Album Review: Ornithophobia by Troyka

Ornithophobia is Troyka’s third studio album (fourth overall if you include the Parliamentary Jazz Award winning Troykestra live big band recording), but their first for the Naim label. Naim has carved an exciting niche for itself specialising in albums by improvising musicians seeking to cross over in to areas traditionally served by other forms of music. So whilst Troyka are without doubt inspired by contemporary improvised music (particularly New York musicians such as Craig Taborn and Tim Berne), they also tap in to the turbulent attention deficit restlessness of Flying Lotus or Squarepusher, the hard hitting adventurous groove of Deerhoof and maybe even the lattice-like structures and explosive qualities of Dirty Projectors circa Bitte Orca.

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Troyka’s last album, Live at Cheltenham Jazz Festival, spliced this British jazz/electronica group’s take-no-prisoners fusion approach with the sound of a big band. But Ornithophobia represents the trio at their most unbuttoned and sometimes their most lyrical. They stir together prog-rock clamours, thrash-jazz, blues, minimalism and a cauldron of other volatile ingredients.

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Thom Yorke had a dream. Thom Yorke had a dream that one day jazz and electronica would be played together in unison, and that it would be glorious. Richard D James probably made his way into the dreamworld of Mr Yorke a long time ago. But if Thom's in need for a new jazz-electro fix then he should turn to Troyka.

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