Album review: Anders Bast & the Bast'ards - Through Space & Time.

Anders Best (saxes); Thor Madsen (guitar); Tobias Ball Mikkelsen (bass); Michael Dalgas (drums).

You couldn't make it up! Two vinyl discs arriving on two consecutive days from Denmark!

This bastard - sorry Bast'ard - is a solid piece of red vinyl that was recorded using, I quote, "an older technique where the musicians play in the same room without headphones and with no overdubbing thus ensuring that the recorded music resembles the band's sound when they play live".

It's a good sound, Bast blasts according to the mood. At times, he's stretching the boundaries and heading off into the unknown. At other times he's blowing with a Getz-like lyricism beautifully placed between the two extremes.

The nine original tunes are just that - no contrafacts here or, at least none that I picked up on. The titles are intriguing and, whilst I'm sure they all have a message, two of them most definitely have. South of North Dakota is a protest against fracking all over the world and North Jutland in particular. Blues for the Beast Within refers to the voice that allows us to do bad things and forget our real goals.

No insight is given into the other titles although some need no explanation.

The blurb just says "saxes" - I think tenor is the predominant instrument. Madsen does some guitar thrashing and Mikkelsen and Dalgas are well worth the kroner.

Lance

Release date August 14.

Fat, Sugar, Salt & Tragic; South of North Dakota; Dance of the Possible Kiss; Happiness Always Happens; Think With Your heart; The Humble Warrior; Hotter Than... A Lot of Hugging Going On; Blues For the Beast Within.