What is the sound of one hand clapping? I've been pondering this conundrum quite a lot over the past few days, without ever coming to a conclusion that remotely satisfies me.
Perhaps Takeshi's Cashew have the answer. A cursory listen to Enter J's Chamber, their sophomore album, suggests they may. It's an instrumental record, (well almost) that hints at oriental profundity without ever bothering to substantiate that profundity. Like Caine in Kung Fu walking the earth. Or Jules in Pulp Fiction deciding to do the same .
It's such a fun record start to finish. Takeshi's Cashew are Austrians, but none of your ugly cultural prejudices or stereotypes here please. They're loose limbed geezers, taking equal inspiration from Anatolian Funk, Krautrock and Afrobeat and that musical stew tastes just as good as it sounds on here.
Other outfits are doing similar things at the moment. Altin Gun, El Michels Affair. They remind us that you don't have to form an opinion on the new Boygenius album if you don't want to. The Internet has freed us from that need. Seventy years of great music to cherrypick, (you could go back even further than that if you choose), sets us free.
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