Bohren & der Club of Gore – Piano Nights

January 24, 2014 • Play It Again Sam

Let's talk about Bohren & der Club of Gore for a moment, shall we? They're largely considered to be the progenitors of the dark jazz genre, and probably the most well-known group. Like a lot of people, I became a fan of the group when I heard Black Earth and became infatuated with is gloomy, dark, and sloooooow sound. It's a fantastic record by all means. However, their other stuff doesn't really resonate with me so much. Sure, it's still good, but I've listened to their other albums only one or two times each. Why? Well, I think that there's simply no reason to. Bohren is very much a one-trick-pony sort of band, unfortunately; while I like the music they make, they make the same music over and over again.

So now we're at Piano Nights. And wouldn't you know it, it's another collection of gloomy, dark, and slow jazz tunes. But I still can't help but think to myself—why bother? There's nothing new going on here. You might as well just listen to almost any of their other albums, and it wouldn't make much difference. It's the same everything: the same song structures, the same drumming, the same bass, the same sax, the same vibraphone.

I'll grant them this, though: it is still pretty good stuff. If I was listening to this with the same sort of blank-slate approach I had with Black Earth, I'd say this isn't quite as good but it's pretty close. They still capture that despairing doom-noir atmosphere very well, in a way that no one else can quite match, even though it seems like such simple music. And even if it is really samey, it's not like I don't enjoy listening to Bohren anymore. They still manage to put on a certain mood that you can't get by playing your Herbie Hancock records at 4 RPM.

So I guess I have mixed feelings about this album. It's a pleasant listen, and worth giving a spin, but I feel like I wouldn't have missed much if it never came out. But maybe that's just me.