Artist: Bohjass Title: Chocolate Ice Label: Poorboy (email) File under: Free jazz brass meets electronic samples. Sublime joy results. RIYL: Experimental fusion Melbourne band Bohjass have been around in various shapes and sizes for over 10 years, but Chocolate Ice is only their second full length release. Their first, an Ex. in P.M. tort, was a sonic voyage through post-jazz/rock territory, lots of searching sax from main-man Tim Pledger and explorations of repetitive riffs mined for intricacies and intimacies. Chocolate Ice sees them, at first, going over familiar grounds - the building up of the saxaphonic main melody, backed by Cam McAllister’s trumpet divergences. But then a mobile phone ringing and a vocal sampled begin track two, “uncle e’s technology creche”, and a muted beat courtesy of Michael Portley introduces a new tack - lots of empty spaces filled in with almost-menacing brass blasts that evoke suspense without ever revealing the source. Over-layered are echoes of effects, at times sounding like dripping water and other the drone from a didgeridoo. It’s like the sonic equivalent of a David Lynch film, elements combining, merging and fracturing, meaning intimated but never fully revealed. As Chocolate Ice continues, we’re given the sounds of a band now comfortable exploring the aural regions the recording studio offers. Whereas an ex. sounded live and raw, the more Chocolate Ice reveals, the more samples and loops are heard, augmenting, rather than detracting from, the mix. “vito’s last stand” sounds exactly like the last stand of a mafia don as filtered through a free jazz-electronica combo - it’s nasty and dirty and confusing, all varying times and octaves. “the first days of sodom and gomorrah” is also gloriously self-explanatory, beginning with a perfect drum patter, the introduction of the sax, then bass, then a more frantic, almost percussive, guitar that drives everything from underneath. At around 5 minutes into the 8, it’s pure chaos yet a sultry flute drifts in over the top. By the time 8 minutes and 26 seconds are done, it’s over, gentle peace until “the esoteric girl” gets started, a riff on the 1940s detective music turned inside out. Bohjass prove again that they’re the free jazz equivalent of Sonic Youth. There are moments here that suggest the more familiar strains of Coleman and Coltrane, but their use of electronic elements, samples and the like, reaffirm the band as they walk with open arms into that new ocean. The sounds of their trip are here for all to hear - it’s brash, unsettling, abrasive and downright gorgeous. You’re unlikely to hear anything else this year more intriguing, more challenging or more enlightening.