Thoughts Words Action review of ‘Spooky’ May 18th 2023
https://thoughtswordsaction.com/2023/05/18/ari-joshua-spooky/
We have some more excellent music for your listening pleasure. Spooky is the latest single by Ari Joshua, a Seattle-based musician known for being a founding member of Big High, Acidophilus Culture, The Fort Project, ((Echo)), Cadillac Arrest, Slow Bunny, Space Owl, & RAaR. For this particular composition, he assembled a band consisting of internationally acclaimed artists such as Delvon Lamarr (Hammond organ), Skerik (sax), Grant Schroff (drums), and Tor Dietrichson (percussion).
Soundwise, Spooky embraces so many music genres that’s nearly impossible to grasp them all in just one listening. Perhaps psychedelic jazz comes to mind first because this number carries all the fundamentals of that particular style, but you’ll stumble upon many other complementary music genres along the way. Every segment shines with some of the finest properties borrowed from the seventies psychedelic rock, eighties art-rock, reggae, dub, cinematic, and ambient music. Of course, Ari Joshua thoroughly planned everything while assembling every segment of this track, so these additional elements serve as accentuations, decorations, enhancements, and other more than necessary details that undoubtedly uplift Spooky on an entirely new level.
Every involved musician plays a significant role in shaping Spooky, but you’ll immediately notice that Ari Joshua‘s outstanding guitar performance is a centerpiece of this composition. His profoundly detailed themes, leads, melodies, harmonies, chord progressions, and other virtuosities serve as a principle that shapes all these calm, soothing, relaxing, nearly cathartic soundscapes. The rhythm section keeps this composition even more exciting by supplying equally detailed basslines and moderate rhythmic sequences based upon flawlessly accentuated downtempo beats, breaks, fills, accentuations, and other percussive acrobatics. The luxurious portion of studio reverb, echo, and delay provides an ideal dub/reggae atmosphere, while the lead theme performed on sax gives some seventies spy movie soundtrack vibes. Every instrument acts as a significant piece of this sonic equation that will undoubtedly appeal to even the pickiest listeners. Spooky will be your go-to number whenever you need some mesmerizing downtempo music, and Ari Joshua proved once again why he’s one of the best musicians on the psych-jazz scene. The single is available on all streaming platforms. Don’t miss it.
