is one of my faves on "SLOPE" but there are many close seconds. 

Dive into Moleslope's menagerie of sounds as they blend elements of post rock and even new wave (Leap Second) pushed through contemporary jazz filters in proggy ways (North Wind and Late Night Trip) or spin their versions of Canterbury rock jazz (Slow Snow and Shelterless). And I offer these simplifications hesitantly because Moleslope beautifully fuses a bit of all these elements along with an avant garde heart and soul into all their songs creating soundscapes that keep you guessing and always surprise you along the way. Stunning.

Moleslope are Chie Takizawa (keyboards, synths), Mami Matsuzaka (keyboards, synths), Ryo Hisatsune (guitar, trumpet), Toru Kasai (bass), Daisuke Okamoto (drums), Akihiko Ando (saxaphone) and Junko Okumura (trumpet).

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Robb Donker  








THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:

Formed as an instrumental band that fuses a symmetric twin keyboard driven sound with odd time signatures and instrumental music. Following several member changes, the band slowly started recording their material in 2017. The collective is a 7 member instrumental band that features twin keyboards as well as guitar, bass, and drums that blends their post-rock, Canterbury jazz rock, and minimal music roots into a unique soundscape.