URANUS

The third album by the Paris trio JEAN LOUIS (a nightmare moniker for search engines!) came out in 2013 five years after its critically acclaimed self-titled debut which was far-reaching in taking jazz-fusion into the world of avant-prog, experimental rock and beyond. While the following "Morse" pretty much followed in the same manner only with more bombast and noise, URANUS takes a completely different approach and adopts not only more accessible funk grooves and tribal percussion but also is enveloped in trippier psychedelic approaches that make this one a bit less schizoid and more focused.

With the opening "Kim Jon II" featuring a female voice speaking in an Asian language, it wouldn't be out of the question to think that this was some sort of Japanese noise band as the music has shifted dramatically from the jazzy avant-prog of the past to faster tempos and a punk infused energetic drive. While the trio of Aymeric Avice on trumpet, Joachim Florent on double bass and Francesco Pastacaldi on drums are still responsible for all of the noise that often sounds like many more instruments, i'd swear that somehow the band was listening to Japanese bands like Ruins or Koenjihyakkei for influence as the music had become more streamlined in consciousness in a noise rock sort of way.

Tracks vary widely from the Bordedoms styled space rock meets jazzy avant-prog opener to the wild slinky style of "Reggaetron" which provides interesting delays and reverb effects of the trumpet while Pastacaldi goes apeshit on the drums. It also sounds as if there's a guitar added but i do believe that the bass is being played like a guitar instead. "Doktor Gigi" on the other hand showcases more of the steady percussion from more organic traditional types of instruments but also showcases the band's true avant-garde extremities with different the different instruments playing together loosely as they slowly fall in and out of time with each other. This one is pretty much a short little percussion only piece.

The title track is the second longest and returns to full bombast with heavy drumming gymnastics and the trumpet trying to mimic electronic music beats which is done so wild and imaginatively that i would definitely have to say that Aymeric Avice is by far one of the most creative trumpet players ever to hit any music scene. He also showcases his ability to play the trumpet as mean and rabidly as John Zorn would. While this album is groovier and flows well, there are still unexpected deviations into completely opposite stylistic approaches. "Ilmindeleune" changes things up again and sounds like a John Coltrane rehearsal in some underwater submarine as it sounds dark, dank and creepy as the double bass emits eerie notes of nautical peril.

The album ends with the Middle Eastern inspired "Goliath" with catchy melodies only made very strange with weird production effects, psychedelic incongruent time signatures and a very bombastic noisy ending. "Abyssaa" ends with that haunted submarine effect that leaves a frightful chill in my room. Overall URANUS is an extremely interesting unique album from JEAN LOUIS which seemed to have taken a long hiatus from recording as it has been eight years now since this last release. The band has released a couple live albums along the line to prove that they are still active i guess but for anyone who loves totally out there albums that effortlessly mix the virtuosity of avant-prog with the emotive tugs of space rock and other eclectic elements, URANUS truly is a must on your journey of our solar system! This trio is truly amazing as it has produced three diverse and excellent albums. I'm still waiting for what comes next! -hint!-