Eclipsing the Past

The inaugural CD in Shadow Records' Shadow Masters Series (a new line of releases intended to showcase new talent) is by an unusually configured trio called Ultralights. What's unusual is that only one of the three people involved, multi-instrumentalist Sunday Mitsuru, is a musician; the other two are a painter and a web designer. So it should come as no surprise that this CD includes a bonus music video track, or that the music on the rest of the program is connected to the group's online multimedia project (viewable on the Ultralights website). The music is lots of fun, an attractive combination of jazzy electronic funk, bossa nova, and drum'n'bass. Ultralights' sound is surprisingly varied for being essentially the work of one person; "Space Time" is a mellow but rhythmically intricate piece of jungly acid jazz; "The Sky" layers a winsome female voice over subdued breakbeats and electric piano; and "Night in Ganymede," with its repeating string bass lick, Steely Dan keyboards, and muted trumpet, would fit right in on a late-night smooth jazz station. Very nice.