To chart the territory of Zion Roots, the new collaboration between ?ber-underground world fusionist Bill Laswell and Ethiopian singer Ejigayehu Gigi” Shibabaw, start with the voice. Gigi’s vocals bubble and gush like water through a sparse, stony creek bed, meandering around reedy percussion arrangements, slithering accordion riffs and lone bamboo flutes. Her music journeys from the shores of the ancient Nile to the metropolitan future of Laswell’s New York by way of 10 heart-rending songs that blend Amharic liturgical and folk sounds with the occasional organic 4/4 house rhythm. What to say about Gigi’s Roots? Let it flow.
Francisco Mora Amazona
Mora is that groovy Sun Ra Arkestra drummer who applies Big Band skills to this lively Latin/bossa jazz number lead by an amazing interstellar brass section, blazing fingers on black and white keys and nimble timbale thwacks. Detroit astronomer Carl Craig picks up where he left off on his Pepe Braddock “Angola” remix with a similarly sublime, unhurried edit. Practically gospel.
Love And Salt Un Tour Du Monde
Sounds like a Bar Rumba winter anthem to me: soulful keyboardist Jessica Lauren and Resident Filter’s Justin Morey deliver a shuffling, midtempo Afrobeat gem. On the mic, Martinique’s MC Stamina Li directs the tour (in French) through Nigeria 70-style bumps with Lauren’s steady and sensuous organ vamps smoothing out the ride. Buy two copies and a map.
Audiomontage The Lightness
Jamie “Jimpster” O’Dell saves his most Afro-Latin percussive titles for releases as Audiomontage, but still manages to vacuum-seal them with hippo-fat house rhythms and anaconda bass lines. “The Lightness” is doused in Rhodes rainbow light with butterfly flutes fluttering through its misty percussive rainforest timber. “The Darkness” is the edgy side of nightfall in the jungle. Take a guide.
Third Planet Third Planet EP
Mampi Swift rounds up the d&b soldiers for this hardline EP. Friction’s title track is full of mechanic chirps and growling techno bass, while newcomers Warped Science and Philly’s Sine strike back with horrorcore rollers. The real show-stopper is Fresh’s more lighthearted “Sausage Dog,” a bass-driven stomper along the lines of “Bodyrock” or “Temple of Doom.”
Capone Tudor Rose (Shimon Rmx)
Shimon gets nastier than a New Orleans stripper on this remix of the Capone classic. Multiple breaks patterns melt and smash into one another but always returning to a harsh one-two rhythm, while grit, noise, rave stabs and the twinkling, courtly pianos of the original sink into the mix. The classic “Fuzion” gets repressed on the b-side. One for the mosh pit massive.
Hardware Hardware Chronicles Vol. 2
Mean, dark, dancefloor aggression awaits on this four-tracker. Dylan & Friction grab their balls on “Infected Spirit”-a pretty typically Dylan darkside stormer-while rising star Raiden turns in “Pigalle,” a twinkly dark-trance roller with lots of mileage. The generally dependable Total Science and Kontrol round out the EP with forgettable d&b-by-numbers.
Various Artists Female Pressure Presents Acid Maria & Electric Indigo
Too many mix CDs plow predictable paths, rounding up the usual suspects for perfectly beat-matched tedium. Not so with German jocks Acid Maria and Electric Indigo: these chicks take risks. Acid Maria starts her disc with Lawrence’s melodic IDM/minimal techno confection and then deftly moves through compelling variants of house, disco, techno and electro pop. Tracks by Bobby Konders, Thomas Brinkmann, Plastikman and Ark make this disc indispensable. Electric Indigo’s transitions aren’t always smooth, but she compensates with a deep understanding of funk, dynamite selections (from Wassermann, Cristian Vogel and Superpitcher) and clever segues from pell-mell 4/4 techno to slower-paced electro and back again.
2Mex Sweat Lodge Infinite
A mainstay in LA’s fecund hip-hop underground for the last decade, Alejandro Ocana has lit up records by the Visionaries, Mindclouders and Of Mexican Descent. But his debut as 2Mex may be his most incendiary work yet. From the militant first track, “Obey,” with its grandiose horn stabs, scratches from Breakestra’s Mixmaster Wolf, and hypnotic organ riff, 2Mex thrusts you into the apocalyptic funkiness and exhilarating existentialism of golden-era crews like Public Enemy, X Clan and Poor Righteous Teachers. With elevated contributions from various Darkleaf and Shapeshifters cohorts, Sweat Lodge Infinite ought to attract more heads to 2Mex’s piquantly eccentric gifts.
The Attorney General The Great Lakes Sound EP
The regionally minded Torontonians at the Secret Weapon label have made it their mission to flog thoroughly thumping sounds worldwide-and who’s to stand in their way? Their third release finds a mysterious top cop mixing mechanical whirrs with a martial bassline on “Jack In Space,” which gets stripped down and set to heavy shuffle mode by Berlin boy Jake Fairley. The elastic, synth-centered “Ignition” offers twangy contrast, making for a potent slab of vinyl overall.
