Alabaster DePlume - To Cy & Lee: Instrumentals Vol. 1

Another week, another essential album on International Anthem. Interestingly, despite a number of their releases connection to London via the Total Refreshment Centre studio, Alabaster DePlume's latest is the first British artist the label have issued. DePlume has been around for a while, working across a number of other records as well as his own, and it's unsurprising his own sound is a little broader than the immediate jazz associations might suggest. Honestly, despite his previous form and Int. Anth. connection, this errs just as much towards what we might understand as 'modern composition' as it does jazz. If this had popped up on Erased Tapes you'd not have been entirely surprised, and there's something here that reminds me of the dream-like orientation of the Last Resort stable (G.S. Schray, Aquaduct Ensemble). A true palette cleanser this, bright & clean, though heavy with emotion. All that said, there's clearly a nod towards Organic Music Society and parts of Tauhid ('Japan') and the second half of Village of the Pharoahs. The pedigree is undeniable. More head music from the heart, then.