Signal to Noise CD Review by Tom Djll

Tom Djll - Signal To Noise—Spring/2008 issue. http://www.signaltonoisemagazine.org/

Sunship
Sunship- Sunship Music CD-R
From the ashes of the late Seattle band Stinkhorn rises Sunship, a solid post-fusion outfit that draws directly on some of the top-shelf jazz of the seventies: electric Miles, Ornette’s Prime Time, Sonny Sharrock, and the Art Ensemble of Chicago. Though it seems to be a co-op effort, saxophonist Michael Monhart contributes most of the compositions here, the first of which, “Spotless Pots,” takes cues from dirges like “Alabama” and “Lonely Woman.” Monhart’s tenor and Stuart Dempster’s trombone make a lovely sound together, limning this hymn of downtrodden-ness. “Moonlight” strikes a similar mood with its mournful melody, backed this time with dissonant, droning shades straight out of the Get Up with It playbook. Guitarist Brian Heaney contributes two tunes, “Psalm X,” which would seem to pay homage (in title, anyway) to O.C., but which rolls and roars more like Ornette’s disciple Shannon Jackson and his Decoding Society. Dave Revelli’s drums and Andrew Luthringer’s e-bass weave a richly textured polyrhythmic carpet (awesomely recorded by Doug Haire). Trickster Dempster lays out, except for the heads and a short squeaky-toy solo, a little off-mic—which may be just as well. Heaney’s other piece, “Ufology,” peels back your scalp and prods some burning alien implants into your cranium … too bad it all ends so soon! The album closes with another dirge, this one improvised---the tightest of the three improves on the disc. While it may not transcend it’s influence’s, this Sunship flies high and burns brightly on it’s maiden voyage.