Rewound IV

This is my new column at igloomag.com, where I review a batch of releases all at once.

Halfadder :: Robots Will Love Religion EP (Experimedia, CD/MP3)

Jason Henry, aka Halfadder, hails from Canton, Ohio. Not really a hot-spot on the techno circuit, but Robots Will Love Religion may change that. Blending field recordings, Commodore 64 patches, and vintage PC games, Henry wraps the concoction in a flour tortilla of mid-80's electro and serves it up hot to the dancefloor. Robots... starts a little unconvincingly with "alice demerrye," an unexciting yet eminently danceable 4/4 that bleeps in the right places and bounces along on its simple bassline. "My Communist Cat" ups the ante with some glitch accents and tasty synths bass over some seriously driving beats. And before it outstays its welcome, Robots... closes with the simply stomping "Seytinpyook (mos6581 remix)," with a phat (sorry, that really is the most appropriate descriptor) bass tone that commands bodies to move.

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V/A :: The Silence Was Warm (Symbolic Interaction, CD)

Symbolic Interaction, a new label out of Japan, sends out their first compilation, The Silence Was Warm. First label compilations are very important -- first impressions, and all. Some labels have rigorous aesthetics and don't stray too far from them (think Detroit's LowRes), while others have none at all, releasing music across genre boundaries (think Warp). Symbolic Interaction introduces itself as a label given over to the acoustic/classical side of electronic, shunning the confines of the dancefloor. An early high point of the album is Oba Masahiro's cinematic "Colomo," easily the most intriguing opening-credit-sequence soundtrack never used; it incorporates field recordings, classical piano, gentle strings, and smooth beats not heard since Robert Leiner's Visions of the Past. "There Are Devices," by Weave, is another peak, its nimble bassline jauntily bouncing over jazzy smears of percussion. Welcome to the world, Symbolic Interaction, I'm sure you'll find your way.

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Polska :: Skeptic (Make:Shift, CD)

Polska are extremely successful at marrying the dreamlike atmosphere of classic trip-hop to a jazzier version of the drum sounds that Squarepusher dropped all over Hard Normal Daddy and Music Is Rotten One Note. The best example of their technique is "Stu Tt Er," with its gorgeous vocal sample and drifting, hazy ambience. But this is a disc so loaded with greatness that there are no real highlights - it's all excellent. The title track is the next step in ambient-d'n'b - d'n'b tempos but completely chilled out. I don't know what they're putting in the water in Ireland, but I like that Polska is drinking it. Big thanks to Toronto's Makeshift Records for bringing this stateside. This is an early contender for album of the year.

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Cast :: Are Teek L (Lagunamuch Community, CD)

Are Teek L is ultimately slightly disappointing because Cast (aka Denis Kaznacheev) is not able to transcend a very pronounced Autechre influence, but he mimics their sound extremely well. Are Teek L is ultimately a Russian version of Tri Repetae. And that's fine, a bunch of groups started out ripping Sean Booth and Rob Brown off (see Funkstörung, Arovane, et al). My hopes for Cast is that he has gotten the Ae-bug out of his system and will create something both beautiful and innovative. He has an excellent ear for both minor-key melodies and sweeping majestic space, and needs only to move beyond the cut-up/glitch beats that are holding him back. If aping early Autechre is the goal, then this has succeeded. But isn't there more to life than just sounding like someone else?

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Square Wail (was Capital Steps):: I'm Not Listening (Gomidnight, CD)

Square Wail is straight up 8-bit Gameboy electro, and if that is your thing, then rock yourselves out with this. For the rest of us, I'm Not Listening is another entry in an overcrowded genre of simple electronic music. Thankfully clocking in at just under 40 minutes, INL overstays its welcome as it fails to progress from its starting points. The repetitive nature of the sounds on this album becomes depressing about halfway through, and then true despair begins to take root. Tracks lose any sort of individuality and blend together into a plodding, low-fi mess. If ever an album was titled more appropriately, I'm not aware of it. So, Square Wail, I'll take the advice in your album title and pay no further attention to you (for the time being).

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V/A:: Natural Selection (BlackBridge/Pangea Organics, CD)

This was a real treat, a compilation from an organic skincare company that isn't just warmed over MOR-technopop or watered-down new age. This Natural Selection focuses on the downtempo pop that Zero 7 have perfected and that Groove Armada gave up on. That the collection is so consistent, credit goes to a shadowy outfit called Black Bridge, and its two operators, Benjamin Bussard and Josh Ivy. I'll admit to having never heard of any of the artists on this collection, but there are some that will definitely get a closer look. DJ Harry opens with "Thesaurus," a simple and beguiling throbber with some sultry, come-hither female vocals. Bassnectar brings the classic, early 90s-Orb ambient-pop sound back with "Dubuasca," featuring Michael Kang from String Cheese Incident. This is a refreshing release with no sub-par tracks, its focus on the head-nodding chill-out instead of the dancefloor makes this one worth just putting on repeat and kicking back to. Well done, and more please!

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DJ Mayonnaise :: Still Alive (Anticon, CD)

1You're looking at a map, see, and on it is the name of every genre you can think of, sub-genres, etc. Some of the areas of the map are bigger than others because they have more artists in them. Others are way off near the edge. There's a couple that are on the backside, even. But step back for a moment. Someone spilled something all over it, and the lines that separate each area are blurred. Thanks, DJ Mayonnaise. Still Alive, Mayo's first album in 8 years is truly all over the map, and in a fantastic way. Hip-hop beats mash against clarinets in a way that acid-jazz could never touch and trip-hop couldn't conceive of. Guitars ring out against abstracted basslines, turntables warp anything that comes under the needle. And somewhere in there, answering machine messages about something indistinct but vaguely menacing. It would be cliche to say that Still Alive is a journey, but see, there's this map... [Purchase]

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