Tyondai Braxton – 'Central Market' review
It’s not uncommon for errant musicians making ego-stroking side-projects to name-drop classical composers, even if the solo LP they’re promoting ends up sounding barely more musical than The Twang. But when Tyondai Braxton, one quarter of avant-rock genre-squelchers Battles and classically trained composition graduate, cites Stravinsky’s opera The Nightingale as inspiration, it’s worth taking notice.
Essentially a contemporary classical seven-movement symphony scored by Braxton and performed with New York’s Wordless Music Orchestra, Central Market retains the playful quirks of Braxton’s band but delivers them at orchestral scale: delicate polyrhythmic electronics pulse through several movements, repeating motifs come and go, and Braxton’s trademark guitar/whistling combo makes a number of lively appearances. Even better than Battles’ Mirrored, and technically and musically awe-inspiring, Central Market offers the faintest hint that it could one day be considered a masterpiece.
9/10
