CD REVIEWS
Jul 1, 2005 12:00 PM
BRIAN ENO
Another Day on Earth (Rykodisc/Hannibal)
The great ambient godfather rediscovers his voice
Given the influx of '70s and '80s remasters coming out from the Brian Eno camp in the past year — including everything from Here Come the Warm Jets to Apollo: Atmospheres & Soundtracks — it was indeed a surprise to find a brand-new Eno album, one that fuses new electronic ideas with nuances of the '70s. But what is most surprising about Another Day on Earth is that it marks Eno's return to song-based vocal tracks and probably his most significant vocal work since 1977's Before and After Science.
Eno's timbre hasn't changed much in the past few decades, but his edgier, more angular passages have given way to softer, more melodic structures (and a few too many vocal effects). And even though his songwriting is certainly mature, these tracks at times suffer from too much AC compatibility and ill-advised ideas: “How Many Worlds” sounds more suited to a Hollywood blockbuster score, and the beautiful, brooding “Passing Over” nose-dives with a lame robot voice. However, opener “This” champions with a sweet melody, and “Bone Bomb” nabs top honors with female spoken word and gorgeous guitars. — Erin Hutton
ANNIE
Anniemal (Big Beat/Atlantic)
A listen-in-the-closet album
The obligatory guilt that accompanies your enjoying the Annie record is well-founded. Norway's newest gem deals out 12 tracks of breezy radio-friendly electronic pop that's built on the basics: easily digestible harmonies; danceable hooks; and memorable, often ridiculous lyrics. But the party-heavy beats, synth string pieces and throwback disco bass rolls in “Greatest Hit” and “My Heartbeat” float Annie far past the detestable waters of pop's lame masses. Röyksopp and Richard X contribute production hands to a satisfying effort. Just pretend you hate it; it's easier that way. — Dominic Umile
THE AWAY TEAM
National Anthem (6 Hole)
Backpack rap with soul
Leveraging production power, the Away Team successfully emerges from the reflected shine of heavily hyped Hall of Justus crew mates Little Brother and it-producer 9th Wonder. Khrysis, the production half, is the one to check for, crafting lush tracks in the vein of 9th Wonder and Jay Dee. “The Shining” tweaks a soulful vocal sample over a steady driving beat, and the laid-back horns and mellow vibes of “The Blah Blah” hearken back to the golden age of the Native Tongues. The Hall of Justus posse cut “On the Line,” fueled by a sped-up soul vocal sample, proves rap skills in the crew go deep. — Rob Kirby
JON CUTLER & HARDSOUL
Ten Years of Our House (Milk 'n' 2 Sugars)
Musical decadence
Milk 'n' 2 Sugars' nostalgic rummage through a decade of smash hits brings sweet music to the ears. Cutler stirs up a soulful twist (disc 1), injecting powerful vocal tracks such as Kerri Chandler's “Useless” into his dreamy mix. However, his interludes, distancing between treble-heavy songs, are often tired out. On disc 2, Dutch duo Hardsoul brings on a harder feel with entrancing pick-me-ups, peaking at a high-energy bongo improv in Scott Wozniak's “Can I Hear the Drums.” Ten Years of Our House is this summer's feel-good medley. — Samina Virani
BEBEL GILBERTO
Remixed (Six Degrees)
Living up to the legend
Brazil's Bebel Gilberto, daughter of bossa nova pioneer Joao and stepdaughter of vocalist Astrud, is savvy to draw from her bossa roots, updating them with modern electronic sensibilities. Remixed features reworkings from her self-titled sophomore album, balancing interpretations from established remixers (Thievery Corporation, Nuspirit Helsinki, Tom Middleton) with up-and-comers (Latin Project, Spiritual South). Remixed works well due to the inherent understanding the remixers have of jazz and samba. This allows them to freshen her sound while retaining its original flavor. — Lily Moayeri
GOA GIL
Karmageddon (Avatar/BNE)
Psy-trance king rules tyrannical mix
A tough, penetrating and menacing psy-trance trip replete with spooky vocal snippets, Goa Gil's latest mix starts hard and keeps on hitting it. The cinematic bristle of The Nommos' tripped-out, bubbling-cauldron-sampled “In the Shadow” grabs hold first. And true to form as the world's foremost Goa-trance DJ, Gil doesn't let go through the low-slung grind of Kindzaza's “KamaKazi” down to the twisted Wizard of Oz samples on “If I Only Had a Brain.” With only nine tracks, Karmageddon is never a bastion of technical mix mastery, but the tunes make up for it. — Yuri Wuensch
HAWKE
Love Won Another (Eighth Dimension)
Not quite as hard of a kiss
There was a time when the name Hardkiss was synonymous with San Francisco's vibrant dance scene. With none of the Hardkissers residents of that city anymore, the third album from Gavin Hardkiss (aka Hawke), Love Won Another, is a snapshot of the sound of now — a mess of disco rhythms and filtered psychedelics. A tribal feel also lurks on tracks such as “Juanita Cabana.” But Love isn't so much about being up until dawn as it is waking up at dawn. It makes for an interesting representation of a generation growing up during S.F.'s heyday. — Lily Moayeri
KRAFTWERK
Minimum-Maximum (Astralwerks)
Can the ghost at last emerge from the machine?
In an age when the idea of cybernetic organisms is no longer just science fiction, Kraftwerk might seem even more relevant today than it did 30 years ago. Back then, the group's arduously minimalist approach to songcraft — replete with synthesized blips, programmed bleeps and a near-mathematical rhythmic precision — heralded a music of the future and yielded a veritable garden of hybrids.
Although Kraftwerk albums have dealt with the interactive duality of human and machine, the group has often been mistakenly criticized for lacking human feel. So it would seem that this live double album, culled from the band's 2004 world tour, might lay that complaint to rest. To a large extent, it does — the superior set is on disc 2, on which classics “Trans-Europe Express” and “Computer World” retain an almost imperceptible but clearly defined edge over the studio originals while the hyperkinetic “Dentaku” finds a vocoderless Ralf Hütter engaging his audience (at Tokyo's Shibuya Ax club) with every line he sings. There may be an array of Sony Vaio laptops onstage, but moments like these remind you that there are still four guys behind them. — Bill Murphy
THE HIGH & MIGHTY
12th Man (Eastern Conference)
Rap vets got no love for radio
Veterans of the late-'90s Rawkus indie-rap heyday, Mr. Eon and DJ Mighty Mi soldier on with radio-unfriendly music that gives mean mugs the no-frills hip-hop they demand. Gravel-voiced Eon raps with an intelligent monotone, and Mighty Mi has a slow-beat style that meshes well with spare doomsday organs (“Damaged Goods”) and frenetic violin-bow shredding (“This Babylon”). Breaking down an encyclopedic history of independent rap in four minutes flat, “Outta Here” balances a keyboard riff — sounding jittery from too much pill popping — with a Slick Rick sample to keep it grounded. — Rob Kirby
JAMES HARDWAY COLLECTIVE
Over Easy (Lunaticworks)
Soul-jazz send-up with hip-hop edge
Layering classic soul and funk over skittish keys, rolling drums, urgent bass and vocals courtesy of Eyedentity — a husband and wife singer-MC duo — James Hardway turns away from his trademark jazz-licked drum 'n' bass. Instead, he contrasts amped-up rhythms with D Booker's seductive, husky crooning (displayed wonderfully in “Communications” and “Greed”). Although the MCing detracts somewhat from the hazy, dreamy vibe established by the beats and swirling melodies, the Collective creates a pleasant, albeit not groundbreaking, album of emotional music. — Christine Hsieh
LALI PUNA
I Thought I Was Over That (Morr)
Glitch-pop revisited and remixed
Despite its many collaborators, this collection of rare, remixed cuts and b-sides from German electro-poppers Lali Puna fails to stray too far from the band's icily precise vocoder-pop formula. And that's okay — it's a good formula. With appearances from Boom Bip, Two Lone Swordsmen, Dntel and others of the ilk, I Thought is unsurprisingly full of chopped-up beats, surging synths, minimal guitars and eerie vocals. Fans will approve, though Flowchart's heady and atmospheric reworking of “Fast Forward” and the fractioned, murky trip-hop of “Clear Cut” are reason alone to love this record. — L Hermelin
ROBERT LIPPOK & BARBARA MORGENSTERN
Tesri (Monika Enterprise)
Bleeps, blips, Berlin
Two songs from Barbara Morgenstern and Robert Lippok's EP for the Domino Series 500 label fit nicely into Tesri's tracklist, and although their celebration of the seasons is so 2001, their reverence for warm, mostly wordless electronica remains. On the organic tip, the lifting piano and guitar pleasantries of “Gammelpop” certainly warrant revisiting, and the subtle beats and looming wind-chime tones of “Kaitusburi” and “Otuskimi” also fall into the coveted repeat category. In all, most tracks won't exactly blow anything out of Berlin's Spree River, though. — Dominic Umile
J. MAJIK
Red Alert (Infrared)
Soft to hard to soft
Red Alert is a J. Majik artist album masquerading as a speedily mixed compilation. Hidden in the 28 cuts on Red are nine of Majik's own, most of which are collaborations. As is customary for drum 'n' bass, the focus tends to be on the number of high-profile names collected together. Here, that would be Ed Rush and Optical (“Bacteria”), Total Science (“Wasting Time”) and DJ Fresh (“Tombraider”), among others. The vibe oscillates from harsh to melodic more than a few times on Red. This works relatively well, except for those moments when the changes are extreme. — Lily Moayeri
JOSE NUNEZ, STEVE ANGELLO & SEBASTIAN INGROSSO
Subliminal Sessions Eight (Subliminal)
Trio hits dancefloor hard
Erick Morillo's brainchild — notorious for banging out heavy synth-bass lines wrapped around the sweet, ethereal sound of classic vocal tracks — delivers yet another masterful ensemble. Disc 1, mixed by label co-founder Jose Nunez, is an eloquent jam session of creative syncopated nuances and daredevil looping (as in sounds of alienlike mutterings) with a killer tracklist that includes ass-mover Trememdo's “Bang.” Disc 2 enterprises into more robotic sounds and heavier synths, emanating the true essence of that gritty, tribal resonance. — Samina Virani
RINCE PAUL
Itstrumental (Female Fun)
Hip-hop master gives a lesson on beats and pranks
If you thought that Prince Paul's Handsome Boy Modeling School project was funny, think again. Freed from the constraints of guest talent and having to work with a partner, Prince Paul creates an epic of hip-hop tomfoolery second to none on Itstrumental. Spoken-word vocals — sampled from Spanish instructional records, dating how-to discs, classic '80s hip-hop and what sounds like contemporary crime TV — abound. Not a concept album, per se, Itstrumental is a collection of stalking beats; sassy one-liners; inspired samples; and concise, expertly crafted arrangements.
Mixed and mastered to analog tape at Paul's Long Island studio, Itstrumental's beats change like the weather but maintain a gritty consistency that makes the record move. Turntablist Steinski helps cut and paste love lessons on “Flattery,” which lopes over sappy strings and cheesy two-note organ. “Yes, I Do Love Them Ho's!” couples jazz guitar with a rant about Red Lobster and meatballs. “I am a white American” is the central theme of “And the Winner Is?” a subtle race commentary driven by a loungey piano loop. And “Live @ 5" sounds like early Frank Zappa. Throughout, Itstrumental shows a hip-hop icon at the top of his game. — Ken Micallef
SASHA
Fundacion (Global Underground)
Enabled by Ableton
Technics are just so 2004, aren't they? Scrapping his old DJ setup for an Ableton Live system and a custom-built controller he calls the Maven, Sasha is pioneering a new, entirely digital form of DJing that he showcases on this mix. Fundacion picks up where 2003's Involver left off, featuring exclusive re-edits and remixes of each song. Sasha often layers three or more tracks at a time: The a cappella in Closer Musik's “One, Two, Three” drops in over Funk D'Void's “All That Matters” while two different mixes of James Holden's “Come to Me” morph into one rumbling conglomeration of sound. — Genevieve Powers
VARIOUS ARTISTS
The Best Mashups in the World Ever are From San Francisco (no label)
Highly illicit hetero-genius
Even the title is bootlegged on this gloriously slutty compilation out of the Bay Area's red-hot bastard-pop scene. Displaying a strong preference for pop melodicism over cold clubby sounds, S.F. DJs introduce the second, more interesting wave of the mash-up phenomenon with 17 tracks including “Decepta-Freak-On,” a brilliantly cheeky Missy Elliott/Le Tigre mind-meld, and underground hit “Boulevard of Broken Songs” — a seamless dyad of Green Day and Oasis with an unforgettable Aerosmith orgasm. This is more fun than a food fight at a pie factory. — Shannon Coulter
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Björk — Army of Me — The Album (One Little Indian)
Björk's humor is finally revealed
Have you long been wondering, “Where do I go to hear country, metal and accordion-only versions of Björk's ‘Army of Me’?” Finally, here you are. Chosen from 600 submissions, Björk released these 20 covers and remixes as a charity comp to benefit UNICEF. The covers come from the world over, ranging from sweet to frightening (as in Canadian Interzone's evil metal, French Grisbi's supersweet bossa and the lilting pedal steel of English-American the Messengers of God). But this is a must-hear for originality and comedy. — Kylee Swenson
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Spectral Sound, Vol. 1 (Spectral Sound)
High-tech dancefloor shakedown
Robotic noise takes on a refined, delicate quality in the capable hands of the Spectral Sound roster. As Ghostly International's dancefloor-oriented offshoot, Spectral translates its parent label's quirky character into serious speaker-shaking stuff, yet this comp isn't meant just for full-blast enjoyment. The cerebral nature of tracks by James T. Cotton, Osborne, Matthew Dear and the like brings a welcome depth to the usual four-on-the-floor, with judicious use of textures and minimalist beats making this one classy comp that shines in its subtlety. — Christine Hsieh
LUKE VIBERT
Lover's Acid (Planet Mu)
Ten years of acid lunacy revisited
Culled from Luke Vibert's deep back catalog, Lover's Acid shows the old geezer frolicking through acid-techno hilarity that joins the intensity of his own Drum 'n' Bass for Papa (under the name Plug) with the nonsensical glee of Alex Paterson's best work. Lover's Acid rides over TB-303 — style bass lines and juicy sonar blips, but it's Vibert's fantastic and freaky melodies and bouncy rhythms that keep the brain twitching. Gathered in one 12-track set, the collection makes the case that Vibert is just as important an electronic figure as any of his innovative '90s peers. — Ken Micallef
WEEVIL
Drunk on Light (Wichita)
Beautiful boozin'
Inspired by the void left by bands such as My Bloody Valentine and Seefeel, which explored the relationship between dense guitarscapes and electronics, partners Jonny Weevil and Tom Betts offer Drunk on Light. The album's 11 tracks coast along with low-fi indie ease, joining dreamy male harmonies with delicate synth programming (“A Million Things”); twinkling piano melodies (“Out of Time”); earnest guitar work (“Too Long Sleeping”); and all manner of subtle background noises, effects and instrumentation. Fans of the Postal Service and the Album Leaf should find a kindred spirit here. — Erin Hutton
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