Loka - ‘Fire Shepherds’ (Ninjatune) Released 27/03/06

Loka are nothing if not prolific. The Liverpool duo’s first album comes a full six years after their debut single from Ninjatune’s Xen Cuts compilation. The opening bars offer a few clues as to why 'Fire Shepherds' has taken on a recording schedule akin to the Stone Roses’s Second Coming. We’re talking serious jazz-fusion here. Aside of the clichés concerning the recreational habits of purveyors of such a musical genre, judging by the complexity of Fire Shepherds’ epic, multi-instrumental tracks, its obvious Loka haven’t spent six years in a cloudy haze before raising themselves to knock out the album in a few spare afternoons.

Despite the album’s improvisational basis, the whole affair appears tightly planned and produced, achieving a fullness of sound which is testament to the long hours logged in the studio. Loka eschew any electronic jiggery-pokery however, instead sticking to a traditional range of instruments and sound, which lends the album an organic, almost classical feel.

Featuring rumbling, looping jazz basslines, dark-edged melodies and swathes of brass and particularly strings, 'Fire Shepherds' is cinematic in scope. Indeed, one can imagine most of the album’s seven tracks set against the big screen. Single 'Beginningless' could well be the dramatic accompaniment to James Bond’s approach to the supervillian’s sinister headquarters, whilst the strings of opener 'Self Safe Tester' have an almost Disneyesque feel to them. However, with the exception of the distinctly upbeat waa-waa of 'Meet Dad' (which sounds not dissimilar to a track on Mike Oldfield’s seminal Tubular Bells) the overall mood of 'Fire Shepherds' belongs to an imposing, brooding cinematic experience.

The ‘experimental’ jazz-fusion territory Loka explore takes Miles Davis’ 'Bitches Brew' as its holy text, and bears many similarities to their Liverpool peers Zukanikan and Super Numeri (who Loka’s Karl Webb is also a member of). It is a style which is obviously be an acquired taste. What sounds mind-consumingly complex and cosmically intriguing to some, can seem a little indulgent and staid to others.

However, whilst 'Fire Shepherds' is definitely after-party music, rather than party music, and may not feature enough diamonds of melody to fully lodge in one’s head, it is an assured effort capable of taking enveloped listeners into its arresting parallel universe.