Intensity of Jazz, raw Energy of Rock, soaring Electronics and a touch of Pop Romanticism The intensity of jazz, the raw energy of rock, soaring electronics and a touch of pop romanticism: Argovian drummer Marco Käppeli's latest musical offering is bound to provoke lively commentary on the improvised music scene. His new quintet innovates both as to choice of instruments and orchestration. Without the DJ, it corresponds to a classic jazz formation. Käppeli shuns the beaten path however and sets off to explore unknown territory in the company of his musicians whose ultimate truth lies in that they never stray far from their personal guiding light. No stylistic reference is made to the origins of the project and there are no formal imperatives - only the will to forge a common idiom based on each musician's personal concerns and improvisations. A strange idiom indeed - with its rhythmic and vocal choreographies, its poetic interludes and its reverse juxtapositions, it charts an unknown landscape, more out of necessity than chance. The five explorers create climates and make rain, thunder and lightining without ever losing their simplicity or playful spirit. At the turntables, Joke Lanz does his thing, not only taking part in the group's rhythmic adventures but dialoguing with the singer and underlining his discourse point-counterpoint. Singer Bruno Armstadt pulls registers with consummate ease and a rare sense of rhythm. On bass, Hämi Hämmerli acts the one-man band, improvising on symphonic samples, while the guitar ranges between rock, groove, jazz and special effects. Käppeli on drums provides emphasis and scope, signing a disc that purists and all members of the jazz police would do well to steer away from - organic music in a sequence of improvised fables set against a background of desire and loss. The record ends with the steady thud of a heartbeat - the noise of the head caught in the vinyl's last groove. Hopefully not Käpp's Last Groove.