CD REVIEWS
Feb 1, 2007 12:00 PM
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Peanut Butter Wolf Presents Stones Throw Ten Years (Stones Throw)
Yes, another compilation
Frequent brilliance christened the 10th year at California's Stones Throw Records with bright measures of beatmaking expertise and careful musicianship from Oh No, Madlib, Georgia Anne Muldrow and Aloe Blacc. Those entries followed the untimely passing of musician/producer J Dilla, as well as the release of his Donuts, a masterwork of vinyl appreciation and one of 2006's most moving instrumental works.
Like the Chrome Children compilation, even half of Peanut Butter Wolf Presents Stones Throw Ten Years is a healthy serving of a roster with enough innovation in it to power 17 of its kind. Stones Throw founder, producer/DJ Peanut Butter Wolf, dusts off the label's funk and soul re-issue department and spotlights a slick break and prominent bass line in M.E.D. & Cut Chemist's “Blind Man (La Carnival Remix).” Choice tracks also come from the Madvillainy (“America's Most Blunted”) and Jaylib (“The Red”) collaborations, but Miss Muldrow is sadly absent. On the second disc, J.Rocc mixes a tight blend of the tracks, beginning with the label's first release, the 12-inch Wolf produced with the late MC Charizma, “My World Premiere.” Ah, memories.
— Dominic Umile
LYMBYC SYSTYM
Love Your Abuser (Mush)
Take-me-back rock
If Lymbyc Systym pranced about venue stages with long golden locks and open shirts on their recent U.S. tour, it would make sense. A lot of Love Your Abuser surges with brawny arena post-rock, and before moody analogs and laptop click beats bring down “Idle Wires,” this instrumental debut's first half is something Roger Daltrey might have liked to ruin with vocals in 1969, when The Who was long past its mod appeal. Love Your Abuser delivers, though, in vastly changing piano-and-swirl-driven rock climates (“Fall Bicycle”) and in fluttering, beat-laden psychedelia (“Truth Skull”).
— Dominic Umile
MINUS THE BEAR
Interpretationes Del Oso (Suicide Squeeze)
These second opinions are a plus
MTB's first remix set, a retooling of songs from its Menos El Oso disc, has surprise appeal. The car-driving feel of the original version of “Drilling” is accelerated into a race with scratchy cymbals and nu-metal guitars courtesy of rapper P.O.S., while “The Game Needed Me (The Oktopus Remix),” previously a merely pleasant affair, is given sturdier legs — er, tentacles — by Dälek. The pretty “Pachuca Sunrise” gets a mellowed-out beat and Grand Canyon echo. The band's songwriting is the strong base, but the twists lift these songs to a new plateau.
— Kristi Kates
PUNK TV
Punk TV (AeroCCCP)
Sugar and spies
Alex Kelman, Volodya Komarov and Kostya Nikonov are the Siberian trio behind Punk TV, carving out a niche for themselves with a set that is sure to extend their appeal well beyond native Russia. Opening with the atmospheric, propulsive “Day by Day,” this disc would be the perfect accompaniment for a spy movie, with its trick-start beginnings (“Amsterdam”), tick-tock rhythms coupled with floaty drones (“Zoomer Goodnight”) and plenty of disco guitars for those spies' nights off. They'll probably even get the girl at the end. Romantic Siberian avant-garde indie new-wave poptronica? Yes, please.
— Kristi Kates
TEAM SHADETEK
Pale Fire (Sound-Ink)
Street music on a global scale
Team Shadetek may have East Coast hip-hop pulsing through their veins, but living in Berlin, European comrades and extensive play across the Atlantic have given their music a global flavor. Elements of hip-hop, grime, dancehall and electronic music fuel the undeniably unique and dancefloor-friendly Pale Fire. Team Shadetek weaves a diverse collection of 13 rogue MCs — including Baby Blak, Skepta and Ruste Juxx — via slick synths, warm horns and massive bass lines. The grime-y track “Brooklyn Anthem” features 77 Klash and Jah Dan and enough Brooklyn shout-outs to make Spike Lee's head burst.
— Jason Jurgens
GABRIEL TEODROS
Lovework (Massline)
Songs and science for Africa
Earnest. That's the best word to describe this Seattle-based MC's approach, whose agenda is nothing if not passionate and sincere. Teodros' notebook spills with science on East Africa's political misfortunes — a product of his birth and kin in Ethiopia — and his take on hip-hop today. Amos Miller's soulful production breathes deeply, creating a wide-open and just-dusty-enough palette. Teodros' trip can wear a bit — hip-hop saved a tough childhood, got him through a rough patch and so on — but overall, not unlike the best roads cleared by Common and Mos Def. A promising debut.
— Dan Frio
VARIOUS ARTISTS
8-Bit Operators (Astralwerks)
The fun is back, oh yessirree
Here's the scenario: 15 mad musical scientists remake Kraftwerk tunes using vintage low-bit computers and game machines from Atari, Commodore and Nintendo. The transcontinental cast of contributors proves that the language of Kraftwerk — and Gameboy — is universal. All the essential hits are represented, including “The Robots” by Swiss remixer Bacalao, “Computer World” by the German FirestARTer and “Trans Europe Express” by American tweaker Receptors (aka Ksine). Far more than just a cool gimmick, 8-Bit Operators is highly listenable, with excellent arrangements and beats.
— Markkus Rovito
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