High Pulp - Pursuit Of Ends

Vinyl LP pressing. 2022 release from the Seattle-based collective. There's something defiant, something utterly liberating about High Pulp's remarkable ANTI- Records debut, Pursuit of Ends. Drawing on punk rock, shoegaze, hip-hop, and electronic music, the band's brand of experimental jazz is both vintage and futuristic all at once, hinting at times to everything from Miles Davis and Duke Ellington to Aphex Twin and My Bloody Valentine.

The songs here balance meticulous composition with visceral spontaneity, and the performances are nothing short of virtuosic, fueled by raw, ecstatic horn runs ducking and weaving their way around thick bass lines and dizzying percussion.

While the Seattle-based collective is centered around a crew of six core members, they also make judicious use of a broad network of collaborators on the album, wrangling special guests such as sax star Jaleel Shaw (Roy Haynes, Mingus Big Band), harpist Brandee Younger (Ravi Coltrane, The Roots), Grammy-nominated trumpeter Theo Coker, and keyboardist Jacob Mann (Rufus Wainwright, Louis Cole) to help stretch the boundaries of their already-expansive sonic universe. The result is a lush, cinematic collection that's as unpredictable as it is engrossing, an urgent, exhilarating instrumental album that manages to speak to the moment without uttering a single word.

"We were trying to distill how it felt to exist in the midst of all the chaos and confusion unfolding around us with these songs," reflects Granfelt. "The music was our medicine."

1. Ceremony

2. All Roads Lead to Los Angeles (FT. Jaleel Shaw)

3. Blaming Mercury

4. Window to a Shimmering World

5. Chemical X

6. A Ring on Each Finger

7. Kaminshinjo (FT. Jacob Mann)

8. Inner Crooner

9. Wax Hands (FT. Brandee Younger)

10. You've Got to Pull It Up from the Ground (FT. Theo Croker)

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