Ana Katana & Li Vox (Tampa, USA/Almada, Portugal)
Posted by tipkin
Ana Katana
There are some artists that just get everything right. You come across one of their songs and go: "Yeah, that's the shit, who is this?" And then you find out that it's some band who hadn't even had any releases yet. Which makes you extra proud that you made that disovery before anyone else did. Now I have this lucky chance to introduce one of such promising collectives. If it was all about image, they still would have gotten it - just look at that sexy/dangerous/mysterious picture. Luckily, their music lives up to expectations. Ana Katana & Li Vox create a combination of knock-out beats and enchanting vocals that is both "retro" in its stylistic similarities to "classic trip-hop" and refreshing in its enthusiasm and love to music that is reflected in every note. Naturally, I wanted to know more.
tipkin - So, is it Ana Katana, Ana Katana & Li Vox or something else entirely? How did it all start and how did Li Vox become part of the project?
Ana Katana - I’ve been writing, recording, and performing music for many years, mostly as a bass player. A few years ago, I started getting really into the world of electronic music. In 2010, I decide it was time to start releasing some of the music I had been making online. I started out just as “Ana Katana”, but I felt the instrumentals I was putting out were in need of vocals. I posted an ad on my MySpace, and got a bunch of responses from interested singers. When I got the demo that Li sent back to me, I was blown away. She was exactly what I was looking for. Her voice really fit my music. As soon as I heard her sing, that was it. I took the ad down and stopped looking.
I felt the best way to represent what we are doing is to make a change from being Ana Katana to being Ana Katana & Li Vox. I really think what we have is greater than the sum of its parts.
Li Vox - I just contacted Ana Katana through MySpace, because she was in need of a vocalist. So, firstly, I recorded the song «She Change Her World», and apparently she liked it!!!
I must say there's a 3rd person involved in the whole process: Daniel Matias. His amazing skills and studio (Djungle Productions), allowed me to record our first songs.
Then Ana and I started chatting through Facebook, Skype, SoundCloud, e-mail, and we started exchanging ideas and concepts. Amazingly it's working great! We match perfectly, musically speaking, and I'm very honoured that she picked me to sing along her songs.
t. - Why trip-hop? Do you feel that there is still demand for trip-hop music out there? What is trip-hop to you?
A.K. - I never really set out to specifically make trip-hop music. I had been listening to a lot of it, and I think the influence found its way into what I was doing. When I started listening back, I could hear those influences in my music, so I decided to let the label stick.
I think there is always a demand for music of every genre. The internet is what allows everyone to connect with others that have the same musical tastes. The audience is there, they just might not exist in any concentration. If a few people in every city in the world love trip-hop, multiply that by the number of cities, and it adds up pretty quick.
To me, trip-hop is electronic music that moves your body, your heart, and your mind. It’s not the music you hear at the club on a Saturday night. I think of it as being a little more personal, something a person can form an emotional connection to, which seems to be absent in a lot of electronic music these days.
Li Vox
L.V. - Personally, I always enjoyed trip-hop - stuff like Massive Attack, Tricky, Thievery Corporation, Portishead, even some stuff from Lamb... it's a "relaxing" genre, I guess... this is a genre where I feel comfortable whilst singing.
t. - What is the music scene like in Tampa, FL (and in Portugal)? Is it hard to find distribution for your music?
A.K. - The music scene in Tampa, Florida, has a lot of unrealized potential, in my opinion. There aren’t really any clubs that play trip-hop or downtempo that I’m aware of. Most of the electronic music around here seems to tend toward the more harsh, breakbeats and drum and bass. There’s definitely a lot of the club stuff for people to shake their asses to, but without any emotional depth. That’s all my perception, of course, so I could be mistaken. As far as distribution goes, we’ve been going the internet route. Bandcamp, Reverbnation, Soundcloud, MySpace. We try to get our music up anywhere we can. I think we’re to the point where some help from a record label would really put things over the top. The way things are with the music-industry these days, though, I’m not holding my breath.
L.V. - I'm not too involved in the trip-hop scene in Portugal. (I'm not really sure there's a "scene", actually!!) We have some radio stations that promote electronic music in Portugal. Also, some gigs and small events. But, I was always a "rocker", more than a trip-hop"er".
t. - Your music is very "classic" trip-hop (if one can say so) - you're not trying to incorporate trendy genres like dubstep and such into your sound. Is that deliberate "purity" or are you planning on experimenting with different styles in the future?
A.K. - If our music is considered “classic” trip-hop, it was unintentional. Everything that I write has only one deliberate goal, which is to find sounds and loops that work together to make a whole. I try to avoid falling into the trap of striving for things like “staying pure” or experimentation for its own sake. I’m just trying to lay down some tracks that sound good in my headphones, and I’ll pull the sounds from wherever it takes to achieve a great song. If I have to write 50 shitty songs in order to come up with one really good one, then that’s what it takes.
As far as the future goes, who knows? Sounds and ideas can come from anywhere. The only thing I can say is we’ll write the best songs we can, and hopefully the music continues to resonate with people like it has been so far.
Non Dolet – Inner
Posted by tipkin
Inner is a fragile and delicate record that may just fall apart when not handled properly. And when it is taken apart, when it isn’t listened to in its entirety, then it cannot be heard. This record is like an icicle, trying to embrace the sun but slowly dying from its burning kisses, and every hit of the piano key is like another sparkling teardrop that sings its love song to the world before disappearing in the muddy waters below. More ambient in its nature, with slow, cinematic tunes filled with, besides dominating piano, various types of exotic strings and percussion, Non Dolet still delivers a few trip-hop delights, such as wavy “Searching The Water” or harmonica-driven “Outback”. The sampling is minimal – absolute most of the music is original and created by the single individual behind Non Dolet – a young Russian music conservatory student named Alisa (or Alice, if you like. I do – her music does take you to the Wonderland, but the grown up, and therefore not as cheerful version of it). Classical background is evident, sometimes perhaps too much so – some tracks sound like improvisational essays, which does not make them less impressive, but shifts the perception of the album, significantly narrowing its potential audience. It is hard to recommend such record, because from the listeners with very similar music tastes the reaction could vary from sighs of quiet amazement to yawns of utter boredom – depending on their current mood and the history of how their taste developed into its current form. Some tracks are too literal, e.g. “Train #312” or “Bushido” (which, not surprisingly, happens to be my favorite track – I’m not too deep kind of guy), some are too personal, but overall Inner is a very impressive piece of work from a very talented musician and composer, who possesses an immense amount of potential. Whether this potential develops into an exciting career in electronic music or into something beyond that – time will show. I am sure we will hear more about Alice one way or another. But for now we have Non Dolet and let’s listen to it carefully.
Listen to Non Dolet - Inner here and download it for free at Section 27 netlabel.
R.I.Y.L. classical music, early Spring
personal favs: "Bushido", "War Field", "Outback"
tipkin's rating
New release – Aqosto – Blurred Paints EP [TTRR004]
Posted by tipkin
Call it ultimate chillout. Call it ambient-hop. Call it dreamtronica or electromantica. We call it Aqosto. This is a nice way to introduce yourself - by busting out a 6-track EP full of mood, atmosphere so thick you could cut it with a knife (if it doesn't cut you first) and very nice beats. Blurred Paints may be a good name to describe the emotional palette of the EP - sorrow and deep thoughts are mixed with confusion and curiosity, but there is nothing blurry about music itself - it's crisp and refined, it's experimentation - oh, yes, - but based on thorough research - even if it's a research of the depths of your own soul (plus a considerable amount of talent). All in all - another fantastiс addition to the TTRR's catalog.
Listen/download here:
Or, if you prefer torrents - here.
Teh Nizzim (Tallahassee, USA)
Posted by tipkin
This is it, this is what keeps me going, this is what fuels my rocketship on this long journey through the Rift. Listening to the music, naturally, but also talking to people who create this music, and being surprised every single time how very different they are but how similar they are in their dedication to their music and how this dedication makes them more enlightened and... alive? than the rest of us. Some of them are more alive than the others 
Like my today's guest Riley Content, whose solo project Teh Nizzim caught my attention with its crafty beats, and who is also a part of two hip-hop projects and is publishing two blogs. Absorb this energy, 'cause he's got some!
tipkin - You are a man of many faces! Can you tell us about Enigma MC, The Greater Numbers and Teh Nizzim? Which project(s) is/are more important to you?
Riley Content - Hah yeah, I've got many different sides of the cube going on I suppose. I'd always tried to stay as versatile as I could musically ever since I began writing and arranging in early 2000. It's good to have multiple avenues and to always be constantly trying your hand at new things. I've even got some things you don’t know about! But as far as importance goes, it’s like asking Paul McCartney whether his solo work or The Beatles was more important, not by mere comparison of course. But, to each his own, and as a writer, your personal endeavors are always important, but a group effort is also a very big commitment and means a ton to each person involved (hopefully heh).
t. - A question from a non-musician - when is the realization comes that a certain tune doesn't need any lyrics and is able to exist as an instrumental track?
R.C. - Ah, sometimes that is just the key to making or breaking something. In today's musical frame, people are of course less likely to listen to something that isn’t lyric reliant, or that doesn’t have a catchy pop chorus. I’m of course speaking commercially on that, I would hope everybody enjoys a good jazz jam record now and again. It really depends on the project, and even down to specific songs. For The Groove Pile, I just wanted to make a dance mix that was... well... groovy. Sometimes the music itself says everything you need.
New release – coldreavers – Blue Eyes [TTRR003]
Posted by tipkin
Well, not too many of you used the opportunity to preview the new coldreavers album when we played it on our Radio. I know, I know, it was Valentine's Day and you were too busy getting ready for romantic dinners or whathaveyou. Besides, it is better to hear our new release in good quality, not in measly 64 kBit/s streaming format. So, yeah, you did the right thing deciding to wait for an official release. Wait no more - the excellent full-length from coldreavers has arrived in its 11-track awesomeness. Blue Eyes include the 4 tracks from the Illusions EP released last month plus some original and some very original new works. The instrumental tracks are the core of the album - they create this chilling, almost unsettling atmosphere by deconstructing the trip-hop elements that we're so used to and placing samples in an uncomfortable environment where they have no other choice but adjust and start a new life. The overall sound of the album is very intense and overwhelming, so if you're looking for some easy listening - look somewhere else. If you want a true music experience however - give Blue Eyes a listen. Coldreavers joins creative forces with three very different but equally talented vocalists/songwriters (MMAIO, Stephan Kleinert of Botany Bay and LenaGrig) on three tracks of the album, and I liked those three tracks SO MUCH that I almost wish that this wasn't our label's release so I could write a raving review for it. But it is our label's release, so I say no more and give this baby into your hands. Be gentle.
Listen and download here (remember to just put "0" to "buy" the album for free, unless you're feeling extra generous 
):
DJ Vadim: ‘I love what I do and do what I love’
Posted by tipkin
Always too funky, vibrant and progressing in all kinds of directions, DJ Vadim is never listed among your regular trip-hop staples, and yet I bet every trip-hop fan has a few of his tracks in their collection. Today the creator of timeless favorites like "The Terrorist" and "Your Revolution" is talking to trippin' the rift about old friends and new beginnings.
tipkin - First thing first - new label! Exciting... and probably a bit scary? What made you want to start your own label? Who came up with the name?
Vadim - It's all about control. Labels have full diaries, so often you have to wait a long time before the record can be released. That can take the urgency and the now out of a release. We've got a good team around us so we wanted to all work together on the release and do everything the way we wanted to. The name Organically Grown Sounds was Yarah [Bravo]'s idea - One Self created an EP called Organically Grown EP and we eat very wholesomely at home!
t. - About the new band - how would the sound of The Electric differ from just DJ Vadim on his own or from One Self? Is this going to be a long-term thing or is it just a bunch of friends deciding to get together to make a record?
V. - Good question. When it's DJ Vadim, it's just me and different people I invite, but the direction of any given track can sweep from reggae to instrumental beats to rap to... The Electric, it's much more focused. It's the same voices on every track so it's not like a compilation. Musically it's a progression of where I was before!
As for how if differs from One Self. Sabira [Jade] is a singer and not a rapper. Yarah is a rapper and not a singer. Also the sound is different too. The music I was listening to in 2004 making that album is different to what I listen to now. Music has moved onwards...
t. - You are one of the most prolific DJ's out there. Where does inspiration come from?
V. - Life, friends, traveling, meeting people, listening to new music, being challenged... I love what I do and do what I love.
t. - I've been always fascinated by your ability to touch political/social issues in your music and at the same time to write feel-good tunes. Is it hard to keep that balance?
V. - That's just a personal thing I'm into. I have always been interested in politics and social causes. Fighting injustice. So I'm a big supporter of people like Amnesty International, Greenpeace, NSPCC, NSPCA etc. If it wasn't for AI, Yarah's parents whould possibly of been executed in South America by puppet dictators put into power by the CIA... But I'm no Chuck D or Immortal Technique. They are amazing but my mission is not the preacher. More like a teacher and entertainer. Like KRS-One said - 'edutainment'. Education and entertainment. I just do it. Have fun and try to express deeper issues too!
t. - How do you feel about being associated with trip-hop music (among other genres)? What is trip-hop to you?
V. - When that term came out in 94 or so, I hated it. It just sounded really bad and stale like mullets and clogs on German truck drivers. I tried really hard not to be labeled that. I wanted to be so down with hip-hop. That's all I could think of. Nowadays I don't give a flying tahoot what people say. All I want is that people come to listen. I just make beats. Always have. What it's described as differs by whom reviews it, their experience, preferences, country they live in, views... Really and truly, a lot of musics are very related if you break it down to their building blocks - keys, bass, paterns, riddims, vocals, chorus etc... What's the difference between DJ Shadow and space rock in the 70's? Well shows drums are louder... What's the difference between heavy metal and some dub step... Well, sometimes very little.
t. - You tour A LOT. What are some of the favorite places to play? Something that I witnessed during your show in Chicago - there was a group of Russian immigrants, sitting by the bar all dressed up in suits and cocktail dresses who obviously had no idea who you were and just came to see "a Russian DJ". Do thing like that happen often?
V. - Sometimes, but I'm trying to drop this whole 'Russian' thing. It's about music and not your or my nationality. I think regardless whom you go to see, whether it's Bassnectar, A-Trak, Diplo, Jay-Z, Beyonce, Shadow,... if you asked each person why they were there, not everyone would say - 'cause I'm the biggest fan... I was on tour with Bassnectar and he is undoubtly humongous in the USA but I asked some people in the crowd, and some people just came 'cause it's the party to come that night.
My favorite places - France is great, New Zealand, Brazil, Chile, Korea, China, West Coast... Everywhere really. Russia is great too. St. Pete especially.
t. - And speaking of touring - are we to expect The Electric world tour? When will your fans in the US and in Russia have a pleasure to see you (in any incarnation)?
V. - USA in April, and Russia, not sure. People are asking but nothing confirmed as of yet...
Visit DJ Vadim's fresh new label Organically Grown Sounds and enjoy these great gifts from him and his talented friends:
A music pack loaded with goodies from Vadim himself and The Electric.
DJ Vadim - "Winter Wax" mix
Winter Wax by Dj Vadim on Mixcloud
All systems are go. Requesting permission to launch.
Posted by tipkin
Here it is, my dear freinds, the BIG news. Our very own netlabel Trippin' The Rift Records is now alive and ready for new listeners and contirbuting artists. Why netlabel? Why not? Musicians should be busy doing what they do best - creating music. They shouldn't be bothered and distracted with such boring things as promotion and distribution. Those things should be left to other talentless individuals like myself. And here we are - Trippin' The Rift Records is ready to help anyone who just likes to write music and cares more about people listening to it and less about making money - at least for the time being all music released on TTRR is distributed for free and under Creative Commons license. Spread the news (please-please-please)! You can find us on Reverbnation, Last.fm and Soundcloud.
But enough technicalities - you cam find all the information on label's official page. We're here to talk about music and that's what we shall do.
I'm extremely proud to present TTRR's two shiny new releases. They are both 4-track EP's, which could hopefully serve as tasty appetizers and make you hungry for the future releases. I personally can't wait for the LP's to come out, and believe me, I'm not just saying it as a person directly involved. This is quality stuff, I promise. But you can just see for yourself - it's just 8 free tracks, won't take much of your time and none of your money.
Our very first release is from coldreavers, a prolific electronica producer from Saint-Petersburg, Russia. His music, even though not always (or hardly ever) fitting the conventional trip-hop standards, is pure trip-hop in its nature - the melodies slowly grow and develop, travelling the complicated path gracefully, with a rare combination of beauty and uneasiness - the element of darkness that is essential to trip-hop music. coldreavers has the ability to take a simple (even poppy) downtempo tune and by adding some subtle nuances transform it into a musical mini-thriller, where twists and turns never end, and the story is captivating. Illusions are a peek into an upcoming album, which, according to the artist himself, may or may not sound like the EP. I'm intrigued.
Listen and download here:
You can also get it on mininova, if you prefer torrents.
The second EP is from a mysterious project called Three Kinds Of Water. The only information that was revealed to me was that there are three of them and they are from Siberia. Well, I guess, tough weather and interruptions in electrical and plumbing services can be quite inspirational. Three Kinds Of Water take us to a trip around the world in the four tracks of the EP, craftily employing multi-lingual samples, but the world they present to us, although breathtakingly beautiful, is at the same time inexplicably eerie. Listening to the EP is like walking through a forest on another planet - you're enjoying the wonders of undiscovered nature but cannot shake off the feeling of being watched, not knowing if whoever is watching is going to become a friend or rip your head off. "Festival Spirit" is the crown jewel, already getting a good share of deserved attention online. Check those guys out, for all I know this might be the first and the last time we hear from them (even though I certainly hope that it's not the case).
Listen and download here:
Wish us luck, visit our pages, Like us and love us, or hate us, just don't ignore us, 'cause we're full of surprises, I guarantee that! Thank you in advance, we'll pay you back in good music!
Danny Bow – Frozen Memories
Posted by tipkin
Every time someone asks me to review their music, I have this conflicting feeling - I am glad that someone values my humble opinion but at the same time I'm concerned - what if their music just totally sucks? Or even not totally, but just not that good. What am I to do then? Be an honest jerk or be a polite liar? Luckily, I haven't had to deal with this dilemma yet. The music people send to me is of very solid quality, which is a huge relief for my conscience and my ears. A fresh release from *export label Danny Bow - Frozen Memories is not an exception. In fact, my listening to it at this point well exceeded the amount necessary for a review. I'm just enjoying it, because that's what it is - enjoyable. Not a masterpiece that would be included in annals of downtempo history, I'm afraid, but a very respectable record that every downtempo fan would enjoy and give a few pleasant listens. At 17 tracks Frozen Memories unrolls quite an busy map of electronica terrain. From captivating "This Music (Intro)" to the beautifully combining fat beats with piano samples title track to poetically funky "Heartlock" - Frozen Memories moves fast, but not jerky - kind of like skating on a frozen lake - you can feel the speed but still enjoy the scenery and crispiness of the winter. The album may suffer a bit from a common debut disease - trying to show as much as possible in one given record. This way the record comes off as sort of a smorgasbord of sounds. I can't say that it completely loses its cohesiveness - Frozen Memories is a thorough work where all tracks know their place and their role. It's just a case of "less is more" - some of the songs could have made a bigger impact on a different record. I loved "Showbiz" with its ironic rhythm and dialog samples - this is the kind of individuality I would really like to hear more from Danny Bow and that in my opinion would make a record stand out more. We'll see. I'll definitely keep an eye out for the future releases.
Here's a promo video for Frozen Memories and link to free download. Get it!
R.I.Y.L. Emancipator, Sharpshooters, ice
personal favs: "Showbiz", "Heartlock", "Frozen Memories"
tipkin's rating
Ink Project (London, UK)
Posted by tipkin
Very interesting guests are trippin' the rift with us today, my dear friends. As announced in the previous post, Ink Project, a London-based electronica duo is introducing themselves and their music to our readers. To call them a "trip-hop band" would be accurate, too, since their sound is driven by darker rhythm structure and features beautiful female vocals, but squeezing Ink Project into just one category would not be fair - their music is very diverse and hard to capture with just one word. Or with any amount of words for that matter. You just have to listen to it. Melanie Dymond (vocals and production) and Jez Lloyd (electronics, keys and production) are here to provide some guidance.
tipkin - Was there a particular moment for you guys when you just decided to go for it and start making music together? Or did you come to it gradually?
Jez - We met around 2007 on the London underground house scene – at a legendary night club some people may have heard of called Wiggle run by Fabric resident Terry Francis, Nathan Coles and Eddie Richards. Having both grown up in South London, we were both regulars and had a lot of similar mutual friends so after bumping into each other countless times we soon discovered a shared love for music production; me more house and techno at the time and Mel was also singing on various records for well-known house DJ Asad Rizvi so it made sense to try and work on something together. We never really had a set agenda as we both like and listen to all kinds of music, from dark electronic stuff through to techno, indie rock, folk, blues and disco/funk/soul but we both agreed that it had to be electronic with a large soulful element, utilising traditional song structures. We felt that this was an avenue with the most scope to be explored…
We’ve both always been heavily into trip hop and bands of the late 90′s like Tricky, Lamb, Morcheeba and Massive Attack but felt that scene died an early death in the UK after achieving so much, so we wanted to try and almost take that baton and run with it, incorporating more club grooves as well as jazz influences into our live shows especially. We pulled together lots of initial demo recordings with various other musicians including Colin Webster on saxophone and flute who now tours the world with Anthony Joseph and The Spasm Band and took the project live throughout the UK between 2007-2008, playing at venues including The Dogstar in Brixton, The Big Chill Bar in Kings X, Cargo in Shoreditch, Audio in Brighton, The Magnet in Liverpool and Timbuktu in Bristol. It was good fun and we developed a strong fan base but the electronic scene was suffering and we became a bit dis-illusioned with how live dance music was stagnating in the UK so took a break for a few years. I went on to produce with various other people and Mel moved over to Barcelona but we recently got back together and decided to focus on creating a more refined, electronic set of songs which have resulted in an album’s worth of material.
t. - How would you describe your music to someone who hasn't heard it before?
Mel - I would say it is electronic song based music, inspired by a variety of genres, including electronica, blues, soul, trip-hop, dub-step and early 80's electronic pop.
t. - What is trip-hop to you? It's heartwarming for me to see that projects like yours are trying to revitalize it, but do you think people still care? Do you feel like the level of interest to trip-hop is different in the UK from the rest of the world?
J. - I think people definitely do still care about trip hop! The genre may be considered a ‘has been’ sound by many of the snobby music press in the UK as passing trends come and go so quickly, but we know it still has a huge following worldwide with bands like Massive Attack, Lamb and Tricky being just as popular and relevant now as they were in the 90’s. In fact, I’d say Trip Hop’s even more relevant now than ever before! It didn’t progress as much as it could have in my opinion. Trip hop was always a very reflective, relaxing, introspective but future thinking sound and with the world in such an awful state, people have so much on their minds and like to relax when they go home so I think the genre caters so well for the times we live in now – especially in album format. In the US, France, Eastern Europe and Russia it’s huge and new acts like James Blake, Jamie Woon, Mount Kimbie have very trip hoppy sounds which are proving massively popular at the moment.
We’re not consciously trying to revitalize trip hop as such but merely progressing that basic formula, updating it and taking it a new direction with many of our other influences mixed in.
M. - To me trip hop is simply another musical genre and there are good and bad examples of it, but at it's best it encompasses many elements that I enjoy in music, fat beats, heavy bass, interesting electronics and vocals, often at a slower tempo than most electronic music which for me allows a lot of the sounds to breath, you get time to listen to them. I think the only thing that people care about is the quality of the music and whether they like it. There are obviously fashionable trends, but judging by the response of many of our fans on our Facebook Fan Page, people still enjoy listening to that type of sound, and we have fans from all over the world, including the U.K.
t. - Is it hard to get noticed on the electronic scene in the UK? How do you keep up with all the new sub-genres and trends that are popping up faster than mushrooms after the rain?
J. - The UK is so multi-cultural and overflowing with such a huge array of creative and talented people all trying to create something new and musically different that it’s always going to be competitive and tough to invent a unique sound. But whilst we try to keep a close eye on many of the different and revolving scenes, we avoid letting ourselves get swept away by one in particular and first and foremost, produce what we like. You have to be true to yourself musically or you won’t be happy with all of your hard work. For me, it’s personal soul food. If other people connect with it, great but ultimately it should be more of a personal discovery than anything else! We hope people into trip hop, dubstep, soul, jazz, electronic club music, indie and even pop like or at least understand our music.
Soundcloud is a great resource for networking and discovering new music as is Facebook and Twitter and I’m a regular listener of Gilles Peterson and Benji B’s shows on Radio 1 who play everything from abstract jazz through to dubstep, house, soul and hip hop so I’m always discovering new music that way but I think having grown up in London and being exposed to so many different people, cultures, sounds and scenes from an early age, it makes you open your mind and ears to anything new and at least give it a chance. The quality will stay with you. London was a great place to grow up in musically and we’re only just starting to appreciate that now
Josh Furey – Archaeology
Posted by tipkin
I always find reviewing really good albums harder than really bad ones. While reviewing something crappy not so great, there's lots of room for your twisted brain to roam and lots of un-tasty nuggets for your dirty mouth to feed on. "This is a weak rip-off of that and this song belongs on John Voight-produced movie soundtrack". Hardy-har-har. But what do you say about an album that is nearly perfect? That it's coherent, but every single track holds its own ground? Duh. That despite it's 17-track length there isn't a single note I would leave out and there isn't a moment when you get bored or your mouse pointer is slowly crawling towards 'skip' button? Well, yeah, but you can figure that out on your own. I guess I'll just screw objectivity altogether and keep it personal. I'm a sucker for strings, heavy beat and eerie samples. And there is plenty of all of the above on Archaeology. It's the music angels would play if someone would take their horns away and replaced them with DJ equipment and a warehouse full of blues, bossa-nova, hip-hop (and whatever the fuck else Josh Furey is listening to) records. They would sing beautiful songs that kinda make the world seem like not too bad of a place but at the same time remind you that there will be time when you'll have to leave this place and that time may come sooner than you think. It's a perfect winter album - with enough cold and stillness to send shivers down your spine and make you think about futility of life (like that killer sample of Bob Dylan and Alan Ginsberg talking at Kerouac's grave on "Faders", one of my favorite tracks) and other existential junk and stuff, but with enough warmth (all those breathtaking female vocal samples and occasional piano) to make you want to appreciate your futile existence a bit more. It never turns sappy or preachy though, which to me is another huge plus when it comes to a piece of art. Josh Furey keeps it tight with those beats like a no-nonsense construction worker laying down heavy bricks that on their own could be a dangerous weapon of destruction, but if followed an elaborate architectural design may form something massive and fragile at the same time. And when the architect and the brick layer are the same person, you know that the execution will be perfect. And you don't have to be an archaeologist to dig out this album. It's right here (be supportive and donate some moolah).
R.I.Y.L. DJ Shadow, Indigo Spirit, strings
personal favs: "Covered In Dust", "Faders", "Sac Actun Submerged"
tipkin's rating
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