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Artist: Hazmat Modine
Album: Extra-Deluxe-Supreme
Label: Barbés Records
Release Date: 06/03/2016
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Hazmat Modine
Extra-Deluxe Supreme
Album Reviews | July 6th, 2016
Hazmat Modine’s latest release, Extra-
Deluxe-Supreme, breaks new ground by
combining musical styles both American
and world. Eclecticism is their modus
operandi. In addition to their signature
sounds of tuba, harmonica, guitars,
accordion, and horns, now they add
marimba, doshpuluur, Igil, railroad spikes,
claviola, rocks and cimbalom. The lineup is
diverse as well and includes men and
women of all ages, blacks and whites, rock
and jazz musicians. “I think that’s an
important ingredient to what the band is. I
pick people who wouldn’t naturally go
together,” says bandleader Wade Shuman.
The CD starts o with “Another Day”
featuring bluesy brass and accordion over a Waitsian junkyard rhythm. Modine puts
nasty overdriven blues dirt on the guitar solo. Track Two, “Plans” opens with bluesy
horn swells on sax and tuba further punctuated by “ooh-oohs.” The song picks up
tempo, features tasty harmonica work, and lead vocals reminiscent of Al Green. With
lyrical wit, he sings “You better hold back brother. Keep your pig on a leash.” By track
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three, “Your Sister” it’s clear this group is on a di erent plane. Did I just hear traditional
Mongolian melodies blending seamlessly with funky New Orleans horn lines? Yes! And
all within the lyrical context of getting cozy with someone’s sibling. “Whiskey Bird”
features far out Tuvan throat singing that somehow blends organically with American
blues. Anyone who’s seen the great documentary Ghengis Blues will understand the
connection between the Steppe and the Delta.
In past releases, the group has collaborated with legendary Tuvan throat singers Huun
Huur Tu; here they teamed up with Alash, another band from Tuva. “I brought in the
Tuvans again because I thought that they intersect perfectly with a certain kind of
American idiomatic language.” Shuman explains. “I’m going for a kind of rural
American sounds but the irony is that the Tuvans are playing their own version of the
ddle and banjo and ute – it’s exactly where the tonality of Asia and the Midwest
meet.”
Despite this seemingly disparate conglomerate, Extra-Deluxe-Supreme is their most
American release yet. Here Hazmat Modine draws from a deep well of American
musical genres such as Gospel, R&B, Country, Blues, early jazz and the songcraft of Tin
Pan Alley. “I like the idea of a New York music which by its nature is eclectic,” says
Schuman.
As a world music epicurean, I’ve always sought sounds far out from far away but tend
to avoid diluted hybridization much the way I avoid “pan-Asian cuisine.” But for
Hazmat Modine, this mix works. With an almost casual air of execution, Modine
incorporates unexpected sonic elements that make you double take. Each track
reveals surprising nuances that call for repeated listening. Highly recommended.
– Mike Cobb
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