Vorpal (Andy Kozloski) exhales breakcore rhythms that remind me of when my cat beats me to a bloody pulp. The attacks veer from lazy swipes to ninja assaults that make my arm’s scars look like a Pollock. True to Jason Forrest‘s CockRockDisco name, our man finds great funk in epilepsy. “You Treacherous Girl” gives a 23rd century gloss to frustrated and mutinous beats, “November014” sounds like Venetian Snares sabotaged by a remote control and the oddly addictive “Irrevocable” is a delicate string ballad on the verge of implosion. Kozloski well trumps the IDM cliché of gentle music boxes playing with scattershot beats.
Animal Collective Feels
Animal Collective act like children who fix their imaginations on one image, and then run back and forth into a trance to make it come alive. It’s a sight that worries adults, but it lets those kids enjoy the damnedest of sensations. On Feels, the NYC band of psych-folk drifters concocts more stabs of ecstasy, meditation and delirium. There is the naked-in-the-streets holler of “Grass,” the faded Polaroid synth lullaby “Loch Haven” and the Beach Boys serenade that arises from the dead to play with birds and rabbits in “Bees.” An odd innocence and an uncanny pop element prevail-a cohesion of which was enough to attract Entertainment Weekly!
Various Artists Senor Coconut Presents Coconut FM-Legendary Latin Club Tunes
I first looked upon Senor Coconut’s mix of “legendary” Latin club hits with a jaundiced eye. I suspected a gimmicky deconstruction, as Senor Uwe Schmidt (a.k.a. Atom Heart) did tacky Latin covers of Kraftwerk and digitally sterilized gospel as Geez ‘n’ Gosh. However, this straight-up DJ mix finds him being highly respectful of what he’s heard in clubs across Latin America for years. Brazilian funk rules here, and Portuguese sounds uncannily funky when rapped. Reggaeton also has a strong presence-in fact, Tego Calderon’s “Cambumbo” infects like sin. Also, Schmidt scores brownie points for his hypnotic action space-out “Tea Time: Mueve La Cintura.” Despite some cumbia songs that fall flat, this Coconut offers a fine primer.
The Hafler Trio An Utterance of the Supreme Ventriloquist
Andrew McKenzie (The Hafler Trio) can make five minutes seem like five hours that you never want to end. As heard in his recent work with Autechre, his drones are mined from the electricity drawn from the coal of a dark, bloodied Earth-brittle and intoxicating enough to stay in the lungs. Utterance is a 1996 piece repackaged in a scripture-like booklet. The album’s two tracks, “Placing the Seed” and “Seeding the Place,” both drift like a capsized ship in a glacier canyon. While the long stretches of wailing feedback can grow cumbersome, McKenzie’s drones still breathe deep and entice.
Various Artists Annie: DJ-Kicks
Annie often resembles a Kylie Minogue for the Gen Y cosmo crowd. I was suspicious that she couldn’t go far without her producers in her solo DJ set, but she does fine. Our woman delivers a familiar mutant disco/electroclash/indie rock/dance punk mix featuring the usual suspects: Le Tigre, ESG, Liquid Liquid, Death from Above 1979, Mu. However, the surprises come in the form of the Gucci Crew II’s oversexed Miami Bass classic “Sally, That Girl” and Annie’s own “Wedding” and “Gimmie Your Money,” both of which sound like ‘83 Madonna singing in a club polluted with amyl nitrate. Now that’s entertainment.
Various Artists Hardcore Beats 2: Mixed By Ollywood & Ed209
This 25-track compilation mixed by Hardcore Beats label owners Ollywood and Ed209 is a non-stop bombardment of brisk breakbeat tracks. While the tempo and rhythm of the featured selections doesn’t vary much, what makes many of these tracks singular are their fine details. From the vintage reggae vocal snippets on “Outta Space VIP” to the rapid-fire raps by Skinnyman and company on the Stanton Warriors remix of “Fame and Money,” almost every track offers its own subtleties. Then again, when you’re enjoying these songs in the club, you’re not likely to notice.
DJ Muggs Vs. GZA Grandmasters
Longing for the glory days of the Wu-Tang? Look no further than this no-brainer collaboration between Cypress Hill’s DJ Muggs and the Wu’s GZA (who worked together on the ‘97 album, Muggs Presents The Soul Assassins). As Muggs’ production is often Wu-Tang-esque, this paring works all the better. On songs like “Exploitation of Mistakes,” Muggs’ eerie, drum-heavy beat fuels the fire that is the GZA’s vividly chilling narrative. And at only 12 tracks deep, these two maintain the same quality throughout. The only real problem with this album is that Muggs presents it as a mash-up release (see the “versus” in the title). There’s no battling or convergence of contrasting sounds going on here–this is an affable collaboration between two of hip-hop’s finest. Period.
AZ A.W.O.L.
On his new album, Brooklyn native AZ sounds as fresh as he did in ‘94 on “Life’s A Bitch” (from Nas’ classic Illmatic) but, 11 years after his debut on wax, he attacks the mic with much acquired wisdom. This is especially evident when he hooks up with DJ Premier on “The Come Up,” in which his poignant recollections sound so right over Premo’s soulful boom-bap. While the rest of production is usually up to par, the highlight of this album is AZ’s eloquent and oft-reflective street level lyricism. As he says on “City of Gods,” “I could never just sell you raps-this is my life laid on wax.” And he ain’t lying.
Lady Sovereign Vertically Challenged EP
The UK’s Lady Sovereign is on the verge of making a serious imprint on hip-hop. With her double time flow, cheeky raps and unmistakable voice, this leader of the grime movement proves to be virtually incomparable to any other MC. The only downside of her American debut, the extended EP called “Vertically Challenged,” is the sparseness of new material. However, notable remixes by Menta and the Beastie Boys’ Ad Rock give new life to previously heard tracks. If Lady Sovereign plays her cards right with her upcoming full-length debut, she may very well dethrone M.I.A. as the UK’s most adored female export.
Various Artists Cult Cargo: Belize City Boil Up
To prove that defenses against the global funk pandemic are as weak as ever, the brilliant muso-historical revisionists at the Numero Group present Cult Cargo, 16 infectious cuts of ‘60s and ‘70s funk, disco and reggae from (get this) Belize. These tracks are deadly to the un-inoculated-which, of course, is almost everyone. Where before have you grooved to The Harmonettes’ floor-shaking version of “Shame Shame Shame”? Unless you’ve dug in dusty Belize City crates, you’ve never experienced exceptional chunks of funk like Soul Creations’ epic “Funky Jive.” Heavily influenced by James Brown and JA, yet flavored with a heretofore little-known Belizean spice, and accompanied by Numero’s signature excellent packaging and notes, Cult Cargo is biological funk warfare at its finest.
