The Dobie/Madry Project - Body Up (2017)

The Dobie/Madry Project

Jonathan Dobie - guitar

Łukasz Myszkowski - guitar, cymbals

Tomasz Mądry - electronics

Robert Iwanik - bass, voice
Dan Maurer - drums

and others

Body Up

REQUIEM 138

                            

By Adam Baruch

This is the debut album by British/Polish duo which consists of British guitarist/composer Jonathan Dobie and Polish electronics performer Tomasz Mądry. They are assisted by several additional British and Polish musicians, some of which are well known names in the avant-garde/ambient music communities. The album presents two extended original compositions, not credited explicitly on the album's artwork and therefore assumed to be collective compositions.

The music is a wonderful amalgam of ambient / drone / electronic music and Jazz improvisations, combined together in a very original form. The electronic sounds serve as a platform upon which the Jazzy improvisations float like wind above earth. The sublime contrast between the heavy, dark sound of the electronics and the gentle, melodic sound of the saxophone improvisations creates an eerie effect, perfectly suitable as a soundtrack to an imaginary movie.

This intuitive and highly adventurous music manages to present a completely coherent structure and sense of direction. In many respects this music could be treated as contemporary "Classical" Music, presenting a completely new gateway into unexplored musical universes. This music offers new discoveries with each listening session and its scope is truly amazing.

This is revolutionary music in every sense, as it eschews all conventions and known parameters, simply creating a new form of collective expression, which combines recorded sounds and studio manipulation. Although seemingly depressive and sinister, it is in fact nothing of the sort. It uses the minimalism of the drone background and "white noise" electronic effects as canvas, upon which the improvisations act like brightly colored shapes.

Overall this is an amazing piece of contemporary music, which is a wonderful example of ingenuity and limitless searching, which still, thank God, happens on this planet, often against all odds. As usual kudos is due to the Polish Requiem label for the courage and wisdom to release albums like this one; albums that change the perception of what music is, for generations to come.