Damon Locks And Rob Mazurek - New Future City Radio Damon Locks And Rob Mazurek

Released: 28/07/23

"This is colossal" intones Damon Locks near the beginning of this remarkable album, and at the end of the 40-minute opus the listener can only concur. Locks is perhaps best known for his revolutionary, expansive latter-day gospel/jazz project Black Monument Ensemble, while fellow Chicagoan Rob Mazurek is feted for his blistering Exploding Star Orchestra (for which Locks provides vocals), andNew Future City Radiois perhaps best described as a blend of the two projects' sonic signatures “ Locks's BME-style sample-based sound collages providing the compositional bedrock for Mazurek's Roland SP flourishes and arresting brass improvisations.   

In a similar fashion to James Ferraro'sOn Air, the 18-track suite plays out like a series of fractured radio transmissions “ a pirate station for the people “ through which the two prolific multi-media artists contemplate community, transformation, and the future. Featuring guests such as Roberto Lange (Helado Negro) and Mauricio Takara (Sao Paulo Underground),New Future City Radiois an outer-limits echo of the legendary Bomb Squad (Locks' vocals even sounding a bit like a tape-delayed Chuck D), with beats spanning the gamut from pre- to post-golden era hip-hop “ mixing an old Brooklyn boombox sound with the sci-fi boom-bap of the Definitive Jux and 75 Ark labels. Visionary, uncategorisable,New Future City Radiois a masterpiece from two legends of the Chicago avant-garde.