NOMO - Ghost Rock

NOMO is a band that's been on my radar for some time. I've seen them live on several occasions, and they always put on an energetic, inspired performance. Most notably, I saw them play the 2005 Chicago World Music Festival with special guests Fred Anderson and Nicole Mitchell, forging a transcebdant alliance of funk and AACM inspired improvisation.

While I enjoyed both of their first two albums (a close look at their discography reveals that two of their albums have overlapping content, one as a 12" re-release), Ghost Rock fulfills the promise of their live show and points to new directions for the band's creative vision.

While afro-beat always factored heavily in the band's sound and aesthetic in the past, Ghost Rock presents music that has a wider range of influence. While the rhythmically propulsive grooves of afro-beat remain, this record isn't as easily pinned down as a star in the Fela Kuti constellation, and it works to their advantage.

The electronic likembe excursions of Konono No. 1 factor as heavily into the album's sound as any other readily identifiable predecessor, with Eliot Bergman's electric mbira and kalimba providing a lot of sonic and rhythmic contrast throughout.  While there are certainly notable roots to their music, this is the first album NOMO has released that to my ears also points forward and really sounds like a modern, forward looking recording.

In a recent interview, Bergman explained: "Warn [Defever] and I have built over a hundred mbira-like instruments in the past few years, and some of those end up on the record...[which] uses even more of these homemade instruments. We also have constructed a bunch of metallic percussion objects, that we then amplify, such as the electric saw-blade gamelan."

In addition to the core lineup of Elliot Bergman, Dan Bennett, Ingrid Racine, Justin Walter, Erik Hall, Jamie Register, Dan Piccolo and Quin Kirchner, the band is joined on various tracks by Hamid Drake, Adam Rudolph, Josh Abrams, Jason Murdy, Joey Dosik, Chilali Hugo, and Warn Defever, who also produced the record.

Ghost Rock has a pronounced arc of intensity and vision, building, cresting, and returning to its equilibrium by album's end. In its flow and sound it really feels like a unified album, with a great sense of continuity. Highlight tracks for me include the psychedelic opening excursion Brainwave, the miles deep groove of Rings that features three of the all star guests on the album, Hamid Drake, Adam Rudolph, and Josh Abrams, and the positively infectious funk of Last Beat.

A great album from a great band. With the release of Ghost Rock and I can truly say that I'm excited to see what the future holds for NOMO.

You can check out some tracks from the new disc on their MySpace page, and be sure to check their tourdates as they are in the midst of a national tour in support of the new album.