Pest
Necessary Measures

The first time I heard this album, I felt like Luke Skywalker in the first episode of the Star Wars saga, who, accompanied by Obi-Wan Kenobi, enters the Mos Eisley Cantina on Tatooine in search of Han Solo. As they enter, there’s that super cool mega band of big-headed aliens playing (headbanging) a kind of bizarre and hilarious funk-jazz. Then Han Solo takes out that and...
My friends, the album I am about to tell you about is one of the most brilliant and off-the-wall examples of that futuristic and eclectic music genre known as Nu-jazz. The group in question, hailing from London, is among the leading bands of the genre, and in 2003 they released this gem, Necessary Measures, produced by the leading label of this music: the “Ninja-Tune”, famous among other things for also producing the masterpiece (according to yours truly) by Amon Tobin, "Supermodified".

A fair of sounds, colors, settings, and rhythms. All divided into 10 tracks lasting fifty minutes; it starts with "Chicken Spit", playful and fun, and jumps to "Duke Kerb Crawler", funky and hip-hop, where I'm sure The Game would really feel at ease creating rhymes. Not even time to think, and immediately the dreamy "Jefferson Shuffle" kicks in, with a special, almost folkloric interlude. "Heard Your Bird Moved In" and "Slap On Tap" are my favorites! Among scratches, cellos, trombones, and samples, it feels like being at the carousel of surrealism, where everything is sick and altered but systematically placed right where it belongs. Not to mention the final part of this fantastic album, built with a lively succession of different atmospheres: bright and frenetic when the musicians showcase all their ideas, passionate and relaxed when they decide to ease up a bit and play more calmly, ready to make us travel.

Acid-jazz, trip-hop, funky, random raps, dance-floor electronics, drum‘n’bass... All performed by a kind of androids in suits and ties. Because yes, Pest may be technological and avant-garde, but with a chic and refined aftertaste. The sounds are well-researched, fresh, and the compositions are full of insights and creativity. While listening, an insane curiosity grows within us to wait and guess what tricks these crazies might pull out of their hats. This album is a delicious, appetizing dish, prepared by extraordinary chefs, filled with ingredients that make it explosive. Get it and indulge as much as you can; if you have no barriers in your listening, this is the album for you, without a doubt.