REVI EWS
Reviews July / August 2010
HEALTH DISCO2 Lovepump United
When L.A.'s HEALTH emerged out the Smell scene with a noise pedigree and reams of grating guitar riffs, the band presented a confrontational front. But even at its most caustic and intense, the group showcased dance influences, melodies, and surging tribal rhythms. On DISCO2, a reimagining of the bombastic Get Color, remixers focus on HEALTH's softer side, presenting a mellower counterpoint to the more uptempo, spiky, and electro-heavy surge of the band's first remix album, DISCO. Give much of the credit to Jacob Duzsik's malleable vocals, which are vague, breathy, and mysterious enough of a muse to bend to any dance beat, no matter how laid back. Much of the album is defined by the tension created by the swarming, flinty buzz of HEALTH's processed guitars, or, more importantly, the various remixers' removal of those sounds from the original songs. Once they are excised or downplayed, the tracks are practically a blank slate, which explains how "Before Tigers" can be stretched in three radically different directions: CFCF's breezy '80s synth workout, Gold Panda's tedious fiddling with effects, and Blindoldfreak's grandiose, rhythm-free coda. The best moments come when remixers go their own way. Javelin goes Ratatat-lite on "In Heat" and Tobacco shoehorns Duzsik's vocals into another eerie, vintage synth demo. Overall, though, DISCO2 deconstructs, and in some ways defangs, the music of HEALTH. Lacking the cohesion, perspective, and aggression that helped define DISCO, it doesn't quite transcend compilation status to become a complete statement on the band's original music. Patrick Sisson
Kode 9 DJ-Kicks !K7
Kode 9's relationship with dubstep has always been an uneasy one, but with this latest DJKicks installment, his avoidance of the genre is as much a political statement as it is an issue of taste. Only three tracks in the mix even somewhat resemble the one-drop cliché the genre has settled into: Ikonika's "Heston," Digital
58
Reviews July / August 2010
Mystikz's "Mountain Dread March," and The Bug's "Run"—and even those seem like brilliantly fringe elements compared to the cartoonish wobble most often heard in the trenches. People often throw around the term "bass music" to describe all the cross-sections between UK funky, bashment, grime, and whatever other London-centric styles are currently in play, and that seems like a decent starting place for where this mix ends up going. The first half in particular, which listlessly runs through the clattering bongos of Aardvark's "Revo," touches on some of Kode 9's own productions ("Blood Orange" sounds especially good in this mix), and then somewhat precariously ends with the rainy-day R&B of Rozzi Daime's "Dirty Illusions." The second half is more predictable, and perhaps a better example of what bass music actually sounds like on the dancefloor. In particular, Addison Groove's "Footcrab" and Ramadanman's "Work Them" explore a sort of double-time torrent of kick drums and vocal samples that works especially well in juxtaposition to the seemingly slower stuff. Finally, The Bug and Flowdan's murdered-out "Run" closes out the mix; it's total anthem material and case in point as to why dubstep's best moments have never really been "dubstep" to begin with. Brandon Ivers
Reviews July / August 2010
Reviews July / August 2010
Oriol Night and Day Planet Mu
There's a special rush one gets driving down the freeway en route to a club or concert on a Saturday night. White and red brake lights blink and glow in traffic, wind rushes by, and fluorescently lit buildings create a halo above the city. You arrive at the spot energized and ready to plunge into music. Oriol Singhji's debut for Planet Mu, Night and Day, takes you on that journey from twilight through sunrise on an album well suited for automobile excursions. The Barcelona-born, London-based artist places analog and digital keyboards front and center in his music, and uses them with both restraint and freedom. Singhji's balance of melodic chords and astute improvisation is crucial to Night and Day's success. The cool arpeggios on opener "Flux" are anchored by mid-tempo, funky machine rhythms that recall Kirk Degiorgio's 1997 masterpiece, Planetary Folklore. In fact, the post-trip-hop and pre-broken-beat era from 1996-1999 is a good reference point for this album. During that time British and European artists like Degiorgio, Ian O'Brien, and Gerd were exploring electro-jazz fusion territory while Claude Young, Kenny Larkin, and Anthony "Shake" Shakir were merging Detroit's melodic techno with soulful elements. You hear echoes on Singhji's "Memories" and "Jam," which feature superb pitch-wheel lead key solos. "Coconut Coast" and "5 Bars" nod respectfully to '80s electro-soul outfits Kleer or Con-Funk-Shun, but share more in common with contemporary synth stylers Dam-Funk and FaltyDL. The 11 tracks on Night and Day are all excellently arranged and consistently pleasing. It's 24 hours you won't soon forget. Tomas Palermo
Ost & Kjex Cajun Lunch Diynamic
Obsessed with the cheese on their plates and the cheese on their turntables, Petter Haavik and Tore Gjedrem (plus recurrent guest vocalist Tracee Meyn) forego the usual expectations of cool to create joyful music that is both frequently ridiculous and frequently ridiculously good. The