No Goats, by Finely Tuned Elephant
The Ottawa, Canada based jazz quartet group, Finely Tuned Elephant, recently released their third studio album, No Goats. Made up of guitarist Jordan Robinson, bassist Cyrus Roberston Orkish, drummer Kyle Ivelgia and Keyboardist Alexx Lugi, the album was the first that the group recorded all together during studio sessions.
From the opening track, “Chunky Monkey,” I was struck by guitar work that reminded me of legendary guitarists Jeff Beck and Joe Bonamossa. Flowing, cartoonish and dreamy, the song is a good introduction to the sound the band plays with on the rest of the album. On Over Yonder, however, the music starts to become more up-tempo and has more of an earthly touch; it is the first track of the album that feels somewhat grounded in reality.
Throughout the tracks, both the precise guitar and distorted keyboard notes take turns standing out but rarely do either dominate a track. The songs are unified, the instruments playing together to produce a tightly composed and actuated work. Time changes are also used, especially well executed in Thievius Raccoons, moving fast at the start of the track like the cars rolling by on I-94 to the slow pace of Sunday stroll in Lake Park. The concluding song, No Goats, is a 10-minute episode with both slow and fast paces, time changes and a quiet fading end truly marking the end of the album.
