| #703 |
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2004 |
Perilous 703 Its been an invigorating fortnight. First the new Gondry/Kaufman film Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind – quite stunning, and then the Kid Koala/RJD2 extravaganza – one of the best live gigs I’ve witnessed, and certainly one of the most engaging nights of DJs in quite a while. Kid Koala knew that turntabilism had turned up the blind alley of virtuosity a while back and has instead returned to the original ideas of vinyl manipulation and collage with his skills as a means to an end rather than an end in itself. Anyway, Blaze gavce a full review in his column last week so I won’t ramble on (more). With the new issue of Cyclic Defrost (#8) starting to come together the promo records have been coming thick and fast across my desk. Of those that didn’t get passed on to other writers, there have been some standouts. On a hip hop tip from Portland, but via the Miami-based label Merck is a pretty tasty set of hip hop instrumentals from Deceptikon titled Lost Subject. Locked down MPC boom bap but slightly skewed and much closer to label mate Kristuit Salu (aka Jimmy Edgar on Warp) than Premier, Lost Subject is full of solid grooves and beats that chop slowly away at the revered edifice of trad hip hop. Unlike some other IDM-meets-hip hop, this is not totally anti-MC nor is it completely shredded and fragmented. I particularly like the closer Veracity which rollicks along with competing drum breaks overlapping. In a similar vein is the new mix CD from DJ/Rupture who takes the first half of a mix with compatriot Mutamassik. Apparently made initially as two 30 minutes mixes for a series of shows in the United Arab Emirates, these date from 2004 (Rupture) and 2002 (Mutamassik). Both mixes draw extensively on Arabic music – Rupture’s opens ominously with the Malcolm X sample from 1964 “22 million victims of Americansim are waking up” (anyone remember Def Jef who also used this?). He then deftly cuts across hip hop, dub, jungle and breakcore cutting TOK with Kelis with something that sounds like something on the Ambush label. It never settles into a particular sound which keeps it sounding fresh and exciting. Brooklyn-based Mutamassik opts for a more dub heavy approach but her mix continues mixing Algerian rai with North African music, Arabic beats whilst blending these with some excellent old school hip hop and manic drum & bass. What continues to make these mixes, like Rupture’s other releases, interesting is their focus on building some kind of pan-Atlantic African libratory and revolutionary sound. I’m not sure its all successful and its certainly a work in progress but these mixes are drawing on more musical styles than your average world music store, and at the same time injecting an anger and vigour, a feeling of post-colonial resistance. This is not some world music to be consumed comfortably in your favourite café, but neither is it shaved head white boy noise music. On a slightly different tip is an excellent new record from Chicago Underground drummer Chad Taylor’s Sticks & Stones (other) trio. On Thill Jockey, Shed Grace, is another example of what is cookin’ in Chicago. Recorded in a single session it carries a lot of live energy and opens with an appropriate ‘free’ title track before settling in to some less manic territory including versions of songs by Theolonius Monk, Fela Kuti and Billy Strayhorn. Lacking the electronics of Chicago Underground, this release still stays far from cocktail jazz. Frigid is rocking on at the @Newtown on Sunday evenings with crowds continuing to grow. Sunday May 2 has a night of MCs curated by The Herd’s Urthboy whilst May 9 brings Adelaide’s Tim Koch from Surgery Records to town for a live set . . . . oh, its free entry too. Yellow Peril (www.snarl.org)  Goto
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