Photek
DJ-Kicks
!K7
WHILE WE wait breathlessly for Rupert Parkes’ next move, he gives up a taste with four new
tracks for his hour-long DJ-Kicks set. Don’t expect the obvious though; besides the smooth
dubstep-meets-“Ni Ten Ichi Ryu” flavors of “Azymuth,” he plays it close to the vest, allowing
the surrounding cuts to flow over and through his originals. The highlight: a synth-washed
“No Agenda,” sandwiched between Photek & Pinch’s dark-tech “M25FM” and Baby Ford &
Eon’s trippy “Dead Eye.” Drum-n-bass drops are few, but this is Photek we’re talking about,
still at his ambient and funky best. BILL MURPHY
Various
Future Sounds of
Jazz Vol. 12
COMPOSTDating back to 1995,
the FSOJ comps
mysteriously combined
dance artists that
produced singular
sounds, even given the
so-called “electronic
revolution” then
erupting worldwide.
This two-disc set never
fails to excite, from
the cosmic drones of
Der Dritte Raum and
the slice-and-dice
bass riffs of Holmby
Hills to the synthetic
swing of Andreas
Saag. Uneasy listening
abounds, through
superior production and
trance-like states. KEN MICALLEF
Spiritualized
Sweet Heart
Sweet Light
DOUBLE SIX/SPACEMAN
At this writing, Jason
Pierce is in the midst
of remixing his seventh
album with Spiritualized,
but that doesn’t mean we
can’t wax lyrical about
what’s been leaked to
press. SHSL is loaded
with the expansive sonic
lushness, guitar feedback
and garage psychedelia
we’ve come to expect,
but the real strength
here resides in Pierce’s
poignant songcraft, from
the heart-shredding
“Heading for the Top,”
which channels Roxy
Music’s devil-may-care
Eno heyday, to the stringsoaked
gospel ode “Life
Is a Problem.” BILL MURPHY
M. Ward
A Wasteland
Companion
MERGE
There were many hands
in the kitchen, cooking
up the sixth solo album
by the male half of She &
Him, M. Ward, including
eight engineers, and
more than twice as many
musicians. The sounds
are as eclectic as this
versatile musician’s
talents: sometimes
gritty with processed
vocals and distorted
guitars; others, intimate
with intricate strings
and quiet voices. But
throughout, there’s
that old-fashioned
sweetness and charm,
and that delicacy, that
graces everything Ward
touches. BARBARA SCHULTZ
Portland
Cello Project
Homage
JEALOUS BUTCHER
Combine a mini cello
orchestra with a love for
all things hip-hop and
you’ve got
Homage, the
first ever album to cover
“She Will” (L’il Wayne),
“That’s My Bitch” and
“H.A.M.” (Kanye West
and Jay-Z), and “Hey
Ya” (Outkast) with an
ear to Rostropovich and
Yo-Yo Ma. Recorded
at “studio spaces and
sacred spaces all over
Portland,” Homage makes
hip-hop palatable to
hipsters and blue-hairs
alike. It’s funky, it’s fly, it’s
Johann Sebastian Bach
channeling an MPC.
KEN MICALLEF
Orbital
Brothers Phil and Paul
Hartnoll helped define
1990s “electronica”
with squelchy, pitchbent,
blissed-out loops.
Their first album since
2004 doesn’t redraft
the blueprint, but adds
gloss to open-air-arenasized
presets. Nostalgic
MIDI pianos, celestial
portamento, LFO cutoffs,
and animated stabs
achieve melodic transport.
Neither overly goofy nor
aggressively augmented,
Wonky is a well-mannered
bridge between 2012’s
in-the-box sequencing
and 1992’s analog burbling,
with nods to Detroit strings
and techstep snare rushes,
back-masked choruses,
and dubstep wobble. TONY WARE
Dr. John
Locked Down
NONESUCH
The great Dr. John’s
indelible fusion of
supernatural funk and
New Orleans blues
gets an extra shot of
adrenalin from producer
Dan Auerbach (of the
Black Keys). Auerbach
put together the band
on this album, and
the tunes came out of
live jam sessions in
Auerbach’s personal
studio (Easy Eye,
Nashville); Dr. John
wrote all of the lyrics
after the music tracks
were shaped. This
is a very groove-y,
rhythmic record that
adds a modern cast to
the veteran’s always
soulful work. BARBARA SCHULTZ