Andrew Danso

Made from the frayed debris of a head-on collision between electronica and jazz, ‘ZoiD Vs The Jazz Musicians of Ireland’ is almost as it says to be – experimental electronica, in combination with the natural timbre of jazz.

ZoiD's sonic palette contains more beat-driven electronica than jazz, and Zoidan Jankalovich, the brains behind ‘ZoiD’, is invested in letting jazz melody live an organic and unprocessed life beside his electronic beeps.

Jankalovich’s presence is vital to ‘ZoiD’ working. Throughout each of the eight tracks, there’s a guest instrumentalist ‘versus ZoiD’, often playing on top of a variety of loops and intricate rhythm. What he’s really interested in is witty arrangements and explosive melody. The opener, ‘ZoiD Versus Tommy Halferty’, is literally Jankalovich and Halferty soloing on their guitars on top of a groove not far away from an Andrew Pekler production.

It must be emphasised how the instrumentation is handled with care. Jankalovich while veering into the strange and unfamiliar with his electronics, often leaves the jazzy timbre alone. This ingeniously brings the purity of improv to its fore when alongside the zealously produced electronica.

This is an album paced unevenly, fractured by its electronic rhythms and ambient experiments. It’s as much a forward-thinking record, as it is baffling and frustrating. You don’t listen to ‘ZoiD’ and his battle against the jazzers of Ireland, you wrestle with him – and them.

Diatribe.ie (Diatribe Records) - ZoiD Versus The Jazz Musicians of Ireland Vol 1