Fanfare for the Warriors

Orpheus Listening Challenge 2026: #22. An album from The Wire's "100 (+30) Records That Set the World on Fire (While No One Was Listening)". (1st Album)

From the opening of Illistrum, when Jarman goes "Ill... Listrum!" I was blown away. Fanfare for the Warriors is a racket of a sound, mixing jazz, blues and the avant-garde, while keeping it coherent enough to create a fresh sound that I'm diving into in 2026.

It's obviously a hard listen, and I think that's why I'm not that fond of it at the moment. It's good, and it has its moments, but more often than not, I'm left feeling a bit bored with it all. Furthermore, it's also everywhere at once: at one moment it's a full-blown cacophony, while at the other it sounds more atmospheric. The spoken word / vocal moments are cool. I'm not opposed to checking them out more, because they have potential, but this release is not it.