The Chicago duo has dipped into other genres before, but this albumís straight up hard and dark drum & bass. Itís well done tech step, heavy on the vocals, avoiding some common pitfallsñlike how the MC on opener ìDamage Report‘ knows when to shut the hell up. Thereís some flirtation with ambient, as briefly on the intro to ìChronic Suspension,‘ but Acucrack always make their way back (pretty quickly) to the aggro style that dominates the disc, an artist album thatís also cleanly mixed and well paced. Whether Acucrackís gained from focusing more tightly, or lost by becoming too narrow, is a toss up.
Gavin Froome Underground Heroes
Froomeís Vancouver roots show on this album, which, like his city, blends influences from around the world. Largely pitched at that delicate point between lounging and dancing, Froomeís third album is consistently excellent, without getting overly consistent. Take ìAll Night,‘ a slowed-down groove that seems paced to take you to dawn, sandwiched between the joyful ìGet Up,‘ with its dancefloor urgings, and ìSouthie,‘ with its fantastic organ and percussion. But the disc has other surprises, as well, from the funky to the deepñsomething few other artists manage to pull off.
Justin Berkovi Passion
If there was one tiny criticism about British producer Justin Berkovi’s techno music, it would be that his techno pieces are just a tad bit monotonous in song structure. That being said, Berkovi’s newest full-length Passion delivers the usual hypnotizing Berkovi fare: tight minimal lines cut freely with off-kilter chords and warped noises, rendering these tracks excellent choices for unpredictable dancefloor mixing. Passion swiftly hurtles through different moods, from the chiming melodic notes on the gorgeous “Mount Zero” to the dark, doomsday-sounding backdrop of “No Tomorrow,” which could be the score to some ultra-violent video game.
Various Artists One Step Ahead 3
Starting with the stately strings of Magic Number’s It’s a “Sad Sad World” and ending with the burbling electronics of Clyde feat. Capitol A’s “Serve It Up!” this mix by Alex Dallas and Domenico Ferrari covers quite a bit of future soul territory. But, man is the journey smooth, featuring excellent programming and skillful mixes. Dallas & Ferrari pick more relaxed, R&B-flavored versions of songs that have been big on broken beat dancefloors (Focus’ “Havin’ Fun” and “Thinkin’ About” by Bakura) alongside quirkier numbers like KV5’s accordion and sub-bass stormer “You Know This,” keeping this mix warm and laid-back, but full of funky surprises.
Butti 49 Habit
Viking power! This Norwegian duo of producer/DJ Snorre Sneim and multi-instrumentalist Oyvind Jacobson has been conquering dancefloors around the world with a string of releases for labels like Guidance and remixes for Kyoto Jazz Massive. On their first full-length, the pair truly shines, with impeccable instrumentation and tasty collaborations with vocalists including Maiya James. Sporting broken beats that sparkle with incredibly tight programming (check the brush work on ìHustle on the Vessel‘ or the Afrobeat breaks on ìKongo Mongo‘) and jazz interludes that never feel forced, Butti 49 serve up a classy debut from the land of horned hats.
Various Artists Versatile Mixtape
This mix is really fucking weird-and I love it! Versatile Mixtape gets rolling with the gorgeous electro disco by Elektroids, Joakim and Château Flight for which this French label is probably best known. But 20 minutes into the mix there’s a hijacking: dreamy pianos and strings from Sebastien Teller, truly bizarre cabaret from White Noize and an ambient offering from Kirk Degiorgio to his new son Luca are now at the controls. Then the kick drum bursts back into the cabin, courtesy of Maurice Fulton’s rubber-hose rerub of I:Cube’s “Vacuum Jackers” and glistening deepness from Future Beat Alliance. Don’t miss this mix-a work of crazy genius like no other.
Handsome Boy Modeling School White People
A follow-up to Dan the Automator and Prince Paul’s genre-bending 1999 opus of Get A Life-inspired humor, So… How’s Your Girl, White People marks the return of the eclectic producers’ martini-sipping alter egos Chest Rockwell and Nathaniel Merriweather. Typified by creative guest pairings (“The World’s Gone Mad” features Barrington Levy, Del Tha Funkee Homosapien and Franz Ferdinand frontman Alex Kapranos; Mars Volta are paired with AG and THE RZA, while Cat Power, Black Sheep’s Dres and, yes, John Oates all make appearances), White People is typical Automator and Paul: entirely without focus, but with creative, quickly-abandoned ideas bouncing all over.
Shapeshifters The Shapeshifters Was Here
Just when you thought you’d heard the nerdiest, most pocket-protecting variation on hip-hop ever (cLOUDDEAD, anyone?), another crew from California comes along to take the cake. LA’s The Shapeshifters are some freakin’ dorks. Kicking around since the early ’90s, the AWOL One-led crew ain’t all bad, though. Unlike the majority of the work coming from their NoCal Anticon brethren, The Shapeshifters Was Here lacks pretension, and features a few inspired, pure hip-hop tracks like “Run The Crowd.” Even their semi-embarrassing take on the Transformers theme “More Than Meets The Eye” contains a few lyrical gems, and mostly adept lyrical flow.
Ladyman Viagra Opus
Lady Man, ostensibly, is the sleazier side of Raz Mesinai,better known for crossbreeding dub rhythms with traditional Middle Eastern folk music as Badawi and as one-half of early ‘90s NYC dub deconstructionists Sub Dub. While there are some airs of parody and cheekiness running through Viagra Opus (“Old Spice” is my favorite track title), tracks like “Infomercial” and “Feeely Hard” are no less dark than Mesinai’s work with Sub Dub. The tracks are all good in and of themselves, especially dancehall-flavored ones like “Steppin’ Lady Style” , but when it’s all done, you’re still left wondering what exactly the story is behind this Viagra opus.
McNeal & Niles Thrust
It seems like every old record that ever put punk and funk on the same page has been re-issued recently. McNeil& Niles’ virtually unknown 1979 LP Thrust has a track called “Punk Funk” and was recorded partially at Devo’s Man-Ray Studio, but any relation to the new wave ends there. Thrust sounds like Bob James or early Kool and the Gang in a garage, dropping unembellished, classic-sounding grooves left and right. Originally released in a limited pressing that barely made its way past Akron, Ohio, this priceless result of a fairly recent Midwestern crate digging expedition is well worth a 25-year wait.
