okvsho: frozen flashes
Francisco Espregueira
Zurich brothers Okvsho, Christoph and Georg Kiss, have spent the past few years finding their own space between beat-making, hip-hop, electronic music and modern jazz. Earlier releases such as Orange Wine and Traphouse Jazz established that blend, while A Place Between Us pushed the duo further into live instrumentation and improvisation. Their work has also grown into a full live setup, with the Okvsho +experience project built around the idea of treating jazz as dance music. On Frozen Flashes, released by their own Current Moves label, the studio becomes another instrument. Sessions in Zurich and London started with musicians playing together, with rhythms, textures and loose ideas later sampled, cut and reshaped into nine tracks.
That process leaves plenty of room for things to happen by accident. “Pluto” brings in Azekel, while “sl.wm.ed.” joins FloFilz and Melodiesinfonie, and Tenderlonious appears on “Roottree”. There are also contributions from Hadel, alongside a wider group of musicians who help turn the duo’s sketches into something more detailed. The record’s title fits the method: a small musical event can pass in seconds, yet still contain the seed of a whole track. Frozen Flashes works from that tension between playing and editing, keeping the human unpredictability of a session while giving each moment a clear place in the finished album. Available on vinyl.