Words by Justin Turford
Based on Sambo Jussi’s wild ancient meets sci-fi gatefold artwork for the Berlin based drummer, composer and producer Janek van Laak’s album ‘Circle of Madness’, I’m expecting something curious. I’m not even slightly disappointed. Accessibly avant-garde, with a puckish sense of mischief, the album is a highly impressive parade of genre-defying weirdness. Psychedelic jazz, post-post punk funk, Berlin’s non-techno shadow. All of this and more. We cover a lot of artists who flirt with other genres but few cross-pollinate as successfully as this record.
Born in Düsseldorf in 1995, Janek moved to the newly expanded capital at just three years old. Not an age to absorb the unhinged freedom that the city’s young were experiencing perhaps, but he had parents with tastes outside of the old guard. His punk loving father and cabaret / comedy performing mother have very clearly left their mark on their son, as the DIY ethos of punk and that particularly dark sense of theatrical comedic-drama that identifies German cabaret, permeates this record. Encouraged by his parents to ascend from singing in the school choir to learning to play drums and piano, he hasn’t wasted their creative blessings. Alongside making music under his given name, Janek is also one of the founding members of the Neukölln based freak-blues outfit Liquid Brain Orchestra, who’s Australian singer, Madeleine Rose, appears here with attitude on the devastatingly funky ‘Here To Slay’ - the pocket that Julius Conrad’s bass and guitar, and Janek’s drums have created on this track is out of this world. He is also one half of oddball duo Tutu Amuse who are also signed to the always interesting Sonar Kollektiv label.
From what I can gather, ‘Circle of Madness’ may appear to be a debut solo album on the surface but there’s also a serious collaborative power to the record. Songs dragged out of storage or written for Janek’s other projects have been wrestled into new shapes for this album. Sometimes they have just appeared. ‘OCTAPUSSY’ is one such piece. Born from an improvised recording between Janek, percussionist Tim Foley, bassist Hal Strewe and Kaspar Föhres on keys, this sprawling near ten minute epic has been built upon, now resembling a mushroom-fuelled excursion into the Iberian hinterland with Julius Conrad’s guitar skirting similar territory as The Doors’ Robbie Krieger. A strange choice for a leading single, the song begins with an unstructured ‘let’s all jam’ jazz-blues thing going on but hits its stride at the four minute mark with Spanish-sounding guitar wizardry, before the song drifts onwards into a slumbering groove, all dreamy vocals and heatstroke shimmers, cotton wool for the head.
Opening track ‘a little GOLD’ makes it clear from the off that labels are to be avoided. Beginning with warm, delicate keys and a bulging bassline, the vibe coaxes thoughts of Sheffield electronic pioneers Plaid meeting 1968 Miles Davis before it mutates into a ball-grabbing R‘n’B groove with killer psyche guitars and dream-pop vocals. Who knows? It’s length is just over two minutes long and I’m already grasping for handles to grab onto.
The previously mentioned ‘Here To Slay’ is only thirty seconds longer but its deadly groove, vocal duet and jazz framed breakdowns burns the house down, cockily switching from hip hop funk to swinging jazz with Q-Tip-esque swagger.
The brooding soundtrack jazz of ‘Saints Blow’ has that ‘lost in the U-Bahn whilst being hunted by demon witches’ vibe about it. The brass section telling the story here with some particularly saucy saxophone work from Richard Maegraith.
‘Above Your Head’ is a wickedly sleazy Afro-Latin excursion into cabaret, with Janek’s vocals particularly strong on this beauty, his druggy falsetto teetering into Connan Mockasin territory. Some lovely brass, keys and guitars add hot glamour to this sideways hit.
The festival-ready ‘Daiamondo’ features the dramatic voice of avant-garde multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Shiomi Kawaguchi, evoking the spirits in a swirl of drums, acid squidge, brass and some general fucked up mayhem that I can’t quite identify. There’s a guitarist on this song called Roguish Grin, I suspect it’s them.
Like a sludgy blend of Krautrock and Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, ‘Sloppy Dreams’ starts all bluesy and ends as a street parade of the damned. A warped mirror glance and you might just hear Outkast’s ‘SpottieOttieDopaliscious’.
‘Left 4 Dead’ is another spooky instrumental with some mental bassoon from Maegraith and plenty of cosmic car chase energy and big boy brass moments. A warning, this car chase ends in murder.
“Stay curious while trying to maintain a balanced and non toxic relationship with perfectionism on this discovery of new land through music, channelling self expression and learning”. Janek van Laak
Spacey and a little unsettling, the off-world interlude of ‘Glinstones’ opens the second side of the record. Singing bowls, field recordings and Star Trek synthesisers vie for attention with the horns in a freeform tangle that deserves to be much longer.
Lead guitar to the front, ‘The Last Stylebender’ rolls with angular jazz-rock attitude, some tasty violin from Irma Dütthorn and trumpeter Germán Gabriel García (who appears all over the album) amplifying the spectacle.
Named after the U.S. Mixed Martial Arts professional, Jared ‘The Killa Gorilla’ Cannioner, the classy groover, ‘The Killah Gorilla’, is an expansive and mature Afro-jazz tune with rumbling drums, Isabel Rößler excellent on stand up bass, alto sax, flutes and bass clarinet from Richard Maegraith, and trumpet and flügelhorn from Gabriel Garcia. Probably way too esoteric to become entrance music for the MMA dude but a sweet addition to the (fairly limited to be honest) history of musical tributes to fighters such as Miles Davis’ brilliant ‘Jack Johnson’ album from 1971.
‘Circle of Madness’ closes its doors with ‘Garlic Brown Junior’. Based on an improvisation between keys man Henrik van Elst, alto sax player Jonathan Braun and Janek, the piece moves from chilled to unstable and back again. Restless and low level neurotic, it doesn’t offer closure but then this album does offer plenty of other feelings, moods and ideas so I won’t be needy.
I usually dislike the word ‘interesting’ when describing music but this album actually IS interesting. It’s also very entertaining, Janek’s creative mind splashed onto tape with help from his friends. I’m expecting a lot from this young and very talented man. 9/10
Released March 15 2024 on Sonar Kollektiv
BUY! https://janekvanlaaksk.bandcamp.com/album/circle-of-madness