“U.V.” is the debut from The Connoisseurs: Freestyle Fellowship alumnus P.E.A.C.E., Deranged and Mawnstr and inspired beatmaker N.O. The track finds P.E.A.C.E. pacing his trademark supersonic robotic rhymes over an uptempo beat with searing guitars and crazed cowbells. His co-flowers more than hold their own-no small feat-and on “R&B” they keep the rapid-fire rhymes comin’ over a syncopated drum pattern.
Yesterday’s New Quintet Stevie
Whatever you want to say about Madlib, you can’t front on the guy’s prolific output, which is almost Prince-like in its intensity. This time around, the LA virtuoso freaks Stevie Wonder for all he’s worth-which is another way of saying this album is one extended cut-and-paste recreation, combining Madlib’s live performance and patented sound collage work with the best of the ’70s’ blind genius. The results are mixed but always refreshing; some tunes (“Superwoman/Where Were You Last Winter,” “You’ve Got It Bad Girl”) leap right off of the disc, while others (“Superstition”) limp their way to the finish line. Stevie‘s static-heavy listening is a good time, whether you’re providing the soundtrack for a night of poker, political discussion or bong puffing.
Sigur R€s Ba Ba Ti Ki Di Do
Glimmer, shimmer, pirouette and ping-these are the things Iceland’s Sigur R€s capture on this Split Sides* performance, a collaboration with the Merce Cunnigham Dance Company performed live at the Brooklyn’s Academy of Music’s 2003 Next Wave Festival. Three pieces by Sigur R€s embody sublimation and evaporation, the sound of a porcelain ballerina caught tick, tap, ticking on a gummy sprocket, then tugging free as melodies billow and retract like warm breath against wintry glass panes. Still, the music is never quite fluid. No closing spurt of distortion or prior amount of poise can conceal that Ba Ba Ti Ki Di Do is more a holding pattern for Sigur R€s-delicate and graceful like the figure mounted to a music box, but far from revelatory.
Music A.M. A Heart and Two Stars
Be excited for this post-rock supergroup, whose hefty dub bottom end comes courtesy of Mapstation/To Rococo Rot’s Stefan Schneider and whose thrills are delivered by former Long Fin Killie vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Luke Sutherland. Sutherland’s silken vocals and studio prowess made his distinctive former band a too-soon-for-their-time anomaly; this time around, he makes sure A Heart and Two Stars is a standout in the crowded realm of mellow, vocal electro-rock. Nothing’s excessive here-new sounds really sound new and everything works together to create a fully formed whole. Perfect, just like music in the A.M.
Ratatat Ratatat
Oh snap, wigga, please! Even the Crest-est white indie boys are down with the Neptunes these days. Swapping the gently pawed Fender Rhodes of Pharrell and Chad for a ferociously repeated onslaught of power chords and raaaawk reverb, Brooklyn duo Ratatat keenly keeps the Kraftwerk homage beeping and the laptop filled with hip-hop boom-clack destined to please the kids of the Midwest. Is this the Postal Service? Certainly not-there’s nary a twee vocal to be found amongst this 45-minute compressed cutie of a CD. Bach meets Van Halen in the Krautrock section of Other Music? Yes! With their delicate baroque fugues inducing countless hours of air guitar posturing, Flying V-toting IDM in paint-splattered spandex is here to stay.
Max Richter The Blue Notebooks
The Blue Notebooks is so beautiful that German-born, British-based composer Max Richter should be forgiven for his association with the Future Sound of London’s heavily-polished turd, The Isness. So luxuriant and melancholy are the piano-orchestra-synth melodies of The Blue Notebooks that comparisons to Aphex Twin’s Selected Ambient Works II are right on the mark, especially for quiet tone pieces like “Arboretum” and “Iconography.” However, this album bears a closer likeness to Craig Armstrong’s ambient piano and the hefty themes of Sigur R€s’ collaboration with Hilmar Orn Hilmarsson, Angels of the Universe. Although it’s got a chilly autumn feeling, The Blue Notebooks is worthy of listening to right now.
The Loop Orchestra Not Overtly Orchestral
No one can accuse The Loop Orchestra of being too hasty with their releases: this is the Australian group’s third album in more than 20 years. But the patience behind their release schedule mirrors the music they make. The four tracks here were created with reel-to-reel tape, chunks looped over and under each other to create pieces like “Radiophony,” where animal cries evolve through the gonging of a tower bell into bass that beats like a heart. The album’s overall effect is calming, soothing against the jarring pace of day.
GM Grimm As Superstar Jet Jaguar Digital Tears: E-Mail From Purgatory
GM (formerly MF) Grimm obviously has no love for the government-unsurprising, given his jail stint on drug charges. On his new album, which generally indicts the police, the feds, and the CIA, he often (but not always) pulls off a gritty, hard-hitting street feel. “Stable,” with its repeated “you don’t understand,” sounds adolescent. But when Grimm spits (on the outstanding “Taken”) that the authorities get “cheerful” when “we murder each other,” it’s hard to argue with the man in the wheelchair. Also gripping are a series of Grimm-produced tracks such as “Zero Point,” which feature sparse beats composed on a simple drum machine while Grimm was behind bars.
Sly & Robbie The Dub Revolutionaries
While the “Riddim Twins” are producers in their own right, this time Sly and Robbie let the Mad Professor twist the knobs. It’s a wonder their sounds never clashed before, but lucky for us, all parties are equally immersed in a retro trip. Instead of turning out digital dub, the Mad Professor tweaks Sly & Robbie’s lovers rock, the numbers sounding as if they emerged from Channel One rather than the Prof’s UK studio, Ariwa. No cyber dub here-instead you get flanged drums, brick-heavy bass and a romantic, swoon-inducing saxophone performed by the ubiquitous and legendary Dean Fraser.
DJ Cam Fillet Of Soul By Tassel And Naturel
Call it any subgenre you want; as long as the playing is the real deal and kind of blue, it’s all jazz to me. Fillet Of Soul features the muffled trumpet work of Alexander Tassle and stellar sax from Guillaume Naturel. While French (former) trip-hop don DJ Cam contributes (just check his kalimba), his main role is as curator, while Tassle and Naturel handle most of the programming and percussion. Different beats move you from the bar to the dancefloor to the fireside rug, and you can feel Chet Baker’s torment and Donald Byrd’s sustain throughout.
