EXPERIMENTAL PROG
Ambient, electronica and oddities through the monocle of Jo Kendall.
It’s been 10 years since Glasshopper sprung to life, a trio led by saxophonist Jonathan Chung and a Scots-Anglo collab bonded by indie rock chops and free-jazz. The indie bop A New Thing (Clonmell Jazz Social) sets up their second album I’m Not Telling You Anything with a nod to Radiohead/The Smile, tempered with bouncy math rock, but elsewhere there’s the time-sig tottering of Major Hit, the textural, smoky wash of Take Out The Sun or the light-footed jazzy shuffle of Music Stands. The best is last, though, and the fun, ballsy, I Go To Bed At 10pm –a cuter cousin to Hedwig Mollestad’s gnarly jazz-rock excursions –that winds up in a Hawkwindesque Brainstorm frenzy.