Kohei Mihara - "Cocolotica"

Tokyo's own Kohe Mihara spins things up a bit in the trip-hop scene with this, his debut album, Cocolotica. "Cocolo" translates roughly as "heart, mind, soul, and spirit," which is an apt description of what Mihara puts into the grooves of this record. Cocolotica swings from start to finish, without a bum track anywhere to be found, and across an amazing variety of beats, vibes, and textures. "Imitatrix," the second track, sets up a shuffling beat with a jazzy keyboard vamp over it. Mihara takes this template and injects some booty-moving percussion into the track, but keeps the beat blunted, as it were, for maximum head-nodding. Matter of fact, this album is a serious contender for the title of best head-nodding album ever made. It sounds great in headphones, and the beats are uniformly and uniquely interesting, constantly changing, never just looping. There's a hazy/smoky vibe in the air, evoking the ideal college dorm room. Cocolotica's standout track, though, is "Agalychnis Callidryas," a beautiful tune that merges Boards of Canada's sense of melody with Ulrich Schnauss' skill with beats. It is almost unfair to single out only a couple of the album's tracks, because each track, while perhaps structurally similar to the others, is so unique and compelling in its execution. This is one of 2005's better releases, and hopefully the start of something great from Kohe Mihara.

4 stars