BADBADNOTGOOD | ||
| Allmusic Biography : Toronto, Ontario-based jazz ensemble BadBadNotGood make expansive music that straddles the line between 70s soul-jazz, alternative hip-hop, and experimental electronica. BadBadNotGood initially gained attention in the early 2010s playing jazz covers of hip-hop tracks by the likes of Odd Future and MF Doom. It was a sound they developed on their first two records, 2011s BBNG and 2012s BBNG2, covering songs by A Tribe Called Quest and Kanye West as well as My Bloody Valentine and Feist. Since then, they have balanced working on their own original songs as on 2016s IV, and collaborating on projects with hip-hop artists like Ghostface Killah, Kaytrandada, and Kendrick Lamar. Founded in 2010 by Matthew Tavares (keyboards and synthesizer), Chester Hansen (bass guitar), and Alexander Sowinski (drums), BadBadNotGood came together while the members were students at the Humber College jazz program in Toronto. Communing over their shared love of jazz and hip-hop, they composed a piece based upon the music of Odd Future -- a performance of which they uploaded online. It attracted many views and was spotted by Tyler, the Creator from Odd Future. In 2011, BadBadNotGood released their debut album, BBNG. It included covers of music by Odd Future, a Tribe Called Quest, and Waka Flocka Flame and was recorded in just one three-hour session. Following the album release, the trio recorded a live session with Tyler, the Creator, opened for Roy Ayers at the Nujazz Festival in their hometown of Toronto, and performed at Gilles Petersons worldwide awards. Their second record, BBNG2, was released in 2012, this time recorded within a ten-hour slot and once again featuring original pieces as well as cover versions of music by My Bloody Valentine, Kanye West, and James Blake. In the same year, BBNG was the Coachella Festivals band in residence, playing six different sets, as well as the backing band for Frank Ocean. BadBadNotGood were then drafted to be part of the production and musical composition team for the soundtrack of the film The Man with the Iron Fists. They did production work for Earl Sweatshirt and Danny Brown, as well as a remix on JJ Dooms Key to the Kuffs. The groups third record, III, was released in 2014 and included the singles "Hedron," "CS60," and "Cant Leave the Night." In February 2015, the groups collaboration with Wu-Tang Clan MC Ghostface Killah, titled Sour Soul, was released by Lex Records. In early 2016, the trio became a quartet when Leland Whitty joined on saxophone. BadBadNotGoods first album with Whitty, IV, appeared on Innovative Leisure the following July. The album featured guest appearances from Future Islands Samuel T. Herring ("Time Moves Slow"), producer Kaytranada ("Lavender"), and rapper Mick Jenkins ("Hyssop of Love"). IV debuted on the Billboard 200 and topped the Jazz Album chart. The groups contribution to the Late Night Tales mix series appeared in 2017. The following year, they collaborated with Swedens Little Dragon on the single "Tried." | ||
 | Album: 1 of 9 Title: BADBADNOTGOOD Released: 2011-06-24 Tracks: 6 Duration: 40:48 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Untitled 63 - Nightmare - Yonkers (11:53) 2 Electric Relaxation (04:26) 3 Salmonella (01:47) 4 Hard in the Paint (03:29) 5 Bastard - Lemonade / Orange Juice - Assmilk (08:00) 6 Untitled 63 - Nightmare - Yonkers (alternate take) (11:13) |
 | Album: 2 of 9 Title: BBNG Released: 2011-09-17 Tracks: 12 Duration: 46:36 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Based Is How You Feel Inside (01:22) 2 Fall in Love (04:11) 3 Improvised Jam (03:54) 4 Mass Appeal / Transmission (04:51) 5 I Got a Bad Feeling About This (00:07) 6 Salmonella (01:47) 7 Freedom / Billium Evans (05:17) 8 The World Is Yours / Brooklyn Zoo (06:22) 9 Listeriosis (04:14) 10 Camel (03:04) 11 Title Theme / Sarias Song / Song of Storms (09:34) 12 Outro / Glasper (01:53) |
 | Album: 3 of 9 Title: BBNGLIVE 1 Released: 2011-11-22 Tracks: 14 Duration: 1:01:23 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Hard in da Paint (03:12) 2 Electric Relaxation (05:32) 3 Camel (04:58) 4 DOOM (08:01) 5 Matt Swag (01:57) 6 Fall in Love (03:51) 7 Disorder (01:28) 8 Nightmare (05:24) 9 Brooklyn Zoo (02:47) 10 Alex Swag (00:57) 11 The World Is Yours (05:06) 12 Salmonella (03:53) 13 Bastard / Lemonade / Assmilk / Shouts Out (12:52) 14 Freedom (01:25) |
 | Album: 4 of 9 Title: BBNGLIVE 2 Released: 2012-02-21 Tracks: 6 Duration: 30:17 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Hard in da Paint (02:33) 2 DMZ (05:36) 3 Banter (00:35) 4 CMYK / Limit to Your Love (09:08) 5 Rotten Decay (05:09) 6 Bastard / Lemonade (07:16) |
 | Album: 5 of 9 Title: BBNG2 Released: 2012-04-03 Tracks: 11 Duration: 1:01:13 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Earl (03:46) 2 Vices (04:40) 3 Rotten Decay (06:31) 4 Limit To Your Love (04:40) 5 Bastard / Lemonade (07:04) 6 CHSTR (05:25) 7 UWM (06:02) 8 DMZ (05:12) 9 CMYK (05:16) 10 Flashing Lights (07:16) 11 You Made Me Realise (05:21) |
 | Album: 6 of 9 Title: III Released: 2014-05-03 Tracks: 10 Duration: 55:00 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Triangle (03:47) 2 Can’t Leave the Night (04:39) 3 Confessions (05:01) 4 Kaleidoscope (07:06) 5 Eyes Closed (05:58) 6 Hedron (05:41) 7 Differently, Still (04:42) 8 Since You Asked Kindly (04:41) 9 CS60 (06:55) 10 Sustain (06:28) |
| III : Allmusic album Review : Toronto-based jazz trio BadBadNotGoods third album is their first on the Innovative Leisure label and also the first full-length to feature all their own compositions. The Canadians first made waves early in the 2010s while posting videos of them playing jazz covers of hip-hop tracks by the likes of Odd Future and MF Doom. They maintained this ethos into their first two records, BBNG and BBNG2, by covering the likes of A Tribe Called Quest and Kanye West as well as My Bloody Valentine and Feist. III captures the raw energy, togetherness, and musicianship of a live concert, at points drifting off at a tangent and then rejoining to climactic chord structures and beautiful jazz melodies. One thing that is very clear is that Matthew Tavares (keyboards, synths), Chester Hansen (bass), and Alexander Sowinski (drums) are all fantastic musicians and rightly sought-after, being cherry-picked by the likes of Frank Ocean to be his backing band. The groove here is tight and so many intricate details unravel over the nine tracks, fluidly drifting in among each other with some wonderful solo jazz freakouts, while each member takes his turn. The album kicks off with "Triangle," perhaps the most traditionally jazz-sounding number on the album, flowing into "Cant Leave the Night," which is different but still creates a coherent opening to the album and is a precursor of how things will pan out, gelling genres such as hip-hop, jazz, and electronica effortlessly. "Cant Leave the Night" has the feel of a mid-90s dance groove from DJ Shadows Endtroducing... era before a sub-friendly climactic ending built up of arpeggiated synths and straight drum rhythms. Saxophonist and frequent collaborator Leland Whitty features on the track "Confessions," which is a smoky jazz number a little bit reminiscent of the early Bonobo records. "Kaleidoscope" is possibly the best track on the record, especially the latter part for its bass freakout and the way in which the group twists toward the blissful, beautiful jazz brass section and whistle-inducing melody line. "Since You Asked Kindly" could be the strangest inclusion here, as its almost a different style altogether. As a whole, this is a great inclusion to an already impressive catalog and its good to see a full-length of their own material. | ||
 | Album: 7 of 9 Title: Sour Soul Released: 2015-02-23 Tracks: 12 Duration: 32:55 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Mono (00:58) 2 Sour Soul (02:45) 3 Six Degrees (03:40) 4 Gunshowers (03:03) 5 Stark’s Reality (02:12) 6 Tone’s Rap (02:58) 7 Mind Playing Tricks (02:37) 8 Street Knowledge (03:24) 9 Ray Gun (03:07) 10 Nuggets of Wisdom (02:11) 11 Food (03:23) 12 Experience (02:37) |
| Sour Soul : Allmusic album Review : Ghostface Killahs 2015 collaboration with Toronto jazz/hip-hop trio BadBadNotGood seems to be turning his 2010s work into a themed trilogy, as his 2013 LP, Twelve Reasons to Die, found the Wu-Tang rapper partnering with Adrian Younge for a 70s slasher-themed release, while 2014s 36 Seasons was action movie-inspired and recorded with Brooklyn band the Revelations. Sour Soul is more abstract, as the title track tells the tale of a character thats a cross between Johnny Mnemonic and a pimp, while the music touches upon a wide range of soundtrack styles from the 60s and 70s, including the soft-porny "Starks Reality," where vibes and strings float about the speakers. "Tones Rap" is either semi-drunk funk or the sound of a warped Fat Albert record, and to their credit, BadBadNotGood are more soulful than usual, laying down grooves that could complement any adventurous MC. Ghostface certainly lives up to the task, putting in chuckle-worthy punch lines (take "Sour Soul"s "they cant feed me food for thought") which carry more weight as the LP evolves into something akin to Terry Gilliams film Brazil on wax. Out of all of Ghostfaces recent albums, this one stuns with its features, as MF Doom ("Ray Gun"), Elzhi ("Gunshowers"), and Danny Brown ("Six Degrees") all spit and kick with left-field excellence, but the run-time barely pushes this one past EP territory, and with two better examples dropped in recent memory, Ghostface art excursion number three doesnt come with that surprise punch. In James Bond terms, Sour Soul is the almost addendum-ish Quantum of Solace as it offers adventurous fans the same opportunities for a quick fix while sacrificing a bit of weight. In Toronto jazz terms, its verygoodgoodnotbad. | ||
 | Album: 8 of 9 Title: IV Released: 2016-07-08 Tracks: 11 Duration: 50:01 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 And That, Too. (04:31) 2 Speaking Gently (04:07) 3 Time Moves Slow (04:33) 4 Confessions, Pt. II (06:24) 5 Lavender (03:20) 6 Chompy’s Paradise (03:51) 1 IV (06:59) 2 Hyssop of Love (03:15) 3 Structure No. 3 (04:08) 4 In Your Eyes (04:07) 5 Cashmere (04:46) |
| IV : Allmusic album Review : On their fourth proper album (not counting Sour Soul, their full-length collaboration with Wu-Tang Clans Ghostface Killah), Canadian jazz group BadBadNotGood expand their sound, welcoming several guest artists as well as introducing new musical influences and instruments. Its their first release to include saxophonist and longtime associate Leland Whitty as an official member of the band, joining drummer Alex Sowinski, bassist Chester Hansen, and keyboard player Matthew Tavares. The album incorporates more electronics, drum machines, and production tricks into the groups sound than previous efforts, echoing various shades of library music and Krautrock. Theres a greater dynamic range, moving from relaxed lounge-ready grooves to more aggressive percussion attacks. Sowinski is an incredibly agile drummer, deftly carrying the rhythm while adding sophisticated details that seem like natural impulses to someone whos grown up listening to breakbeats chopped up by hip-hop producers. He goes beyond the call of duty, never seeming like hes merely keeping a beat for the other musicians. Yet he doesnt overpower them either. Every musician works together and forms a complex yet naturally flowing whole. Of the songs that feature guests, "Time Moves Slow" with Future Islands crooner Samuel T. Herring is the clear standout. BBNG remixed the Baltimore-based synth pop groups signature tune "Seasons (Waiting on You)," and this calmly paced yet devastating breakup ballad seems like its logical sequel. Colin Stetson adds his superhuman baritone sax rumbling to "Confessions, Pt. 2" over the bands Brubeck-nodding tricky time signatures. It gets abrasive and intense, as Stetsons mind-blowing performances typically do, and he seems to get into a trance. At six minutes, the piece is one of the albums longest, but Stetson can go on for much longer and get even more otherworldly, so it seems like hes harnessing his energy a bit here, possibly in the interest of not stealing the show. "Lavender" features producer Kaytranada, and starts off with an RJD2-ish synth-led groove before making a brief detour into bouncy disco funk. IVs title track showcases BBNG at their most exhilarating, beginning with a blindingly fast yet tight rhythm, switching through faster and slower movements, and ending with an extended sax solo. Chicago MC Mick Jenkins rhymes over "Hyssop of Love," continuing to highlight the groups beatmaking abilities. Another sad but pretty soul ballad appears near the end of the album, as fellow Toronto resident Charlotte Day Wilson yearns atop the strings and flutes of "In Your Eyes." Classy cocktail jazz number "Cashmere" ends the album, also with elegant strings. Its easy to see why BBNG are the type of jazz group that appeals to people who normally dont care for jazz. Theyre music lovers, first and foremost, and theyre directly in tune with whats happening in the music world. They blend numerous influences and dont conform to any traditions. More than anything, their music is exuberant and immensely enjoyable. | ||
 | Album: 9 of 9 Title: LateNightTales: BADBADNOTGOOD Released: 2017-07-28 Tracks: 21 Duration: 1:08:20 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Olson (01:49) 2 Vida antiga (03:02) 3 Don’t Let Your Love Fade Away (02:42) 4 People Make the World Go Round (03:07) 5 Home Is Where the Hatred Is (03:16) 6 Oh Honey (03:56) 7 Käes on aeg (02:44) 8 The Flower Called Nowhere (03:14) 9 Disco Dancer (03:52) 10 Anchi Bale Game (03:16) 11 Sanza Nocturne (02:47) 12 For Love I Come (03:28) 13 West (02:31) 14 Work (03:39) 15 Don’t Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder) (02:48) 16 Baby (03:56) 17 Lido (02:54) 18 And I Love Her (04:41) 19 To You (exclusive Andy Shauf cover version) (02:23) 20 The Meaning of Love (03:34) 21 You, Me and Jim Beam (exclusive spoken word piece) (04:41) |