If Ui narrowly missed out on the kind of attention that merited Tortoise during the golden age of post-rock, it doesn’t seem to have bothered Sasha Frere-Jones and company. Answers doesn’t chase any current In-Sound in search of the industry push. Rather, it continues the group’s fixation on rhythm and sound, bringing a bit of rock back to a subgenre that has all but done away with it in favor of a cleaner-lined digitalia. Answers shares more with T-Rex, Fugazi circa Instrument, and Tortoise’s debut than it does with To Rococo Rot or Rothko.
Apparat Organ Quartet Romantika
Wherein Icelands’s psychedelic minimalists give us three variations on the same theme and in the process come off like Terry Riley, Kraftwerk, Goblin and early Stereolab (think “Simple Headphone Mind”) if they’d all been brought up on Icelandic folk music and went to the video arcade every day after school.
matin Horntveth The Skull EP
Norwegian jazz-not-jazz supergroup Jaga Jazzist drummer and all-around overachiever works out some angst in the form of glacial atmospheres and staccato breakcore. Though not as extreme as last year’s “Fast Motion EP,” “Radio/Radio/TV/Sleep” still manages to bludgeon any competition in eyeshot, while “Szakal is Home for Xmas” shows Horntveth is really just a sensitive guy trying to work it out.
Bogdan Raczynski Renegade Platinum Mega Dance Party: Don La Plates
For those only familiar with Bogdan Raczynski from the lovely tintinnabulations of last year’s My Love I Love, Renegade Platinum may induce whiplash. More akin to his rigorous live performances (it is in fact compiled from Drum and Bass Classixx, the I Will Eat Your Children Too EP, and other bits and bobs), Renegade Platinum is a scattershot tin can of d&b rhythms, noise, and general sonic paranoia that shares stylistic affinities with Luke Vibert’s Plug, Squarepusher, best mate Richard James and the recent mayhem that comes courtesy of Broklyn Beats. Insane. And quite delightful to boot.
Various The Sound Of Young New York
If the title of this collection seems a bit up its own arse, it may not be so inaccurate after all. That is, if all of “Young New York” enjoys the rush of cocaine accompanied by the sounds of fresh, lo-fi disco punk and house-which, these days, most seem to. Mixed by Plant Bar owner and champion of all things DFA, Dominique Keegan, the collection is notable for its reliance on DFA material-three DFA-related mixes appear. That said, these tracks stand out in what is at best, a so-so representation of a particular sound. The DFA remix of Metro Area’s “Orange Alert” alone makes it worth your subway tokens.
Cedric M. Brooks & the Light Of Saba The Light of Saba
Cedric Im Brooks channels natural vibrations into an elevated organic poem. His pure roots music glows with consciousness. Cries of freedom and blazing rhythms roll on billowing drums. From a shower of bird chirps, Brooks’s saxophone uncoils and bursts into supernatural melodies. Brooks is a Jamaican music sage whose fine-tuned education came both at the landmark Alpha Catholic School for Boys and in early Studio One sessions. His evolution soared in 1970 when he formed the Mystic Revelation of Rastafari, alongside master percussionist Count Ossie. Together they created a crystallized sound expression of modern Rastafarianism. Brooks carried this vision onward with his next collective, The Light of Saba. Their music flows with African tones. Afrobeat, calypso, disco and American cosmic jazz shine with a steady undercurrent of Nyabinghi drumming. The Light of Saba is a soul statement. Breath it in.
Big Bud Soundtrack
Advanced listeners can attempt to wrap their skulls around the twisted “Soundtrack,” but don’t lose faith if you’re not feeling it. Head straight to the flipside’s “Blu 4 U” for a proper celestial fix that’s haunting and inspiring in intensity and vision. Taking his time in rolling things out, Big Bud lets the cinematic details slowly add up before an otherworldly vocal lays it all on the line and lifts you away.
Rawthang Scorned
The Norwegian duo turn up the heat with a pair of ungodly killers aimed strictly at the dancefloor. Vibe on the smooth, deceptive intro of “Scorned” before things turn rattlesnake at the drop. If you’ve still got the energy, check the hard-driving remix of Benjie’s “AI” on the flip for a touch of hi-octane fuel sure to spark that late-night ignition. Rinse out!
Strider Trilbalism
Dillinja and Lemon D’s Valve subsidiary presents new signing Strider, who rises to the occasion by dropping a pair of grooves that load everything short of the kitchen sink into the sampler. While the orchestral sweep of the A-side makes some sense of a chaotic blend of chirpy clicks and whistles, the flip steps up with an authentic dub rinse-a squiggle of low-frequency shaking like Lee Perry on PCP. Great.
Commix Give U Everything
Although John B’s enviable reputation has grown in tandem with his now legendary locks, few of his sprawling roster have managed to break free from under the fearsome shadow of their patriarch. While the polite, r&b-flecked orientation of new signing Commix is unlikely to change the world, the trio’s competent use of house-like keys and soul vocalist JJ is certain to whet the appetites of Fabio followers.
