Poldoore – Waiting For The World EP
Posted by tipkin
I'm really not hard to please at all when it comes to music. Give me something that is well-structured, cleanly put together, has some nice detail and is catchy enough to nod my head to - bam! - I am happy as a clam. Yet this somehow doesn't happen all that often. Many releases I listen to suffer from various degrees of listener-ignoring self-indulgence, cringeworthy amateurish production (I'm a huge fan of DIY independent music, but if you DIY - DIF(ucking)W(ell)) or just simply being a total bore. Poldoore (alias of Belgian musician Thomas Schillebeeckx) in his Waiting For The World EP delivers the goods in a simple, but elegant and attractive package, - it's like a sample-size bar of good chocolate - doesn't fill you up, but is still delicious and satisfying for the moment. It's a very clever EP, fully understanding its purpose - to demonstrate the skill level and range, and make you want more. Each one of four tracks on the EP showcases different sides of Poldoore's talent: setting up the mood in the title track, masterful use of a great instrumental sample (guitar provided by Road Of Silence) on "Moonshyne (Reshyne)", spicing things up with a bit of vocals on "The Northern Compass" and blending all of the above together on "Honey Don't Cry". And all four tracks demonstrate maybe his most important ability - to create a cohesive record, and it's hard to over-appreciate this particular skill. And if you visit this blog regularly you know that I'm a sucker for a good beat and for a subtle detail. There's plenty of both on Waiting For The World. I like how playful and creative Poldoore is with his beat, not letting it simply guide the track, making it the exciting and often prominent part of it. And the detailing is exceptional as well, from the cicadas on the opening track to some kind of shawm slowly emerging in the finale of "Honey Don't Cry". Poldoore's music sits comfortably somewhere in the middle between chillout downtempo and instrumental hip-hop, cleverly staying away from the cheesiness of the former and the self-important monotony of the latter. While not necessarily breaking any new grounds, Poldoore - Waiting For The World EP is a very satisfying little record of an extremely high quality. Poldoore is 'waiting for the world', but there's no reason for the world to wait - the EP is available now on Bandcamp for free.
And here's a funky mixtape by Poldoore for Miles High Sessions:
002 - Have A Nice Trip - Poldoore by MilesHighSessions
P.S. Some small print - I decided to go without R.I.Y.L. section for EP's from now on. I think you can take time to listen to 4-5 tracks without additional guidance))
Blossom – Blue Balloons
Posted by tipkin
I wanted to start the New Year with something nice, pleasant and life asserting. I'm sure later on I will go back to gloom and doom, to darkness and bleakness, to decay and I'm getting carried away 
But it is the beginning of 2012, I have a baby on the way and it's been an incredibly mild winter so far here in Chicago, so I want to keep this momentum of overall goodness going as long as possible. Luckily I have a lot of friends who either create great music or distribute such. One of those good friends is *export label, and their new release Blossom - Blue Balloons is just what doctor ordered. It's a mild, dreamy, flowy album that glides effortlessly on skillful guitar samples and jazzy melodies. But it isn't a bunch of stretched-out shapeless watered down ambient pieces (if it was it wouldn't even make it to the pages of trippin' the rift). Blue Balloons is a very clean, focused album, and no, it doesn't contradict anything that I said above. Because you can keep dreaminess and flowiness with mellow guitar, crystal bells and light jazzy sax, but still keep everything from turning into boring mush with the sharp beat. And beat is not just playing this supplemental structuring role, it is definitely an important part of Blossom's style. Heck, there's even a track named "Nightbeat" (no guitar on that one, Beat is the King). It's a truly harmonious record - all parts of it are equally important and interdependent. Lately I found myself getting increasingly tired of albums that are something"-driven". "Oh, this is a wonderful piano-driven album," - yeah, maybe the piano is pretty great, but the non-driving part is usually just a generic trite afterthought, baggage that weighs the "driver" down and just is plain annoying. None of that garbage on Blue Balloons. It's so well put together that it feels like it's played on one magical instrument that just sounds like many different ones. And there sure are many different ones (if they are live or digital is hard to tell for my non-expert ear) - guitar isn't the only one providing strings, there's magnificent cello and bass that brings some of the very fitting darkness into the atmosphere (those balloons are blue after all); there's piano and flute and percussion galore. It's hard for me to determine if there is a story that the album tells. It's very abstract but in the way that the sky is abstract - is the sky trying to tell a story? No, and that's just it - it's not trying to tell anything, it's not trying period - it's just there, and it's endless, nuanced and beautiful. I definitely recommend multiple listens of Blue Balloons and on a good pair of speakers, it will evolve from "another jazzy downtempo record" into a delicate fragile masterpiece. Download the album for free (or purchase a limited edition CD with beautiful artwork) from *export label.
R.I.Y.L. Suba, Bonobo, tropical sunsets
personal favs: "Eternaldream", "Three Isles", "Blue Balloons"
tipkin's rating
Blossom - Blue Balloons by luBlossom
THE NEW LAW – The Fifty Year Storm
Posted by tipkin
I want to talk about my rating system first, just to get it out of the way. Those of you who visit this blog often may have noticed that my ratings are usually pretty high and almost never go below 3 out of 5. There are many different reasons for my generosity, the main two being my honest desire to support and promote good independent music and the simple fact that if I didn't find the release interesting enough to give it at least 3 "moons", I don't want to waste my time and yours and don't want to hurt the sensitive artist with a bad review (and sometimes it's just a matter of personal preferences anyway). What some you may not have noticed, however, is that I almost never give a 5-"moon" rating to anything. Yes, there's plenty of "fours", meaning "pretty damn great", there are quite a few "four and a half"'s, meaning "pretty damn amazing", but there's hardly any "fives". This is because giving an album a "five" is like putting your personal ultimate stamp of approval, signing this important document with your own hand that says "I, tipkin, hereby confirm the absolute fucking greatness of this here album". There's no turning back from a "five", no saying "well, I did mention there were flaws", nope, you gave this warranty to the readers and any disappointed fan of trip-hop, downtempo and related genres has all the rights to find you and kick you in the nuts virtually and physically.
THE NEW LAW - The Fifty Year Storm gets a "five". I do have to admit that this "five" is in part a cumulative grade covering all three of THE NEW LAW full-length releases to date. This is part acknowledging this important name in music that matters to me, part a wake-up call for those of you who hadn't listened to any of their stuff yet. I will give them a "five", I will strap you to a chair and force you to listen to all three of their albums if I have to because that's how great they are. They created more than a new fresh unique sound (as if that wasn't enough), they managed to create a whole new unique world, a concept that goes beyond the music but only comes alive within it. It is "DJ Shadow meets Ennio Morricone" (and if that combination doesn't make you want to listen to them, we have to reconsider our relationship), but it's "DJ Shadow meets Ennio Morricone in a post-apocalyptic wasteland and they kick some ass together and we get to watch".
This doesn't mean, however, that the new album on its own isn't great. It didn't make as much of an impact as the previous two (which I discovered at the same time and listened back to back) - but I'm not sure it was meant to in the first place. The Fifty Year Storm takes the unnamed hero of THE NEW LAW's trilogy to new places, which may seem more peaceful and friendly at first but turn out to be just as dangerous and sinister. This is a cruel album in a way - if you get into the world of THE NEW LAW as deep as I did, you might see the sprouts of new hope making their way through the ruins of civilization, just to be stomped by the same combat boots, just on different feet. While the dark ambiance of "I've Seen Some Mean Faces" feels like a long trip without destination (wonderful drums on that one), "Dead Men Tell No Tales" shows sadness and regret, beat disappears for a few seconds, like a hand hesitating to pull a trigger for the hundredth time. And then comes "Get Your Gun", a fast, focused, almost emotionless track where there's a sudden feeling of purpose, even if that purpose is to get away as far as possible. Vibrant guitar strings carry the track right into the foreign land of exotic wind instruments, foreign meaning mysterious but not necessarily dangerous. "Voyage" starts out very Jean Michel Jarre-sqe, but you don't know THE NEW LAW if you thought for a second that it was going to be this smooth ambient composition. Dubstep breaks kick in and 3 minutes into the track we realize that this new territory sure is beautiful, but also weird as fuck, which means - await surprises. And in post-apocalyptic wasteland surprises are very seldom pleasant. Yet we do get some time to enjoy the view of "Constellations", and even "Bandits & Smugglers" don't bother our hero that much, just passing by going about their dirty business (sick vocal samples here). I will stop with my story at this point, because that's what the real beauty of The Fifty Year Storm is - while track titles are suggestive, the music itself is rarely literal, letting you come up with your own stories. It's almost entirely instrumental (which makes the rare vocal samples much more impactful) and the variety of instruments used is insane, but drum machines are THE NEW LAW's main weapon and they fire it with the skill of a true gunslinger. The album is filled with details, and depending on which of them you're going to pick up on will determine the way your story will develop. Mine didn't end well. "Descent Into Fire" brings my hero right back onto his journey against the evils of the world, and the drum-machine-gun fire of the title track tore all hopes for the new beginning into tiny shreds that are washed away by The Fifty Year Storm.
THE NEW LAW - The Fifty Year Storm comes out January 1, 2012. You can listen to select tracks and pre-order the album on Bandcamp. And check back in a few days for an exclusive Q&A with THE NEW LAW.
R.I.Y.L. DJ Shadow, Dirty Elegance, roads
personal favs: "Descent Into Fire", "Bandits & Smugglers", "Get Your Gun"
tipkin's rating
THE NEW LAW - Bandits & Smugglers by thenewlaw
Anomie Belle – Machine EP
Posted by tipkin
Well, let's listen to the thing, shall we? Yes, we sure shall. Machine EP is 5 tracks packed with all kinds of electronica goodness. If you haven't heard The Crush, you're a loser you should definitely check out Machine EP, because it based around the title track (featuring Mr.Lif) that perfectly captures the dark, sexy and intense drive of the album, and the remixes are guaranteed to intrigue you enough to make you want to listen to the originals. If you heard The Crush, you should definitely check out Machine EP as well, because it features "Slither" - a brand new and absolutely gorgeous collaboration with Ian Pickering of Sneaker Pimps, and three remixes that make Anomie Belle's genius sparkle in new lights. "Machine" is my favorite track on The Crush, but on the EP it isn't the star of the show. Actually, it's just one of the show's 5 stars. I found myself completely dissolved in "Slither"'s dark atmosphere, hypnotic beat and those unearthly strings (warning! the may tear your soul apart!) and only Anomie Belle's silky vocals guided me through the darkness. It is so damn good that could easily spawn an entire album - and maybe (fingers crossed!) we will see something like that - "Slither" wasn't the only product of the collaboration. "Machine" follows, quickly getting us back to reality (maybe a bit too quickly, but I understand that on a 5-track EP there's not much room for subtleties). And Tapage's glitchy re-working of "Electric Lullaby" brings us right back to the dream world. Listening to Machine EP is sort of like swimming butterfly stroke - one moment you're underwater, you can't breathe, all you can see is bottomless deep darkness. Next moment you're above the surface, you catch the light reflecting in splashing water, you hear all the sounds of the world at once. And then you go back under. "Electric Lullaby" is definitely one of the "underwater" moments - very Radiohead-y, with Anomie Belle's digitized vocals shimmering between glitchy beats. Then you're above again - in the uptempo "Bodies Offering" (Other Lovers Mix) made by Anomie Belle herself, breathing twilight becomes an urban romance - fast, direct but tender and sensual (adding strings was such a nice touch). Big Spider's Back concludes the EP with the dance remix of "Machine". I picked the wrong word to describe it in the Q&A - it isn't bouncy, it's not fist-pumping-jump-around-in-da-club kind of dance remix. It's more like "I close my eyes and give myself to the beat" kind of dance. Definitely an "under" moment, more Moby than Fatboy Slim.
As usual, Anomie Belle provides more than a few great tunes. She (and, here on Machine EP, her talented collaborators) gives us an experience, a chance to... take chances, to open our minds after we opened our ears to her music. Machine EP comes out tomorrow, go to www.anomiebelle.com to get your copy.
R.I.Y.L. Massive Attack - "Paradise Circus", Radiohead - Kid A, swimming butterfly stroke
personal favs: "Slither", "Bodies Offering" (Other Lovers Mix)
Ink Project – Inside The Sun
Posted by tipkin
When I FEA(U)TURE'd Ink Project back in January, my main impression was - this is a project that certainly has all their ducks in a row. From the few examples of their music and from talking to them I got this rare and enviable confidence - here we are, this is our sound, this is our style, love us or hate us. Their debut LP Inside The Sun is the result and evidence of this confidence. I'm sure many of you encountered debut albums that were great but kind of all over the place, full of soul- and sound-searching, and then the promising debutante disappears either shouldered off by the louder, luckier, more connected, and, yeah, more confident, or dissolved into the ocean of mediocrity after finally finding their sound that turned out to be nothing special after all. I don't think that either scenario is something that Ink Project should worry about. Inside The Sun is such a solid, cohesive and strong debut that also shows a unique voice that it's pretty clear (to me at least) that Ink Project is here to stay. To get the whole genre question out of the way - it's not trip-hop. Or it is, as much as, say, Lamb or Laika are. We covered this during our Q&A as well, and I was utterly pleased with the way Jez Lloyd and Melanie Dymond talked about trip-hop - with respect and understanding, without considering themselves "a trip-hop band" (which they most certainly aren't) but realizing that they will inevitably be associated with the genre (which they certainly are, hence this here review ) and fully embracing it. I totally dig this attitude. And I totally dig their debut album, more and more with every listen. I'm grown to like works of art that challenge the audience somewhat - be it film, literature or music. The albums that "grab you" right from the first track are usually end up having a bunch of fillers and don't live up to their catchy openings. Inside The Sun eases you in. "Eye Of Glass" is a drifting, dreamy track with soft echoing vocals wrapped around minimal, metronome-like beat, that towards the end actually managed to create images of Solar prominences in my mind. This is definitely a concept album, which unfolds its story in a slow tempo that allows you to fully appreciate its quality. The title is very spot on - the sound of Inside The Sun combines everything that makes this star so attractive - its massiveness, mystery, warmth and danger. The only major difference is that looking directly at the sun will hurt your eyes, but listening closely to Inside The Sun is highly recommended, for each track is full of wonderful detail. And, of course, Melanie Dymond is a pure joy to listen to. She is a downtempo producer's dream vocalist - her voice is very unique, soft, soulful and intuitive. But it's the production that makes the vocals the star of the album. Multiplying, layering, echoing really highlights the range and ability, but it goes way beyond that, smartly avoiding placing all bets just on singing. "Araldite Tears" is a great example (and one of my favorite tracks on the record) - it starts out with a straightforward vocals/beat combo (very Lamb-y, if you ask me), letting Melanie go to town with improvisation and structuring her singing around the rhythm, and then all of a sudden the vocals die and those heavenly strings kick in, leaving me absolutely speechless. And let me say a few words about the beat, because it deserves a special mention. What I like about the Ink Project's sound is that in their steering clear from any particular genre they aren't achieving that by chaotically blending chunks of different genre elements. Instead they methodically construct their own sound free of any direct influences, even whit the beat, which is the most explored area of electronica. I wouldn't say it always works 100%, but it definitely gives Ink Project its uniqueness, which to me is extremely important. Almost every track on Inside The Sun would fit organically on any downtempo/trip-hop/whathaveya-electronica compilation and would create one of those moments when you're listening to a compilation full of unknowns and enjoying it and nodding your head but then there's this one track that makes you actually look at the artist's name. I hope that Inside The Sun will create such moment on this big compilation that electronica is today and make lots of fans look at the name. I'll save you some trouble - the name is Ink Project and you can listen to the album right here and purchase it on Juno Download or iTunes.
R.I.Y.L. Lamb, Laika, deep space
personal favs: "Araldite Tears", "Hot Lies", "Eye Of Glass"
tipkin's rating
Ink Project - Inside The Sun - Available for download! by Ink Project
Scarlet Monk – AnnaBella
Posted by tipkin
It's been getting progressively harder and easier to find music that "fits the profile" of this blog. Easier because electronica is not this weird bastard daughter of dance music anymore, but an organic part of the modern music world, and now artists that aren't employing electronica elements in their music steadily moving towards extinction. In just a few years (well, probably more than a few, more like a decade and a half, but still) we went from a "electronica/dance" to (seems like daily) multiplying new "related" genres - indietronica, modern classical, electronic soul... Most of those new genres, sub-genres and sub-categories are slow, dark and rhythmic enough for me to consider suitable for this blog. But. If I want to preserve some sort of integrity I have to... well, preserve some sort of integrity, otherwise trippin' the rift will turn into just another music blog. So, this is the increasingly hard part: finding new music that doesn't just formally meet the criteria of "trip-hop" (and let's admit, stuff like this does seem pretty dated and boring), but music that feels right to me and will feel right to my readers. Not those "it's not trip-hop it's downtempo" folks, who seem to major in History Of Electronic Music and minor in Asshole-ogy. The folks that do understand that "trip-hop" is much more than a genre and that music is an ever-evolving and ever-changing being. What does this long-ass preface have to do with the album that I'm about to review (I will, promise!)? I guess I just wanted to say how happy it makes me to find music that feels right, no matter how strange it may be.
Scarlet Monk - AnnaBella could be the strangest album I reviewed so far. It's an electronica record where the actual electronica seems somehow non-existent. (And now I realize how hard it's going to be to explain what I meant by that) It's sort of like Al Farrow Cathedral - it's made out of gun parts and bullets but you don't see it at first, you see the cathedral. And even after you do realize that those are gun parts and bullets, you still see the cathedral. AnnaBella is built around (and using a lot of) electronica elements, but it creates a big and captivating image that won't let your mind focus on technicalities. Even the first two tracks that seem pretty much like typical chillout downtempo material with somewhat generic beats somehow evolve into something exquisite and very tasteful, mainly thanks to Scarlet Monk's vocal talent, but also to the beautiful minimalism and delicate arrangement of elements surrounding her voice. And then accordion kicks in on "Labyrinths", and things start getting curiouser and curiouser. Definitely my favorite track on the album, it's a harmonious mess that bravely combines trip-hop and cabaret, it is sexy, sensual and hilarious, but, most importantly, despite its wild array of elements, it's beautiful. A couple of quieter tracks follow (and those of you longing for more electronica will appreciate the way "Placated" plays with sound) and then "Permission" takes AnnaBella to the new emotional height with raw desperate vocals, cold beat and abrupt unsettling ending. "Ring (Still...)" - the a cappella version of the opening track - is an intro into the second part of this traveling theatre of an album. On this half electronica gives way to live instruments. What is strange though (and it is very subjective since I most exclusively listen to electronic music nowadays), is that to me the sound lost big part of its lively appeal when it lost its "lifeless" elements. Maybe it was that contrast of artificial structured anti-music of electronica and Scarlet Monk's so very organic and live vocals that drew me in so much. I would probably enjoy the hell out of the second half of AnnaBella if I heard it at a show. But as a part of a studio album it just made me want to listen to the first half more. (I'll still mention "Cinema" because it's a great freakin' song). This is one exceptional debut album, folks, and I am very intrigued to see how Scarlet Monk's music is going to evolve. I hope that it will still fill as right for this blog as it does now.
Go to www.scarletmonk.com to find more info about the project and the album.
R.I.Y.L. My Brightest Diamond, Tom Waits, theater
personal favs: "Labyrinths" (feat. Phillip Morris), "Permission", "Cinema"
tipkin's rating
Screenatorium – Flyentists
Posted by tipkin
I still find it really mind-boggling (shocking, actually) that Screenatorium a) isn't HUGE (even though it has a large and dedicated fan base in Russia for whatever reason) and b) is distributing all their music for free. Including this new gem of a release, eagerly awaited by yours truly among many many other fans of quality electronica. I knew I was going to like Flyentists before hearing a single note of it. Djeh & Co is a sure freakin' bet. Creating a good trip-hop record is a balancing act - limit yourself to minimal beat with some vocals thrown on top and you gonna end up with a forgettable snorefest, a disposable dime-a-dozen Bandcamp fodder. Overload your sound with every single bell and whistle your music-making software is capable of producing and you'll get an irritating un-listenable mess. Screenatorium can walk this fine line with the eyes closed after 10 shots of tequila. Flyentists is a very slow and quiet record that is also extremely intricate in its construction and... not boring. If it wasn't for the overall melancholic tone of the album, I would even call it "fun". But the tone is very gloomy, with the saddest trumpet you've ever heard (courtesy of Manu Aurousset), so I'm just going to replace "fun" with "entertaining". According to Picasso "good artists borrow, great artists steal", and there isn't much borrowed in Flyentists. Screenatorium develops the whole "stealing music" concept very cleverly throughout the entire record, and nothing is what it seems. There's nothing stolen in the opening "Gran Theft Audio" despite the title, but there is a suggestion to "keep a pretty close watch on these guys", and if you do so you could get tons of extra enjoyment out of Flyentists. And I'm not talking about "Raiders Of The Lost Art" (I might just borrow that title for my next trip-hop mixed CD), where music is crafted from samples from trip-hop dinosaurs of the past and lyrics are quilted from titles if their hits - it's a "red herring" in the Flyentists' complicated plot (and I found that particular track more amusing than actually good). I'm talking about tracks like "Hypnosapiens" where all the same trademark elements of trip-hop's founding fathers - from Archive's piano to Morcheeba's country guitar are masked so craftily with the sharp beat that we can't help but fall under the tracks hypnosis (womp-womp)... I'm probably reading way too much into this, but doesn't the very fact that a trip-hop record can produce such thought process make you want to listen to it, like, RIGHT NOW? It also plays with the concept of time a lot (you can here that clock ticking in more than two tracks), but I will spare my theories here. Nearly every track on the record is pure trip-hop gold, it's really hard for me to pick favorites (but the title track is undoubtedly one of them). Even the last track - the 29-minute long "Soundtrack Of My Day Vol. 2", a concept that has all the chances to go wrong - sort of music version of exquisite corpse, where multiple musicians (namely Kesakoo, Superpoze, Berry Weight, Asa Zen'Seï, Degiheugi, Mobster & Mr. Grandin) draw their sketches on the canvas of continuous beat, - ends up being an extremely captivating mini-adventure into sound (I really want to know who picked up the 20-minute mark, because that, my friends, is the work of genius and just that chunk alone makes the whole album worth listening). Get your copy here and don't forget to thank me later.
R.I.Y.L. Hugo Kant, Alif Tree, Georges Simenon novels
personal favs: "Flyentists", "Hypnosapiens", "Soundtrack Of My Day Vol. 2"
tipkin's rating
Coba Stella – Now Is The Time
Posted by tipkin
Sometimes (pretty often) I miss being able to just listen to music without digging into each song with sharp surgical instruments of criticism. Sometimes I just want to say that yeah, I liked the record, without having to go into any details. Music could be just... good, for no particular reason. Right? Well, I'm past that point at least with the downtempo electronica (I still have my Swedish pop for pure nonobligatory enjoyment), so it won't be enough to just say "I liked Coba Stella - Now Is The Time, it's a good record". I took notice of Coba Stella a while ago, while sifting through Reverbnation's diverse selection of trip-hop/electronica acts. Something just instantly drew me to their music, it seemed alive and vibrant, there were some intriguing and unexpected elements embedded into the usual vocals+beats+programming formula. I've been waiting for the release ever since hoping (almost expecting) to be blown away and torn to pieces by the innovative and powerful sound. That, unfortunately, didn't happen. Was I disappointed? No, because, see above, it is a damn good record. It's just somehow all those interesting elements, all that mixture of genres and styles started getting in the way of thoroughly embracing the sound. I am a complex individual when it comes to music, my apologies to whoever is reading this blog (not that I never warned you). I can absolutely love a record that has "nothing special" about it if it doesn't make it want to skip any tracks on it. Now Is The Time has many absolutely fantastic tracks, but it's that couple that (speaking in lingo of Project Runway guest judges) "I didn't get" that, combined with smorgasbord of stylistic elements, corroded the album's integrity. But screw it, I really want to talk about those great ones, the ones that could (and do) listen over and over again, appreciating them more and more. Now Is The Time has clusters of greatness, pairs and trios of songs that could have made killer EP's. Filed under different categories in music stores. My favorite is the one that begins with "State Of Passion" - an example of trip-hop brilliance where all the goodies that Coba Stella has to offer - Julie Winn's powerful vocals, Mike Scott's multi-instrumental skills and thoughtful electronic design by Kahlagh, - come together in a sweet harmony. This is where the band's ability to blend and merge those stylistic elements shines - it is a trip-hop song, but there's so much more to it - from quiet piano at the beginning to dub beats to rock-ballad guitar to cleverly gentle turntables. "Black Ink" follows, eerie and intense, with anxious beat, dueling guitars and vocals that rise above the darkness. Another chunk of goodness on Now Is The Time is the beginning, especially "Take The Mic" - a fun bright hip-hop track (bringing to mind the works of Dan the Automator & Co) - one of the few hip-hop numbers on the record (on which I sometimes wouldn't mind hearing actual rapping - Mr. Lif wasn't available?). As a whole, Now Is The Time is a very bright, playful and aware album, bold but approachable. Coba Stella definitely has tons of potential and skill that may sometimes be hard to control in order to create a cohesive record. Creating a fun record does not seem to be a problem at all even when they take on social issues with the lyrics (and especial kudos to them for that). Check it out and turn off your inner critic - you will enjoy it a lot more. You can listen to the entire album (and purchase it) on Bandcamp.
R.I.Y.L. Lovage, Anomie Belle, people watching
personal favs: "State Of Passion", "Take The Mic", "Black Ink"
tipkin's rating
DJ Cam – Seven
Posted by tipkin
Yes, this is the new DJ Cam. The man who gave us Mad Blunted Jazz and The French Connection. The man who defined the genre (hate the cliche but there's no way around it, 'cause he did) and probably influenced every single downtempo producer in France and many hundreds outside of it. Now, when there's nothing left to define and influences don't matter, he just makes music. I'm having a hard time figuring out Seven. If it wasn't so cohesive (and didn't have three tracks featuring the same vocalist) it would almost seem like a compilation of unreleased material that was created back in the early 90's and forgotten until one day DJ Cam was cleaning up his archive and stumbled upon it and thought "hey, this is actually some pretty cool shit!" (which it undoubtedly is). And this feeling is not created by multiple and deliberate homages to the beginnings of 'electronica' - the days when there wasn't even such word in music vocabulary yet - one of tracks is even titled "1988". It's the whole mellow and nostalgic atmosphere of the album that gave me that feeling. It doesn't have that jerky nervousness of the trendy "retro-electronica", where DJs are, too, using old-school synths and loops but strain themselves to make sure it sounds "avant-garde" enough so the listener would "get it". All this doesn't seem to concern DJ Cam in the least. "Love" (feat. Nicolette) could have been on any 90's trip-hop compilation next to any track from Massive Attack's Protection and no one would suspect that the track was made 20 years in the future. Does that make the album sound... old? I'm sure some people would say so. I wouldn't. Seven has something that is hard to capture with words and requires multiple listens to notice. It's not an old master desperately trying to keep up with young turks making a "retro" record. This is a true master looking back and paying his respects and recognitions, to genre, to people, to his own heritage. In this sense the album reminded me a lot of Moby's Last Night (which is, not accidentally, one of my favorite Moby albums), but where Moby does it with spunk and even a challenge to all the hot shot new DJs out there ("this is how it's done!"), DJ Cam soaks the tracks in nostalgia ("they don't do it like that anymore"). Sad-face. This is why I have all kinds of admiration towards Seven (which keeps growing with every listen), but I cannot love it the way I loved Last Night. I hope that many of you can though and I'm sure that many of you will. The single "Swim" (feat. Chris James) is a quiet masterpiece where vocals are floating among so many wonderfully put together elements, which never distract or overwhelm, they just work. And that drop 3 minutes in is to freakin' die for. The other two Chris James tracks are very good as well - the Radiohead-y "Ghost" and gorgeously layered "Uncomfortable". And I could certainly philosophize about meaningful title of the final track - "A Loop" - but do I need to? It's just music after all - and good music doesn't have anything to do with time, it just needs to be listened to.
R.I.Y.L. Massive Attack - Protection, Coldplay, whales
personal favs: "Swim" (feat. Chris James), "Love" (feat. Nicolette), "Seven"
tipkin's rating
J.Baracuz – A Contemporary Witness EP
Posted by tipkin
I remember the name of J. Baracuz from a while ago when I tried to contacted him for a permission to include tracks from his 2006 debut album Lasergun Romances into my radio station playlist. And I don't do that very often. No siree! If the music is not CC-licensed, fuggedaboutit, next, please! Unless it's something really awesome and I really want it for the radio. Which Lasergun Romances was and which I did. And now here is A Contemporary Witness EP - and what a freaking tease it is, leaving me wanting more and SO MUCH MORE after listening to those four tracks. Gimme! (I could just construct the entire review just out of idioms and exclamation points) Gimme more of that rich sound, of those mountains and waves of sound! Of that "a tour bus of symphony orchestra crashed into a warehouse underground hip-hop party" sound of "The Overture", of turntables galore of "One Way Ticket", of jazziest jazzy jazziness of "Jazzy Conqueror", of diamonds of sweet-sweet vocal bits and pieces of "Everyone's The Same". Seriously though, do yourself a favor and get this one. I don't know, maybe I'm in a very good mood today, or maybe (quite possibly actually) A Contemporary Witness EP is one of the absolute best electronic releases I've heard in a long while. Everything that I like about abstract hip-hop/downtempo electronica - fat beat, crisp production, aggressiveness, clever combination of very different elements, array of samples, experimentation without self-indulgent weirdness, even freaking female vocals! - it's all crunched into those four tracks. And "crunched" is the right word - the tracks aren't even that long! The longest one is just over 6 minutes, and for a track that has "jazzy" in the title it's pretty short. I guess you do need five years to create something so impeccable. I can only hope that I won't have to wait that long for the LP. Sit tight, listen loud. Head nodding not required. But inevitable.
Traditionally, no rating for an EP, but I think you could take a pretty accurate guess:)
R.I.Y.L. DJ Shadow, Blockhead, massive things
personal favs: every single one
J. Baracuz - One Way Ticket by J. Baracuz
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