333maxwell - The Leads and Lags of Elevator

Hear The Track Here

Being a net user of long standing I have a tendency to fixate on certain things, which certainly means different sites. Dribble spots I call them because that is usually the outcome. I tend to drool over certain images (Ed: usually women) and end up leaving little sticky bits everywhere. Yes, I look (Ed: and drool) at women but I've also been known to get that glassy-eyed glare over kit too. Boys toys, geeky bits of kits or - in this case - a room full of instruments. 333maxwell may very well have the oddest name you ever saw, but he also (a faux band he says) has that selfsame room full of instruments. Yes, lucky bastard would cover this situation nicely, or at least that dribble spot I mentioned earlier.

Aaahh, but can all that beauty be put to good use?

The song comments give you some clue as to what to expect; live bass, clarinet and guitar, virtual keys and drums all delivered wrapped up in a cool jazz arrangement and a clean production and mix. While much attention has been spent on getting those live sounds right (the clarinet especially sounds wonderful), not so much has been done at tidying up certain stray ends where - I imagine - Chas Holman (for it is he) is trying to make it all fit together. That isn't to say that it's noticable, but to someone who can hear disjoints its a bit jarring. Jazz lovers probably won't too much notice either way because they'll be too busy digging the hep groove - whatever that means.

He's got as nice a jazz guitar sound as the clarinet and it's these two instruments that hold the whole thing together, and that is what most people will focus in on anyway. What I do like about this track is it's confident, accomplished manner, although its a bit short for my tastes but that's neither here nor there. Its a nice jazz combination too; the guitar sets off the clarinet nicely and not one you hear a lot of. While its not sufficiently strong enough to capture my attention for that long, I'm sure that the jazz/easy listening scene would certainly lap this up.

Excellent guitar/clarinet jazz. Recommended.