Rendezvous: A Review (Guest Post by Alma Jones)

Artist: Rendezvous (bass guitars: Itai Simon; keyboards: Hagai Izenberg)

Songs: So What; Incognito (feat. Summertime); No Man’s Land

Genre: Jazz; Electronica

Year of Release: 2004

Label: Independent

The world of electronica has spawned many subgenres that, although staying under one umbrella, are quite distinct from each other. It is almost hard to believe that chill-out electronica, with its relaxed and calm vibe, is related to party electropop that harks back to the disco era.

Hagai Izenberg during
recording session

But it’s not surprising that electronica has spread its wings. However, many electropop songs do not sound anything at all like the electronica music of the eighties – electronica tracks today have less analog sound and cleaner tunes that whose synth origins are almost undetectable.

Take for example the band Rendezvous. The first time I listened to their tracks, I would never have guessed they were an electronica band. Their songs sounded a lot like jazz from decades ago, complete with psychedelic runoffs signifying the era of jazz that, sadly, has long gone. But now that I know better, I cannot deny that their songs are, strictly speaking, electronica in every sense.

The blending of jazz with electronica doesn’t make sense to me because one is expressively defiant while the other strives to conform to stringent rules. But then again, regardless of how the logic of “electronica plus jazz” defies me, Rendezvous clearly knew what made the unlikely union click. Their songs do not sound like the experimental recordings of a new band; on the contrary, they have cultivated a certain sophistication that veered them away from what would have been a clumsy manipulation of both music genres.

Itai Simon during recording session

So What, from Rendezvous’ six-year-old EP, is fast becoming my preferred daily jazz fix. Perhaps I have yet to warm to the idea that their EP showcased electronica tunes. However, the short excerpts from their forthcoming album leaned more toward electronica. Perhaps the band has shed its considerable jazz inspiration.

Whether or not the band continues to play jazz-electronica, Rendezvous seems to hold a lot of promise. Their music has proven that they have already accomplished an important milestone that other bands have yet to reach for: they are aware of their own identity.

*Alma Jones is a music aficionado and a writer. She also writes about godaddy domain coupons and norton internet security promo codes renewal. Feel free to contact her through her blog.

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C.A.T.'s Note: Since I was a curious about their music, I visited their page on Reverbnation, and I found these songs. It's a cool playlist of instrumental jazz, and just like Alma said, has a psychedelic taste all over the songs. And in my case, it was the psychedelic part which makes me like them. So, in case you're curious too, I put this playlist along with her article. And make it my "unofficial" Music Monday post for this week. :-)

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Labels: Guest Post, Music

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