Live Free Or Die

There is a moment near the top of jaimie branch’s FLY or DIE LIVE, the new album recorded by the trumpeter’s quartet in Zurich, Switzerland on January 23rd, 2020, which feels like it bears the weight of both that specific pocket of time, and a prophecy for all that was soon to come. branch and her Fly or Die crew — cellist Lester St. Louis, double bassist Jason Ajemian, and drummer/percussionist/mbira player Chad Taylor — had just kicked off the concert at Moods, with the opening tracks off their then-new studio album FLY or DIE II: Bird Dogs of Paradise, the second of which, “Prayer for Amerikkka” is among the best political songs written during the Tr*mp Era, and when the moment in question pops off.

With its global line-up of talent and generally high quality control, the Chill Out Or Die series from Rising High Records played a major role in the rebirth of ambient music via dance and rave culture in the 1990's. The music on the Chill Out Or Die albums was actually an exception to the majority of the label's output which focused on club records, from gabba hardcore and hard techno to more accessible trance, techno and house. The joy of discovery, the sense of wonder, the weirdness of trying new things with new technological tools: it's all there in abundance on the Chill Out Or Die series…