Jazz Codes - Moor Mother: Review
Moor Mother
is a Philly poet and musician who has been on a streak of massively acclaimed underground releases across the past few years. Her solo studio albums, collaborative projects and dozens of notable features have made her one of the definitive critical darlings of the past five years. Jazz Codes is her 6th true solo studio album and second for Anti-, as well as her second release of 2022 following her 700 Bliss collaborative album with DJ Haram last month.
Review by Lav:
I've enjoyed quite a lot of what Moor Mother has done and she's on a particularly hot streak. Even though I wasn't as thrilled by 700 Bliss' Nothing To Declare as I hoped I might be, the good faith from records like True Opera, Black Encyclopedia Of The Air, and BRASS is still strong and it came backed by a handful of great singles in the lead up to this record.
Jazz Codes is 18 tracks a number of which are quite short given that the full runtime fails to even reach 45 minutes. But it gives the record a wonderful and ever-evolving dynamic with one song after another that can even feel like evolving motifs within individual songs. So rather than breaking down every moment from every song here I will just try to convey a feeling for how the record operates. That starts with the wonderful instrumentation which is obviously heavily jazz-inspired though decidedly dark in tone. Even on songs with glittery chimes and positive lyrical messages the murky mixing and dark instrumental palette are the guiding principles of the record.
RAP JASM was the single that sold me instantly on the record and it's still one of my favorite songs here. Like many songs on the record Moor Mother eschews her normal spoken word poetry for some of the most confident bars I've ever heard her spitting on record and the lively jazz instrumentation guiding her is just as excellent. Another one of the singles BARELY WOKE comes with an emotional counter-part EVENING late on the record which make for part of an absolutely excellent run that Jazz Codes goes on for its finale.
Another great pairing is BLUES AWAY and BLAME which come back to back but deliver a brilliantly contrasting emotional aesthetic that heighten each of the hard-hitting songs beyond what they deliver on their own. While were here Dust Together is one of the more bright and outgoing instrumentals here with a buttery smooth vocal feature. Moor Mother sort of upsets that energy as the echoes out over the entire song like she's Big Brother. The contrast makes for a wonderful dynamic creating one of the most interesting songs on the album.
Umzansi is an excellent opening track with these almost piercing chimes and methodical spoken word occasionally backed up by group vocals. It's both a great song and a fitting opener that introduces what I can only describe as the album's murky tone. It's followed by April 7th which is a darker and more meditative song by comparison though it's saxophone passage is one of the most clearly presented pieces of instrumentation on the entire record. Another element of the record is its dozens of features many of which serve a more abstract purpose than conventional rap features. On tracks like Ode To Mary they feel more like voices being deployed as another piece of instrumentation, blending into the background of sounds which Moor Mother is performing over. While we're on the topic of this song it deploys one of the best instrumentals here with a charming array of piano improvisations, brass backing and slowly tattering hip hop drums.
While the instrumentation is what really steals the show on the record Moor Mother also occasionally delivers some very compelling themes. The best example of this being Arms Save which matches its evocative lyricism dealing in well, arms, with squelching horns that feel thematically tied to the subject matter.
In all fairness of critique, I will say the album isn't perfect and occasionally some of the shorter tracks can feel more like malformed interludes than entirely unique contributions to the record. I think my least favorite song on the record is the four minute Meditation Rag which does have an abstract composition I find pretty enticing at first. But once the wandering trumpets and erratic screams grow tired it doesn't have much else that commands my attention the way many of the other songs do.
I like Jazz Codes quite a lot, obviously. While the singles forecasted the kind of record Moor Mother was going to deliver, they are also indicative of the quality put on display throughout. Her absolutely intoxicating vocals and ability to deliver them in both confident bars and overwhelming spoken word keeps these songs fresh and exciting throughout. As I mentioned throughout though the real star of the show is the incredible instrumentation put on display. While this may be more abstract than most "abstract" claiming hip hop fans are willing to go, I really think it's a wonderful listen that's worth a shot. 8/10
This cover has a lot going on. I really like all the colors and the painterly quality of all the little details. If you zoom into one piece of it you just get a mess of undefined color, but when it's viewed as a whole it looks a lot more cohesive even though it still has a blurriness to it. I wish the plaque with the text at the bottom was a little larger to give more impact and could've been put in a color that makes it stand out more. It does have something about it that makes you want to look at it for a long time to understand what's happening. 6/10
For more hip hop check out my review of Lupe Fiasco's Drill Music In Zion here
