The Eiffel Tower stands over a sleepless Las Vegas. Ten minutes away, at the Luxor Hotel and Casino, the Sphinx and a Black Pyramid cast a shadow on the strips risk-drunken populace. In 1904, Vegas was an empty valley. Now it holds two of the world's biggest landmarks. It doesn't matter what it means – It doesn't matter what it says. In a world of endless excess, meaning has no actual value. Information is just white noise, a constant frequency, buzzing away in your ear: Excess, excess, excess, excess…
Asher Gamedze's album, 'Dialectic Soul', had just been released. Upon listening to it, I immediately reached out, and to my surprise, he responded. I felt a strong sense of admiration for him because, to put it simply – His music made me feel smart. There was an academic edge to 'Dialectic Soul'. It felt like history unravelling, a tapestry tracing the roots of universal black music. With an admittedly limited knowledge of jazz full stop outside of the generally agreed-upon classics and having never even heard any South African jazz, it felt like I'd stumbled onto an unseen gem. And I had. Asher makes God's music.
Christy and I wanted to do something similar but completely different. We wanted everything all at once, an ungodly fusion of this, that and this. The song was initially written over drum samples from both Ginger Baker and Tony Allen – An encounter between Europe and Africa heard on the 'Live!' record by the Africa '70. Having Asher on board completed the 'Postmodern Exorcism' puzzle, giving the senseless chaos of the words and sounds a direction. The result is the message – There's too much everything, and none of it makes sense.
~BUCHANAN
