Music Review Earplug October 2008 As a sample on his new album suggests, Berlin-via-Montreal producer Deadbeat is adept at stripping his sleek rhythms and solid bass lines to “the skeleton of the music.” Though his sounds are indeed massive, his music doesn’t just fill out a room; it animates the space, laying down hypnotic dub […]
Music Review Earplug October 2008 Like his work with psych-tinged noiseniks Black Moth Super Rainbow, Tobacco’s solo debut evokes nostalgia for nostalgic sounds — in this case, the warm acid tones and fuzzy analog mysticism of Boards of Canada. The signifiers are there — warbly flutes, folksy backdrops, and backspun sound effects — but rather […]
Music Review Earplug September 2008 Alias-heavy, stylistically omnivorous producer Madlib jumps between beats and styles like a blunted lothario hopping beds. While artists with such ADD-driven inclinations are often dismissed as radio-dial wanderers, WLIB:AM King of the Wigflip‘s silly, non-sequitur vocals coalesce into an inarguably glorious, if intentionally messy, transmission. A collage of R&B, soul, […]
Music Review Earplug September 2008 On his “official” debut, Koushik mines ’60s psych and folk, producing staggered beats and melodies that are at once hazy and refracted, like sunspots on a camera lens. Partly shaped by Koushik’s voice, the mood is also dictated by the album’s overall pace — deliberate, contemplative beats occasionally bunch up […]
Music Review Earplug September 2008 Relentless and righteous as hell, TV on the Radio soar through Dear Science, retreating from the buzzing, hotwired rock of Return to Cookie Mountain for a wide swath of lush hymns and muscular tracks. Made for confusing times, the record tends to look outward, not inward, and sounds more crisp, […]
Music Review Earplug August 2008 Like water trickling through outstretched fingers, the found-sound melodies of Brooklyn duo High Places suggest escape. Warm, rippling, reverb-heavy beats bump into each other, bending and bowing like waves on a pool filled with pebbles. Dropping in the wake of a scattered series of 7-inches and a compilation, the group’s […]
Review Earplug May 2008 Tight mixes, pithy dialogue, and rapid-fire vocal samples are apropos for his day-job as an ad man, but it’s Steve Stein’s delivery and sense of humor that have made him a crate-digging icon. Better known as Steinski, the DJ/producer launched his landmark “Lessons” mixes with Douglas “Double Dee” DiFranco in the […]
Review Earplug May 2008 Breezy and incessant, “Einsteigen” kicks off Ellen Allien’s latest full-length with impatient beeps and the sound of commuters jostling inside Berlin’s Alexanderplatz station. It’s an appropriate intro, one that marks SOOL as the work of an artist in transit. While Allien’s recent Boogy Bytes mix was subdued, bubbling, and spectral — […]
Review Earplug November 2007 Many new records celebrate past sounds and styles, but few offer the feel of a genuine unearthed artifact — a piece of dark, forgotten vinyl aged in the soil. With Untrue, mysteriso South London dubstepper Burial follows up on last year’s self-titled debut with an enigmatic and lyrical bit of archeology […]
Review Earplug September 2007 Few mixes have arrived with as much mystery as Chilean/German showman Ricardo Villalobos’ entry into Fabric’s showcase series. Even its unique format — a seamlessly arranged slate of Villalobos’ original productions, all hitherto unreleased — has raised speculation as to just how game-changing it is. Rest assured, it’s a true time […]