On Ka’a Davis and Bushmeat Sound System – Dollar Bill Set the World On Fire

Each album that Thomas Bushmeat Stanley (aka Bushmeat Sound System) releases is like a more afrofuturistic take on the “jazz body” theory. Whether it be tackling trance music or letting a bit of noise blast through the speakers, the interpretation concerning whether or not to imagine a much more structured or less cacophonous world or let the mangledness be a soundtrack to said heightened cacophony here in America is up to you. Dollar Bill Set the World on Fire is Bushmeat on synths while On Kaa’a Davis assists with improvised electric guitar. Together, they create an almost electronic/psychedelic take on spiritual jazz. As easy as it is to take it as an audio peek into a world that threatens to get even more dystopic, more maddening with time. The mention in the bio of Sun Ra’s “Alter Destiny” also suggests the music to be a sound of a whole newly constructed universe.

To further assist with this album is Thomas Stanley’s interview of Sun Ra named “Alter Destiny– A Survivor’s Guide”, where the two terms are further broken down by Sun Ra. “You have to use an equation and use the vice future, the alter future. You know, in the church they use the altar, a-l-t-a-r. You got to use a-l-t-e-r, alter; that means change. In other words, you substitute a future for the one you got. The one you’ve got ain’t no good,” says Sun Ra. So, the aim may also be to imagine a whole new, much safer world, but to get there you have to travel out of the more frustrating one.

https://eatbushmeat.bandcamp.com/album/dollar-bill-set-the-world-on-fire

“A Side of Heaven that Can’t Be Seen From the Ground” unfolds like a flower with a smell as shar pas it is strong. Sounds swirl, beep, skronk like a person who uses rock n’ roll as a refuge to combat the discomfort off a dirty atmosphere. “Black Swans Coming Home to Roost” is where the dust settles and the clanging noise of static may as well be the sound of a clock ticking faster than its normal speed. The sound of the future as we have always imagined it glitching before our eyes and malfunctioning in front of you. The cacophony continues, and even comes to a head, with the more explosive and epic title track. The second epic “A World Without Any White People” knocks and whirrs like an electro track from the 80s spinning out of control with only the sound of faint radio playing synths to guide the journey. The moment you finally landed, you have distorted bells, blinking synth brass to greet those on board.

A bouillabaisse of distorted noise, ambient, free jazz and rock, Dollar Bill Set the World on Fire can be taken as a soundtrack to the revolution, if you want it to be or it can be an album that sounds like what today’s madness sounds like. Either way, with a sense of imagination and focus, Dollar Bill sounds like a slightly distorted vision of a tomorrow you may or may not ever see. –mynameisblueskye