{"id":750,"date":"2009-03-06T11:48:57","date_gmt":"2009-03-06T16:48:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hightwo.com\/ht\/?p=750"},"modified":"2009-03-06T11:48:57","modified_gmt":"2009-03-06T16:48:57","slug":"pitchfork-review-ht002","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hightwo.net\/two\/pitchfork-review-ht002\/","title":{"rendered":"Review – SLF"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Author:\u00a0 Chris Dahlen<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/abbr><\/div>\n
Source: Pitchfork Media August 13, 2004<\/abbr><\/div>\n
link to this article<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The Sonic Liberation Front are rarely seen or heard outside their native Philadelphia, and with a name that evokes a Fallujah breakdance corps and the line-up of a free jazz ensemble, you might assume the band plays fire music in the tradition of the 1960s. Their own description of the music is harder to digest: “Afro-Cuban Yoruba Roots meets Post Modern Free Jazz and Electronica.” With all that build-up, a newcomer might wonder if the band is some kind of world music m\u00e9lange, and if so, whether they pull it off: With so many influences that qualify as “exotic,” the Sonic Liberation Front could have splintered into pastiche like the menu at the Rainforest Caf\u00e9, or muddied the colors into a drab blend.But the band’s second album never pins them to one sound: The 11-piece ensemble proceeds with the grumbling unity of a town meeting that keeps ditching its own agenda. While the horn section evokes a mid-60s Blue Note recording on the cusp of avant-garde (especially the searching drift of “The Sirens”), the unison passages verge on dissonance, like the head on the title track that frays apart a little differently each time. The horns front a rhythm section that includes three percussionists armed with congas and bata drums, with no piano or guitar in the middle to mediate.<\/div>\n
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The instrumentalists lock intensely together, like on the taut rhumba that ends the record, while other times, the soloists have to carry on their own rants: On “Seize the Time”, a saxophone burns itself out in a fury while the percussionists amble by, minding their own business. Female voices break out in Yoruba, and Chuckie Joseph sings his “Agua Dulce” over solo guitar. But where another band would turn these interruptions into a collage, Sonic Liberation Front just throw them into the mix, and the recording– which sounds as live as a gig at the local community center– never cues our responses or tells us which argument to agree with.<\/p>\n

With a world of options laid out in front of them, Sonic Liberation Front chose exactly the right ones. Exceptionally written and arranged,\u00a0Ash\u00e9 a Go-Go<\/em> runs through compositions that are as terse and muscular as they are diverse, and every new turn fits the band’s voices. While it’s not always right to judge music by the engineering, the engagingly physical sound is this album’s clincher: It’s exhilarating for its own sake, but too matter-of-fact to summarize a band that barely tries to describe itself.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Author:\u00a0 Chris Dahlen Source: Pitchfork Media August 13, 2004 link to this article The Sonic Liberation Front are rarely seen […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_eb_attr":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[47,51,50,60,52],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-artists","category-ht002","category-releases","category-reviews","category-sonic-liberation-front"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","acf":[],"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":104,"url":"https:\/\/hightwo.net\/two\/sonic-liberation-front\/","url_meta":{"origin":750,"position":0},"title":"Sonic Liberation Front","author":"admin","date":"September 6, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Sonic Liberation Front is a band caught between worlds. Known for its iconoclastic combination of free-jazz passion and Afro- Cuban percussion excitement, the amorphous Philadelphia unit practically invents a new genre with each composition. Featuring a deeply talented pool of musicians trained in a variety of idioms gives the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/hightwo.net\/two\/category\/general\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Image","src":"images\/artistlogos\/slflogo.jpg","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4336,"url":"https:\/\/hightwo.net\/two\/ht009\/","url_meta":{"origin":750,"position":1},"title":"Sonic Liberation Front: Change Over Time","author":"admin","date":"November 4, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"[download#15#nohits] [download#15#image] D\u2019Accord, Baby Dominical First Rain Omio Glass Eyes Ouaga to Bobo Change Over Time Kevin Diehl \u2013 drums, Yoruba-Cuban percussion, electronica Chuckie Joseph \u2013 drums, Yoruba-Cuban percussion, vocals, guitar Julian Pressly \u2013 saxophone Dan Scofield \u2013 saxophone Matt Engle \u2013 bass Rich Robinson \u00a0\u2013 Yoruba-Cuban percussion Ira Bond\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Artists"","block_context":{"text":"Artists","link":"https:\/\/hightwo.net\/two\/category\/artists\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sonic Liberation Front - Change Over Time","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hightwo.net\/two\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/ht009-1-200x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":743,"url":"https:\/\/hightwo.net\/two\/jazz-times-review-ht002\/","url_meta":{"origin":750,"position":2},"title":"Review – SLF","author":"admin","date":"March 6, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Author: Source: Jazz Times link to this article Ashe a Go-Go (High Two), by Philadelphia's Sonic Liberation Front, is a challenging yet engaging album. Playing free jazz over a grooving rhythm is nothing new, but not many bands do it as well or as uniquely as SLF. For one thing,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Artists"","block_context":{"text":"Artists","link":"https:\/\/hightwo.net\/two\/category\/artists\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1874,"url":"https:\/\/hightwo.net\/two\/sonic-liberation-front-slf-meets-sunny-murray\/","url_meta":{"origin":750,"position":3},"title":"Sonic Liberation Front: SLF Meets Sunny Murray","author":"Daniel Piotrowski","date":"April 12, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Init Knowledge of the Sun Meaningless Kisses [download#31#nohits] [download#31#image] Ochun Libre Some Other Times Nomingo Under the Wave of Kanagawa Sunny Murray: drums Kevin Diehl: drums, percussion, bata Chuck Joseph: bata Matt Engle: bass Terry Lawson: tenor saxophone Okomfo Adwoa Tachempong: bass Shawn Hennessy: bata Todd Margasak: cornet Nichola Rivera:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Artists"","block_context":{"text":"Artists","link":"https:\/\/hightwo.net\/two\/category\/artists\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hightwo.net\/two\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/HT027-220x220.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2268,"url":"https:\/\/hightwo.net\/two\/sonic-liberation-front-justice-the-vocal-works-of-oliver-lake\/","url_meta":{"origin":750,"position":4},"title":"Sonic Liberation Front: Justice – The Vocal Works of Oliver Lake","author":"Daniel Piotrowski","date":"June 12, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"What Ain't Nothin' Real BUT Love Aztec Justice Clouds Dedicated Round 2000 Lucky One STEREOGUM - The Month In Jazz #9 | JuneTHE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | Junea truly vital piece of the jazz\/new music canonBANDACAMP DAILY - Album of the day | June 08NEW YORK TIMES -\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Feature"","block_context":{"text":"Feature","link":"https:\/\/hightwo.net\/two\/category\/feature\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Justice Cover","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hightwo.net\/two\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/a4244207703_101.jpg?fit=1195%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hightwo.net\/two\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/a4244207703_101.jpg?fit=1195%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hightwo.net\/two\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/a4244207703_101.jpg?fit=1195%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hightwo.net\/two\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/a4244207703_101.jpg?fit=1195%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hightwo.net\/two\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/a4244207703_101.jpg?fit=1195%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2050,"url":"https:\/\/hightwo.net\/two\/2050-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":750,"position":5},"title":"Tim Niland Jazz and Blues\u2026","author":"Daniel Piotrowski","date":"April 21, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Tim Niland Jazz and Blues http:\/\/jazzandblues.blogspot.com\/2011\/04\/sonic-liberation-front-meets-sunny.html This was a very exciting album that has a palpable sense of energy running through it the entire way. 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