Reviews and more

Press release for Astronautilus ›

Astronautilus

“Seriously creative … wonderfully irreverent.”
Mojo Magazine

“A blast of assured electro-jazz”
Bristol 24-7

“… a welcome addendum of mystique, intrigue and flat out bravado to the jazz vernacular”
Buzz Magazine

“… pounding rhythms, spacious atmospheres and strongly-crafted melodies – plus, of course, the unpredictability and musical mischievousness that have made the band so exciting and successful.” High Violet

Live at Cheltenham Jazz Festival

“… that inspired quartet of British nonconformists Get The Blessing proved that fusion doesn’t have to be bombastic of humourless. Their brief but exhilarating set, drawing on their excellent new album Lope and Antilope, juggled themes that often resembled a head-on collision between Ornette Coleman and Lalo Schifrin. The sax-and-trumpet-based melodies were brassy, accessible and cliché-free; the inventive washes of electronica created the illusion that a mini big band had sneaked on stage. Quite a treat.” Clive Davis, The Times

Lope and Antilope

“Lope and Antilope has got to be Get The Blessing’s most strikingly original statement on disc so far.” Selwyn Harris, Jazzwise

“Jazz-rock, yes, but not as we know it. Bands attempting to combine the two traditions so often slip into gee-whiz bombast or bland modal ambience. Not so the Bristol-based quartet Get the Blessing. A collection that was, it seems, mostly improvised from scratch in the space of a few days, this is fiercely intelligent music in which muted trumpet and saxophone, enhanced by thoughtful washes of electronica, perform pirouettes over refreshingly melodic vamps. The Portishead guitarist Adrian Utley drops by, too. Clive Deamer’s drumming is astonishingly measured and precise throughout.” Clive Davis, Sunday Times

“It’s probably their best album yet, and the titles aren’t bad either.”
John Fordham, The Guardian

“Get The Blessing stand out for producing distinctive music that doesn’t require a B. Mus (Hons) to appreciate … instantly likeable for its pungency and humour.
Jazz Journal

“This album is an incredible achievement in which there is not one bad aspect. A Masterpiece of temperance and understatement, a career defining moment in which we all fall in love with ‘The Blessing’ “
Philip Allen, Louder Than War

“Lope and Antilope is an extremely powerful, memorable, atmospheric and original album, built on the jazz tradition, but to which the label ‘jazz’ is pretty much an irrelevance. One of the best records I’ve heard in a while.”
Oliver Arditi

“this is an excellent album”
The Quietus

“The only element to expect is more understated intelligent brilliance.”
Spiral Earth

‘Lope and Antilope’ is simultaneously Get The Blessing’s most and least jazz record. Most because of its birth in improvisation, least because of its use of electronic textures and non jazz rhythms as the group edge closer to post rock, ambient and dance music. As such it’s perhaps their least classifiable album to date, certainly the most interesting, and arguably the best… they remain one of the most interesting bands around – and a terrific live act”
The Jazz Mann

“This quartet comes strong with the electronic effects on their newest recording, but they put it out there in a way that makes it stand out no more, no less than trumpet, sax, bass or drums. Grooves still induce motion like they always do, melodies still make the heart throb and the foot tap, and those harmonic moments that bring the music together in heavenly cohesion still happen… it’s just that there’s some warped notes and electric sizzle and cavernous reverb that helps see it through. This album is all kinds of cool, a quality exceeded only by it also being all kinds of fun. Pick of the Week.”
emusic.com

“Get The Blessing have successfully achieved in Lope and Antilope the right balance between what once was and what now is.” God Is In The TV

“This is an album to listen to and revisit, full of creative interplay, sonic tricks, clever minimal solos and huge and varied atmosphere.” Fatea

“…bristles with more improvising and ensemble ingenuity and the result is an album that manages to unleash the momentum trip hop hampered by the constraints of downtempo dance music could never really tackle.”
Marlbank

OCDC

“… mixes scorching rock with Ornette Coleman-like sax and much more besides to thrilling effect …” The Guardian

“OCDC reveals Get The Blessing as a contemporary music combo with even more delicious potential than we realised” Venue Magazine

Praise for GTB live

“Get the Blessing deliver daft between-tunes gags with a winningly apologetic resignation, but there’s nothing resigned, apologetic, or frivolous about their music” The Guardian
“Take one trumpet, one sax, a modicum of electronics and see what magic you can create” London Jazz News
“…they may well be the most original and exciting band on the British scene at the moment.” – Jazzwise (review of Cheltenham Jazz Festival)
“GTB harness rock and jazz with uncompromising power” – Time Out
“És un so diferent que deixa els sibarites del jazz convençuts d’una gran troballa, potser la mateixa sensació que va tenir el primer europeu que va tastar a Amèrica la xocolata.” – Ara Estiu, Spain

Praise for Bugs In Amber

“… this outfit will surely recharge the jazz world.” – BBC Music Magazine

“… the heavyweights of the contemporary jazz scene” – The Independent

“… a really varied and inventive genre-crossing set” – The Guardian

“Occasionally you hear a jazz album that you know would shift truckloads of units if only it weren’t labelled ‘jazz’. Bugs in Amber is just such a disc.” – Metro

Praise for All Is Yes

“Gloriously powerful” – BBC Music Magazine.
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“Seamless and startling” The Times.
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“The Blessing are a blast” Mojo
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“A revelation” – London Evening Standard
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“ loops, grooves and improvisation set up an intriguing mix of mesmeric rhythms and textures ”

Allaboutjazz.com review of Pallett
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“ a band in the true sense of the word ”

Selwyn Harris, Jazzwise Magazine 1 Dec 2023 review of Pallett
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“ It really does sound like now ”

Phil Johnson, London Jazz News 6 Nov 2023 review of Pallett
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“ The quartet … bring melody and rhythm together in a perfect marriage—individual in demeanor, distinct in personality, but never parting from one another. Their newest recording smolders. ”

Dave Sumner, Bandcamp Daily 14 Nov 2023
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“ very fresh – no mean achievement for a seventh album ”

Tony Benjamin, Bristol 24/7 16th Oct 2023 live review
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“ excellent, possibly unmissable ”

Dave Foxall, Jazz Journal Jazz Record of the Year 19 Feb 2019 review of Bristopia
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“ one of the most original groups on the scene, and every note they play proves that assertion ”

Bird is the Worm 11 Jan 2019 review of Bristopia
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“ A group that has established a signature sound but can’t help experimenting with its own identity, with consistently fascinating results. ”

Ian Mann, The Jazzmann 25 Sept 2018 review of Bristopia
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“ It’s a dirty love letter to Bristol that doesn’t stop giving, and a truly unique listen that sets the pace for the current UK Jazz revival ”

Jamie Parmenter, Vinyl Chapters` 4 Oct 2018 review of Bristopia
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“ Bristopia is bursting with creativity, an album that’s sometimes playful, sometimes dark and sometimes just simply mind blowing. Get The Blessing bring their ‘A’ game to create a uncompromising contemporary jazz-Rock adventure. ”

Adrian Barr, Backseat Mafia 6 Sept 2018 review of Bristopia
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“ atrocious, cacophonous, monotonous, pretentious ”

John White, Jazz Journal Aug 2018 review of Bristopia
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“ Astronautilus est la photosynthèse d’un monde insensé, de la part d’un groupe moins planant, plus ténébreux, mais toujours simplement en quête de bénédiction ”

Anne Yven, Citizen Jazz, France 31 Jan 2016 review of Astronautilus
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“ The momentum of creativity is undipped ”

Neil McKim, BBC Music Magazine Oct 2105 review of Astronautilus
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“ Seriously creative … wonderfully irreverent ”

Charles Waring, Mojo Magazine Setpember 2015 review of Astronautilus
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“ A blast of assured electro-jazz ”

Tony Benjamin, Bristol 24/7 September 2014 review of Astronautilus
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“ a block-rocking riot ”

Paul Margree, Louder Than War September 2015 review of Astronautilus
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“ a welcome addendum of mystique, intrigue and flat out bravado to the jazz vernacular ”

Buzz Magazine September 2015 review of Astronautilus
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“ pounding rhythms, spacious atmospheres and strongly-crafted melodies – plus, of course, the unpredictability and musical mischievousness that have made the band so exciting and successful ”

High Violet September 2015 review of Astronautilus
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“ Krautrock…Eno-esque minimalism…resembles a BBC Radiophonic Workshop monster 7/10 ”

John Lewis, Uncut January 2014 review of Lope And Antilope
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“ This is trip hop-informed contemporary jazz-rock at its very best ”

Rosanne Hanley, Time Out January 2014 review of Lope And Antilope
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“ Jazz-rock, yes, but not as we know it. Bands attempting to combine the two traditions so often slip into gee-whiz bombast or bland modal ambience. Not so the Bristol-based quartet Get the Blessing. A collection that was, it seems, mostly improvised from scratch in the space of a few days, this is fiercely intelligent music in which muted trumpet and saxophone, enhanced by thoughtful washes of electronica, perform pirouettes over refreshingly melodic vamps. The Portishead guitarist Adrian Utley drops by, too. Clive Deamer’s drumming is astonishingly measured and precise throughout. ”

Clive Davis, Sunday Times January 2014 review of Lope And Antilope

“ It’s probably their best album yet, and the titles aren’t bad either ”

John Fordham, The Guardian January 2014 review of Lope And Antilope
Read more ›

“ This album is an incredible achievement in which there is not one bad aspect. A Masterpiece of temperance and understatement, a career defining moment in which we all fall in love with ‘The Blessing’ ”

Philip Allen, Louder Than War January 2014 review of Lope And Antilope
Read more ›

“ an extremely powerful, memorable, atmospheric and original album, built on the jazz tradition, but to which the label ‘jazz’ is pretty much an irrelevance. One of the best records I’ve heard in a while ”

Oliver Arditi March 2014 review of Lope And Antilope
Read more ›

“ The only element to expect is more understated intelligent brilliance ”

David Kushar, Spiral Earth February 2014 review of Lope And Antilope
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“ it’s perhaps their least classifiable album to date, certainly the most interesting, and arguably the best… they remain one of the most interesting bands around – and a terrific live act ”

Ian Mann, The Jazz Mann January 2014 review of Lope And Antilope
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“ Get The Blessing have successfully achieved in Lope and Antilope the right balance between what once was and what now is ”

God is in the TV January 2012 review of Lope And Antilope
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“ This is an album to listen to and revisit, full of creative interplay, sonic tricks, clever minimal solos and huge and varied atmosphere ”

Martin Price, Fatea January 2014 review of Lope And Antilope
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“ bristles with more improvising and ensemble ingenuity and the result is an album that manages to unleash the momentum trip hop hampered by the constraints of downtempo dance music could never really tackle ”

Marlbank January 2014 review of Lope And Antilope
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“ The eccentricity of Get the Blessing’s disparate influences have, with this album, congealed into a captivating, compulsively listenable singularity ”

Shaun Brady, Jazz Times November 2012 review of OCDC
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“ moody as a moonlit street, and instantly recognisable ”

Ivan Hewitt, Daily Telegraph March 2012 review of OCDC
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“ mixes the spirit of Ornette Coleman with the electric thump of indie rock… OC DC is their most convincing yet ”

John Bungey, The Times April 2012 review of OCDC
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“ grinding, hypnotic basslines…strong melodies.. Sometimes flirting with dub and a cerebral brand of fusion that recalls Soft Machine ”

John Lewis, Uncut May 2012 review of OCDC
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“ mixes scorching rock with Ornette Coleman-like sax and much more besides to thrilling effect ”

John Fordham, The Guardian March 2012 review of OCDC
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“ OCDC reveals Get The Blessing as a contemporary music combo with even more delicious potential than we realised ”

Tony Benjamin, Venue Magazine March 2012 review of OCDC
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“ Get the Blessing deliver daft between-tunes gags with a winningly apologetic resignation, but there’s nothing resigned, apologetic, or frivolous about their music ”

John Fordham, The Guardian March 2013 live review
Read more ›

“ Take one trumpet, one sax, a modicum of electronics and see what magic you can create ”

Mike Collins, London Jazz News March 2013 live review
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“ …they may well be the most original and exciting band on the British scene at the moment ”

Duncan Heining, Jazzwise Magazine live review
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“ GTB harness rock and jazz with uncompromising power ”

Mike Flynn, Time Our live review
Read more ›

“ És un so diferent que deixa els sibarites del jazz convençuts d’una gran troballa, potser la mateixa sensació que va tenir el primer europeu que va tastar a Amèrica la xocolata ”

Ara Estiu, Spain live review
Read more ›

“ Occasionally you hear a jazz album that you know would shift truckloads of units if only it weren’t labelled ‘jazz’. Bugs in Amber is just such a disc ”