New music: The Last Dinner Party, Pylon Reenactment Society, Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra, Nikita Mndoyants, Prokofiev

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This article was published 09/02/2024 (972 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ROCK

The Last Dinner Party

Prelude to Ecstasy (Island)

The singalong refrain to Nothing Matters, the irrepressible first single from the Last Dinner Party, is “I will f— you, like nothing matters,” and it’s been giving network TV producers fits.

The London group is the hottest new act on either side of the Atlantic and its agreed to modify the Anglo-Saxon verb to “have” for the sake of exposure, but that’s about the only compromise you’ll get from these five young women. Over the past four-and-a-half years, singer Abigail Morris, bassist Georgia Davies, guitarist/keyboardist Lizzie Mayland, keyboardist Aurora Nishevci and lead guitarist Emily Roberts have created a baroque indie-pop world — both sonic and visual — which openly embraces the influences of Kate Bush, Adam and the Ants, and Florence + the Machine and wears them with rare singularity of purpose.

The essence of TLDP lies in its members’ backgrounds — Mayland and Morris grew up in church choirs, and Morris was writing on piano and playing crappy gigs when they met through Davies at King’s College London; Davies had already played in a few bands and Roberts, an accomplished jazz guitarist, and Nishevci, a composer, were students at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. The COVID-19 pandemic gave the quintet time to write, rehearse and shape their Romantic (capital R intended) pop/rock sound and their early gigs, featuring ambitious compositions and DIY flamboyance, quickly caught the eyes of management and Island Records, who put the group in the studio with producer James Ford (Arctic Monkeys, Florence).

Three singles later, the band is the “next big thing” in the U.K. and finally releasing its debut album. Fittingly, Prelude to Ecstasy begins with an orchestral overture by Nishevci which touches on the melodic themes of the 11 songs to follow. These run the gamut from the emotional wringer of Burn Alive, to the slick but deliberately melodramatic arrangement of Caesar on the TV Screen; from the gleeful sexual tension of Sinner, My Lady of Mercy and Nothing Matters; to the pretty piano balladry of On Your Side and Beautiful Boy. Touring and much hype awaits. Expect TLDP to deliver. ★★★★ out of five

Stream: Caesar on a TV Screen; Sinner; Nothing Matters

— John Kendle

ROCK

Pylon Reenactment Society

Magnet Factory (Strolling Bones)

In 1980, Vanessa Briscoe Hay began the first tune on Georgia alt-rock band Pylon’s first album by singing, “Volume is pleasant. Volume is pleasant. Volume is pleasant.” Today, making beautiful noise as the frontwoman for Pylon Reenactment Society, Briscoe Hay sings on Magnet Factory, the group’s debut album: “Sssshhhh! Don’t be so loud. We might draw a crowd.”

Ah, how rockers mellow with age. Or don’t.

It’s not a Pylon comeback because Briscoe Hay is the only PRS member in both bands. Pylon Reenactment Society’s lineup also includes guitarist Jason NeSmith, bassist Kay Stanton and drummer Gregory Sanders, and together they revive Pylon’s style of funky, minimalist art punk with personality and panache.

Magnet Factory sounds as fresh as Pylon first did in the early 1980s when the quartet from Athens, Ga. sold few records but created considerable buzz, inspiring the likes of R.E.M. and Sleater-Kinney, even though the group released only two albums before disbanding, then briefly reunited for one more album.

Magnet Factory contains the same kind of spasmodic, hyperkinetic tunes that seems of this anxious moment, combining angular arrangements and cryptic, nonlinear lyrics. Briscoe Hay punctuates her sing-speak delivery with primal yelps, yips and yells atop Stanton’s bustling bass and NeSmith’s off-kilter but hooky surf guitar. Like Pylon, PRS makes dance music for people who don’t dance well.

The album peaks at the midpoint with Fix It, distinguished by backing vocals from the B-52’s Kate Pierson. Equally exhilarating is No Worries, the title repeated like a mantra by Briscoe Hay, who splits the second word with a near-octave leap.

From start to finish, the band is an irresistible blend of simplicity and synchronicity, the music both edgy and therapeutic. It might draw a crowd. ★★★★ out of five

Stream: Fix It; Messenger

— Steven Wine, The Associated Press

JAZZ

Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra

Tidal Currents: East Meets West (Chronograph)

The Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra is a critical part of the local jazz scene and has just been granted a major donation to set up a foundation that will offer stability, opportunity and flexibility going forward.

The timing is terrific as the WJO has a brand new release that demonstrates its continual sophistication and development. The East Meets West here refers to the works commissioned for the album with two major Canadian jazz composers: Jill Townsend, who grew up in Eastern Canada, and Christine Jensen, who grew up in Western Canada.

While their paths have led in different directions, they have collaborated on this four-part suite celebrating powerful and meaningful memories of their birth areas. Each composer offers two pieces to the suite.

Townsend is the conductor while Jensen plays alto and soprano solos. The 16 other players are the usual suspects for the WJO, and as usual, they deport themselves wonderfully.

The opening track is Townsend’s Inside the Wave. It has a gently swinging groove and fine solos from trumpeter Matthew Walden and drummer Fabio Ragnelli. As the album title and the cover indicate, the water references are the obvious foundation for the music throughout the album. Jensen’s Crossing Lachine dances through rhythmic variety with a neat solo by tenor player Niall Cade. Townsend’s Tidal Currents features bassist Karl Kohut and Christine Jensen as soloists. Jensen’s Rock Skipping Under Half Moon leaves space for her soprano to soar in a beautiful solo.

It has been fascinating to watch the WJO move over the years from playing covers of big band charts to increasingly complex and exciting contemporary jazz. Clearly, the WJO can take its place with any current large jazz ensemble and Winnipeg should be very proud of this community icon. Check it out. ★★★★ out of five

Stream: Inside the Wave; Rock Skipping Under Half Moon

— Keith Black

CLASSICAL

Nikita Mndoyants

Prokofiev: Piano Sonatas Nos. 4 & 8, Scherzo

Nocturne (Aparte)

In this new release, acclaimed pianist Nikita Mndoyants tackles the biting works of Prokofiev, including two sonatas and an arrangement of the scherzo from the 20th century composer’s Symphony No. 5, Op. 100. Also featured is the artist’s own composition, the simply titled Nocturne, that provides a further glimpse into his artistry following the Russian tradition of pianist-composers, which has included Prokofiev and Rachmaninoff, among others.

Piano Sonata No. 4 in C minor, ‘From Old Notebooks,’ Op. 29 provides the first taste of Mndoyants’s technical prowess, as he punches out syncopated rhythms matched equally by pungent dissonances from the opening Allegro molto sostenuto through to bright finale Allegro con brio ma non leggiere.

His second offering, Piano Sonata No. 8 in F flat major, Op. 84, provides even greater contrasts, from its highly introspective opener Allegro moderato, to a more lyrical Andante sognando before even more pyrotechnics are unleashed in finale Vivace, rendered with crisp precision.

A fascinating highlight is the Scherzo from Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony that showcases the soloist’s virtuosity while succinctly capturing the ethos of the larger-scale orchestral work. Another is Mndoyants’s Nocturne, with the well-crafted work bursting with stark contrasts, pregnant pauses, lightning speed passagework and thoughtful utterances rooted in the depths of Russian soul. ★★★★ out of five

Stream: Piano Sonata No. 8 in F flat major, Op. 84, ‘Andante sognando’; Symphony No. 5, Op. 100, ‘Scherzo’

– Holly Harris