Bastress, The

Quirky avant–big band with rock sensibilities. The songs sometimes remind of After Dinner or Iva Bittová, and frequently the pieces change direction, not quite as stop-on-a-dime as Naked City, but with a similar effect.
FCC: 5
Best: 4, 6, 9, 10, 11

1: slightly squeaky vocals with some reeds, with a very After Dinner-like build into a kinda goofy canterburyesque section, then rocks out.
2: Great active bass line, power trio beginning and entering horns like a more aggressive Virgil Moorefield, horn squalls, then some hard jazzy soloing (nice trumpet work) over extremely busy accompaniment.
3: Off-kilter music with distorted, hard to make out, echoed female vocals. The words aren't quite screamed, but they're pretty harsh sounding. Then a man declaims text from Les Miserables—Inspector Javert denouncing Jean Valjean. -2:47 that abruptly stops and a series of soft, moody solos (can't quite tell what instruments) until -0:58, at which point the vocal craziness begins again.
4: Rollicking rhythm section supporting upbeat unison parts in the front lines. -4:44 things get sparser; more abstract & “modern” sounding (some dissonant string parts, not as melodic) for about 1:30, then the main theme from before reenters more prominently. Bass solo --> distorted guitar. Changes come more rapidly towards the end.
5: FCC! Bass put very far forward in the mix. First 1:30 completely instrumental and not unlike 2, so you could just play that with no worries. But -2:10 lots of “get me the fuck out”s.
6: Very pretty song, vocals plus (sounds like) accordion and occasional plucked bass. Liberal use of echo, very cinematic.
7: Alamaailman Vasarat/Hamster Theatre–like, starts off with horn stabs, some distorted guitar, all in all more than a little circus-like.
8: Screamed vocals, stop-start.
9: Absolute chaos, horns and guitars and bass all going off at once. Full-band blowouts alternate with energetic soloing.
10: Violin, soprano sax, and bass trio in the beginning; drums & guitar enter; very good, mid-energy jazzy playing; jaunty.
11: Starts off low, almost ambient, somewhat reminiscent of the Dirty Three or Friends of Dean Martinez; vocals sound similar to in 6 (though lyrics, which are in English, aren't the best). -3:14 violin squalls and the pace and volume pick up dramatically, wordless ululations and off-kilter riffs. Ends with a righteous clatter.