In a complex, droning universe, this extrasensory collaboration may serve as an artistic insight into our understanding of time and space. Limited to 1,000 copies, this two-disc excursion into the world of concrete music bleeps and screeches its way into the psyche, leaving any listener jetlagged and out of breath. While at its root quite noisy, the second installment from these experienced avant-garde icons exists as a carefully honed addition to the future of interpretive music. All in all, few sparse and droning records are impossible to ignore. This is one of them.
Various Artists Weed A-Bun Vol.1
The illustrious world of dancehall and reggae is as unifying as it is revolutionary. Given the political tensions of the past century, it‘s about time a collection of odes to the therapeutic gift of ganja has been bestowed upon us. Packed with contemporary and renowned DJs and singers, these tracks summon a variety of styles in homage to queen cheeba. Luciano‘s infamous version of Peter Tosh‘s “Legalize It” contrasts well with the rugged thumping from Beenie Man and LMS. The inspirational, herbal torch has been passed through a multitude of musical genres. Weed A-Bun definitively celebrates what keeps heads nodding.
Robin Guthrie & Harold Budd Mysterious Skin
We live in a world in which death is imminent, misery is routine, and heartbreak is far more common than triumph. Fortunately, Robin Guthrie of Cocteau Twins fame and ambient pioneer Robin Budd have conjured the beauty of our wretched condition with Mysterious Skin. This haunting soundtrack is consumed with hazy, processed guitars of the dreariest proportions combined with an atmosphere so serene and dreamy, you can actually feel the interpersonal melancholy that connects us all. Guthrie and Budd have surpassed any preconceptions in this existentially powerful score. Pray for more.
Adult. Gimmie Trouble
Always the hacksawed mohawk to every other electro popper‘s well coiffed asymmetrical shag, Gimme Trouble once again establishes Adam Miller, Nicola Kuperus, and recently added guitarist Sam Consiglio as well abreast of the rest, achieving this via a stroll down Eno‘s Bowery of ‘78. Where drum machines once bumped booty bass amidst sine waves and familiar bleeps, now it‘s the last gasps of strangled synths and horrorshow drum machines; in place of Nicola‘s dispassionate robo-disco vocals, we now get her punk sing shouts. All in all it‘s an alluringly tactile trouble, invoking chants of “Gimmie, gimmie!”
Portable Version
Pulling no proverbial punches and deftly delivering just what you need, ~scape issues another opus of majestic electro dub. The distinctive difference with Portable‘s Alan Abraham lies in his treatments of Leo Fernandez‘s guitar-owing to his South African roots, he meshes it with fragments of African percussion. His background is most notable on the tribal “Ebb And Flow,” the polyrhythmic “Thought in Action” and the aural downpour of “Typhoon,” although a few tracks lack the scintillating charisma of Version‘s apexes. With luck, the next version shall remedy this.
DMX Krew Many Worlds
Ed DMX‘s array of aliases (Computer Rockers, Mandroid) invoke an alabaster museum of electro/freestyle tributes. If you‘ve visited that museum, his latest sprawling manifesto of genre-obliterating artistry will come as little surprise. From eloquently layered Detroit-isms to good old fashioned IDM noodles to a hilariously genius deadpan-voiced history lesson on William the Conqueror set to a plodding electro beat, Many Worlds must establish Ed DMX as one of the foremost cherished resources of electronic music ingenuity.
Various Artists Kitsuné Maison Compilation
Always ambitiously themed, here‘s another comp from Parisian fashion/Art/music clusterfuck Kitsuné. This time around, the theme is “home” and, evidently, their friends-the accompanying fold out booklet displays 461 of the label‘s friends rendered in perfectly imperfect hand drawn portraits. Mind, it‘s not quite translated into the music, an orgy of ‘80s-loving dancefloor destroyers with inspired efforts from usual suspects Tom Vek, Hot Chip, Tomboy, Digitalism, and VHS Or Beta. A good listen, yet one in which the House of Fashion trumps all.
DJ Koze Kosi Comes Around
There‘s a fine line between using studio technology well and getting too knob-happy. German Stefan Kozalla-a.k.a. DJ Koze-mostly keeps on the right side on his debut artist album, but occasionally sticks a toe too far out. “Don‘t Feed the Cat,” for one, would have been better if he‘d reined himself in a bit, and “Chiminea” comes off maudlin. But overall, the minimalist tech-house here-whether emphasizing artificial sounds or ruthlessly manipulated natural ones-works. The highlight is the already-released “Brutalga Square,” with its amazingly danceable little cymbals, but other tracks show promise for future albums.
Yukihiro Fukutomi Equality
Fukutomi‘s long career in house shows in the sharp production and well-planned pacing on his ninth album. Though the tracks mostly share a warm, vocal house vibe, Fukutomi‘s been at this long enough to make an album that‘s coherent without being bland. The title track, for example, features spoken word vocals from Rich Medina so deep they could be the track‘s bassline, while “All Over The World” rises from a laid-back funk foundation; the more tech-leaning “The Tambour” drives a bit harder without upsetting the album‘s balance. But Fukutomi knows when to keep things simple, too, as in “Killing Time,” about two minutes of quiet synths-no beats, no vocals, no bassline-that somehow shift the album‘s whole mood.
The Society Electronic Bionic
Too many future jazz albums depend on electronic gimmickry to pull off their sound. But what makes Electronic Bionic so much better is the sense that the people behind the tracks are accomplished musicians with an ear for getting past labels and limits. “Human Nature,” for example, has both vocals chock full of soul as well as swelling synths, “High Jive” features jazz sax against crackling sounds, and “Keep Your Head Up” sounds as if Kosheen had been bred on Philly soul. Plenty of acts never put out an album this good, much less a debut.
