Jet Force Orchestra

"New Jersey rapper-producer Brainorchestra doesn’t just make beats—he conjures entire worlds through music. 2020’s The Wizard’s Scroll is an eldritch batch of beats fashioned around the RPG video game he’s always dreamed of making. His long-running Proglodyte beat tape series makes entrancing head-nodding work out of progressive rock records. His latest, Jet Force Orchestra, inspired by the 1999 Rare-developed video game Jet Force Gemini and the 1966 war film The Blue Max, is built around a theme of travel, vistas whizzing by from the pilot’s seat of a plane. Strap in for the ride—you might even need a neck brace.

Jet Force Orchestra travels between different lands as ably as it transitions between different types of sample-based hip-hop. Opener “All Engines Fired” is an ascent into the skies backed by steady drums and twangy guitar fit for a western, and it’s followed by “Reminiscence,” a more subtle vibe laced with bass, lightly trilling violins, and understated drums and hi-hats. This becomes a pattern as Air Jet Force moves between different levels of turbulence and terrains scattered across the hub world. Drums regularly go from being the star of the beat to hidden elements, as the project turns macabre piano, ghostly vocals, and luminous organ into groovy bouts of ear candy. “Naked Eye” is a slice of orchestral funk set for a fancy dining experience in Monaco, while the skittering vocal and bass chops of “Close to God” approximate cruising altitude over a shimmering ocean somewhere in the Atlantic.

Half the fun of a project like Jet Force Orchestra is letting yourself be surprised by the places it takes you. “Parachute Music” and “Homecoming” do sound like coming in for a landing from a few thousand feet up on immaculately manicured grass. “Hail Storm” transports you to the sharp whites and blues of a winter wonderland. I’ve test-driven these beats everywhere from the park to my couch and whipping it down the highway, and it fits snugly in every scenario. Brainorchestra has crafted experiences before, but Jet Force Orchestra is the first time listeners are hearing—and seeing—it from above."

All Engines Fired

Reminisce

One Million Miles

Marauders

Aurora Borealis

Propellers

Jet Force Orchestra

Naked Eye

Wanted With Cargo

Center of the World

We Made It

Infinite Fuel

Parachute Music

Homecoming

Close to God

Theme of the Pilot

Hail Storm

Final Descent