Those who thought NOMO's 2008 Ghost Rock set finally defined the band as musical and sonic adventurers who could play virtually anything under the sun and spin it their way were right -- to a point. That recording was the real deal and the full flowering of multi-instrumentalist Elliot Bergman's wide-ranging aesthetic, which included Afro-beat, funk, vanguard jazz, Krautrock, progressive new music, forgotten folk traditions, and everything in between. Invisible Cities, recorded during the Ghost Rock sessions and in between touring schedules, is not a further extension of that sound, but an expansion of NOMO's musical identity and sonic architecture. Across nine tracks and just over 42 minutes, this band's multi-horn front line, trademark electric kalimbas, big bustling basslines, and incantatory drumming scatter themselves over a large plot of ground, with the only real references to be made being in a pair of covers. They do Moondog's wonderful Bumbo, albeit in a manner that stretches the original almost to the breaking point with an anything-goes, nocturnal, and sinister approach and a great staggered horn melodic line, a junkyard of a percussion section, and a little skronk thrown in. The other cover, of Tom Zé's Ma, would sound like a performance by a different band save for Bergman's trademark baritone and his perversely beautiful elastic arrangement. The samba-cum-R&B stretch is made more profound by the distorted guitars and kalimbas, choppy trumpets, and backing vocals. This is tropicalia by way of Neal Hefti and Louis Jordan, a theme song of seemingly unknown origin. The title track opener, a six-minute workout of funky odd time signatures, multi-layered percussion, and a blistering horn chart with a hummable tough funky melody, is pulled taut by atmospherics, elements of distortion, and seemingly found sounds.

1		Invisible Cities
2		Bumbo
3		Waiting
4		Crescent
5		Patterns
6		Ma
7		Banners on High
8		Elijah
9		Nocturne

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