Santa Monica’s favorite electro antiquarian gets domestic, sweeping up Louis Bonfa, Robert Moog, Coldcut, The Fat Boys and Bollywood soundtracks into a digi-dustpan mosaic. Prefuse 73 stops by to lend some beats and a helping hand with the chores. Their mothers must be so proud.
Electric Company It’s Hard to Be a Baby
The words “Tigerbeat6” and “mature” rarely find themselves in close proximity. And though there’s plenty of wit, whimsy and DSP-fuckery to be found on It’s Hard To Be A Baby, Brad Laner seems to suggest they aren’t mutually exclusive concepts. It’s Hard finds a comfy resting place between Mego and Mille Plateaux. “The Lifestyle” sounds like Joe Boyd’s string arrangements for Nick Drake as produced by Cex. “A Good Top Tongue” slips in like DAT Politics cutting up Timbaland and Stephan Mathieu. Elsewhere, acoustic guitars weave among out-hop breaks, and white squalls cut razorlike into uneasy beats. Quite fantastic, and grown-up, too.
Zongamin S/t
After shit-hot singles “Tunnel Music” and “Serious Trouble” (on excellent UK imprint Flesh) made him a darling among underground tastemakers such as Soulwax, Andrew Weatherall and Trevor Jackson, illustrator-cum-producer Susumu Mukai has come clean with Zongamin’s keenly-awaited longplayer. Adding to what those two singles emphasized-namely, rubber-bass and stiff, elastic dance rhythms you’d hear in your imagined fantasy of The Mudd Club-Mukai adds a healthy dose of film score ambience and whimsy into the mix. “J.Shivers Theme” could pass as vintage Sound Library fare and his cover of Arrow’s “Make Love Not War” embraces surf guitar for good meaure. A subtle, brilliant antidote to the thick wit of electroclash.
Prefuse 73 One Word Extinguisher
As legions of promising record producers know, the only thing more difficult than releasing a critically acclaimed debut is following it up. Dilute yourself and lose the headz. Stray too far and confuse the lot. On his follow-up to the peerless Vocal Studies and Uprock Narratives, Atlanta’s Scott Herren does neither-not that he worries about it. Some background: Vocal Studies birthed an endless deluge of daft journalistic neologisms (“blip-hop,” anyone?) as scribes and listeners alike tried in vain to pin down Herren’s MPC acrobatics, wherein he Cuisinarted Divine Styler and Freestyle Fellowship’s Mikah 9 over rhythm tracks that came on like Mantronix stuttering through a field of Velcro and broken-glass jazz. One Word Extinguisher is just Herren getting better. Which is to say, he makes insouciant beatbox music made for the summertime Brownstone stoop of your mind. And it’s all his own.
Massive Attack Special Cases
Don’t know whose idea it was to release such a decidedly tech-house 12″ for the first single off the middling 100th Window, but I’m not complaining. L’uomo makes like Herbert on pop, while Akufen gives you the reason to purchase: a searing, 10-minute broken-beat odyssey.
Marques Wyatt United DJs of America Vol 20
What’s left to say about the godfather of West Coast house? Known worldwide for his legendary productions, remixes and skills behind the decks, Marques Wyatt displays some of that special magic on the 20th volume of the United DJs of America series. With a healthy helping of soul, jazz, Afrobeat and gospel-tinged anthems at his fingers, Wyatt drops a truly uplifting mix that captures the positive vibe and energy of his bi-weekly club Deep. Showcasing cuts from cats like Dennis Ferrer, E-Smoove, Blaze, Jazztronik and Ron Trent, Wyatt keeps things steady and groovy and makes it impossible for even battle-hardened listeners to not simply bust out with a smile and start moving. Essential.
Jon Cutler Turn
Distant Music head honcho Jon Cutler delivers a choice selection of underground house bits that reflect his own affinity for the deep and soulful end of things. With a heavy representation of his own stellar productions, Cutler also gives the nod to artists like Dennis Ferrer, DJ Jorj, Yalopa and Richard Earnshaw, who each contribute their own vision of liquid beauty to the mix. Heavy on the vocals, Cutler touches on all corners of the underground vibe, hypnotizing with tribal beats before resurfacing with anthemic floor-killers, giving equal love to the smooth, the jazzy and the lounge vibe. Definitely worth checking.
Swimmingpool Anything That Doesn’t Move
Centered on the concept of each artist pouring their ideas into one “pool,” Michael Scheibenreiter (one-half of d&b duo Phoneheads) and Stefan Schwander (a.k.a. techno/house minimalist Antonelli electr.) team up in the studio to create anything but a simple fusion of drum & bass and minimal house/techno. Laying somewhere between peaceful contemplation and raw fuel for the dancefloor, the Swimmingpool project is one of subtle evolutions and surreal deconstruction. Careful to avoid the narcissistic trappings of the avante-garde, the entire album speaks from the heart without alienating the dancefloor. With varied tempos and influences that range from folk, reggae, rave and, ultimately, dub, each bit plays out like a dream, captivating in intensity and yet able to communicate on multiple levels without ever feeling forced. A masterpiece.
Daniel Bell Presents The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back
As DBX, Daniel Bell was responsible for a slew of techno classics, most notably, “Losing Control”-released in ’94 and still played to this day. The Detroit-based Bell has not just got by on his reputation and zip code since, though: he’s released on Elevate and Intuit-Solar, as well as his own understated, but highly-rated, 7th City label. This is the second in the Button-Down mix series, and builds on the reputation of the (Tresor-released) first-with a near-perfect track selection that encompasses only the most forward-thinking of Europe and the United States’ house/techno producers.
Bridge and Tunnel The Great Outdoors
Surrender is a new label from the UK’s Visible Noise stable, home to punk-metal outfit Lost Prophets. This-Bridge and Tunnel’s third album-will be Surrender’s first release. The duo responsible for the first two B & T long-players-singer Nathan Bennett and German producer Mark Bihler-has now expanded to include Kevin Williams (guitar) and Nico Lippolis (drums). And, if you can imagine Spiritualized led by Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie-with, unfortunately, less original ideas than either of these bands-you can probably live without The Great Outdoors.
