Album Review: Swindle - Long Live The Jazz

Album Rating: A-

In my opinion, the moment most characteristic of Swindle’s debut Deep Medi album is the point at the beginning of “Pledge Allegiance” where a disembodied, heavily edited voice repeats the album’s title over and over again. The pitch-shifted synthesizer, nasally quick guitar chords, and dubstep-styled bass all contribute to the image the album’s title attempts to create. On Long Live The Jazz, Swindle demonstrates that “the jazz” is very much alive, but in a much different form than the genre’s pioneers must have imagined over the course of its formation at the turn of the 20th century. Rather than upright bass and baby grand plunking out a tune behind a woman scatting in stunning dress and furs at a swanky club or backroom, its new form (in Swindle’s mind at least) takes place in a modern recording studio, every instrument a product of a MIDI keyboard and a copy of Pro Tools, and a packed club, the crowd in baggy T-shirts and cargo pants, high out of their minds, jamming to the sounds coming out of a DJ’s equipment.

Artist Of The Day: Swindle

Swindle is a case of interesting dubstep in a world of cut-and-dry music. While that is a bold statement to make about any artist, Swindle has honestly earned the title as his music is an excellent fusion of a jazzy, proggy sound and a standard dubstep beat and bass. The young talent has already been signed to hugely respected label Deep Medi Muzik (home of stars like Mala, Tunnidge, and Kromestar), and for good reason. One listen to "Do The Jazz" and the reason his shocking rise to fame is made clear: his sound is excellent. The drums are light and funky, the synths reek of frosty, clean jazz and the organ lead brings the song perfectly into its main section of thumping bassline and nasally lead. Swindle's music is cool, fun, and intense all rolled into one, and he's quickly becoming a must-listen in the dubstep world.

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