Heads up to n5md fans : The new subLAD album is out and it's fine, fine stuff. I love their simultaneous mp3 + cd release strategy 'cause it suits my need for immediate gratification while making sure the hard-working artists get their dosh. I bought the whole album for $9.99 via Paypal, downloaded it at 200KB/sec, and have kept it in constant rotation since yesterday morning. There's echoes of the more sublime moments from recent Kettel and Secede output along with some darker not-to-be-trifled-with vibes to keep the heads nodding. At the moment I'm really digging the long ambient pieces 'rerum natura' and the closer 'embryonic again' but there's not a track that sounds out of place or less-than-immaculately polished.

So pick your poison, physical media or digital delivery, but drink up:

http://www.n5md.com/discography.php?catno=136

( not a Boomkat-style sponsored message, just a fanboy a-raving )

Recent Tech-House Gems

Here's some capsule mini-reviews of some tech-y / dubby / housey albums and tracks I've picked up.

Boy Robot - Rotten Cocktails, City Centre Offices

I liked parts of the first Boy Robot album Glamourising Corporate Lifestyle, but my favorite tech-house spots (specifically "Old Habits Die Hard") were all too brief and the bulk of the album left me cold (specifically 9 minutes of "Last Dance"). I'm pleased to report that the new joint polishes and hones the great vibes that flitted across the last one, and leaves out all of the klunkers. The variances here are more degrees than differences in kind; when the tracks do step out of the "mid-tempo 4/4 + groovin bass + interesting melody" mold, as they do on "Live In Vanilla" it's all to the good. That track could have come out of the hugely talented stable of Florida's M3rck Records, a'la Proem or Secede, but here it's a welcome "orchestra strings and skittery IDM beat" intermezzo before the album's final three stormers. Well done Boy Robot, keep 'em coming!

Kandis - Airflow, Karaoke Kalk

This album shifts between dreamier downtempo type pieces and dancier up-numbers. Both are executed nicely, including one of the slow pieces ("Waltz") which uses the same lead synth sound I absolutely hated on Autechre's "Autriche", but here it works. The artist makes an ill-advised vocal appearance on the title track, scatting the lyrics to the theme from the 80s TV show "Greatest American Hero" (yes, really!). At first I was repulsed, then I found myself singing along, and now I'm telling you about it. Go figure. The real winners here are the Perlon-esque "Fingers" and the trio of "Verienhalb" "Bloop" and "Points" with their dubbed-out atmospherics and submerged beats.

Boomkat's 'reviews' are so unreliable as to be completely useless. It's a classic moral hazard where they're (presumably) rewarded for writing puffery by increased sales.

The worst part is, there doesn't seem to be a consistent scale of overflation as there is for, say, real estate listings. If we knew that "stellar" actually meant "barely mediocre" and "instant classic" always meant "skip this turd at all costs", the reviews could still be useful after they're run through the decoder ring. As it is, you have to mentally replace with "Lorem ipsum dolor est..." and listen to the clips, or find someplace else to get your review on.

RIP absorb.org, you are sorely missed.

P.S. Note that the links to various reviews should not be construed as an attack on Tzadik per se; it just so happened that googling for my examples turned up releases that I was pretty sure fit the bill. It does so happen that Tzadik is a label for which you absolutely need a reliable reviewer, because the volume of its output is great and while there are some truly brilliant, don't-miss releases, there is also a large number of unlistenably bad failed experiements and no easy way to distinguish the two.

Rough pass at transcribing the bad-ass lyrics to Chin High from the current object of my musical obsession, Root Manuva's Awfully Deep...

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Although it's just been released in the US, I managed to get ahold of the new Roots Manuva album Awfully Deep a few weeks back. It's grabbed me in a way that his last full-length (2001's Run Come Save Me) failed to do. The best parts are on par with Brand New Second Hand, and this is coming from somebody who kept BNSH in the car cd changer for 8 straight months.

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