Mr. Oizo fans have been waiting for a follow up to “Flat Beat” for ages and it comes in the form of “Stunt,” which is even rougher than the G-Unit song of the same name. Descending keys pierce your brain like popping neurons while surging, gritty bass drives this classic techno monster forward. “1$44,” also on the same side, is all haunting leads and elusive bad trip breaks. A relentless must-have.
Various Artists Fabric 17: Akufen
Those looking for an intro to microhouse could do worse than this studio mix from the Edward Scissorhands of Montreal, Akufen. He kicks off this very clicky and restrained party with some of the genre’s biggest hits of the last year: Philippe Cam’s quirky, skipping “LFO Drive” and Pantytec’s gurgling remix of Matthew Dear’s “Dog Days.” The best numbers add a little personality to all the clicks and cuts, with Crackhaus giving an unexpected big band swing to the rather lush “Ample Slacks” and Senor Coconut’s turning “Smoke On the Water” into a driving techbossa mover and shaker. This is house broken into a thousand tiny bits and the shards superglued back together, and it’s not for the technophobe.
Radio 4 Stealing of a Nation
On the heels of storming dancefloor hottie “Electrify,” Radio 4 comes with the first entirely political dance punk album of the 2000s. It’s hardly The Clash’s Combat Rock and definitely no Public Enemy It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, but it has its charms, notably the echoing sonic stew of “No Reaction” and the Brit Pop touches and infectious bassline of “Transmission.” Mostly though, the album finds the band trying too hard-their calls to action aren’t backed up by any anarchy in the music itself, reminding one that sometimes a gripping groove is often the most salient revolution.
Five Green Circle Growing Shapes EP
Watch out Germany, the Irish are coming for your techno. First, Five Green Circle delivers four incredibly lush tracks, ranging from bubblegum wormhole (“Four Four Fives”) and chirpy electro-tech (“Come True All the Way”) to sharp kick ‘n’ snare cut-up (“Pop Implants”) and midnight car rides through the countryside (“Candy Clique”). For more shimmering and verdant dancefloor gems, check Americhord’s “Enter EP.”
Dooley-O I Don’t Wanna Lose You
The man who never got credit for discovering the Skull Snaps drum break gets his on this one. Dooley-O takes on double duty here, deftly handling both the mic and the MPC. “I Don’t Wanna Lose You” finds him spitting heartfelt (at times heartbreaking) verses about a dysfunctional affair over a raw funk beat accented with a soulful vocal hook.
Packfm Forevershine
After years of getting his weight up by eating lesser MCs, PackFM brings the same bloodlust and rapier-like wit to the studio. “Forevershine” features cuts by DJ JS1, a knockin’ beat by Kno and an unending barrage of punch lines. Tonedeff produces the other tracks, laying a down a smooth beat for “Upclose,” where PackFM spars with Substantial for a lady’s affections. On “Set It Up,” he trades jabs with another battle vet, Chicago’s legendary J.U.I.C.E.
Lizz Fields I Gotta Go
Lizz Fields is eminently crushworthy, but she’s also the real deal. Her jazzy, assured delivery draws you in; as her tale of “your ruthless ways” unfolds, you almost feel guilty. DJ Spinna remix increases the mellow, hip-hop original by 20 bpms, adding sabor latino over a four-on-the-floor beat, and the “She Quit” mix features the ragga stylings of Snypah.
Echo Sound System Todos Um
Brazilian dub-hop sounds like an obscure sub-genre name you might drop on your favorite message board (now that “blazing downtempo” is pass»), but Echo Sound System is the truth. “Todos Um” is a mid-tempo modern dub bubbler with vocal samples from Sean Paul to Junior Reid. The flip features an interpretation of “Express Yourself” on “S€ Deu Ver (de)” and a Brazilian take on the classic “Stir It Up” riddim.
Rob Sonic Telicatessen
Armed with an arsenal of new-and old-world technology, and primed to spread his funk-drenched vitriol across the world, Rob Sonic is indie hip-hop’s newest jack popping out of the box. He lives up to the Def Jux hype, mostly because his vocal delivery steamrolls forward without looking back and his beats sound nothing like the Casio-happy crap bumping on MTV or BET. He’s not afraid to go angular on tracks like “Behemoth” or channel Bambaata on “Shoplift,” and you know what they say about confidence. The guy’s got it in excess, which makes Telicatessen a capable debut from a head-bobbing badass.
Jean Grae This Week
Discerning heads already know that Jean Grae has more skills than most rappers-male or female-in the game today. But the mainstream still hasn’t come calling, and that fact might have something to do with this collection of radio-friendly joints. Underwhelming and uninspired production from Midi Mafia (50 Cent), Ninth Wonder (Jay-Z) and others doesn’t do justice to Grae’s shotgun-blast lyrics. Where is The Herbaliser when you need them? Shamefully, This Week sounds like it was put together to get some love from Rap City or TRL. Buy this disc to help Grae make the splash she’s already deserves, then put it on the shelf and spin Attack of the Attacking Things instead.
