Fantômas
The Director's Cut (Ipecac)
Mike Patton's quirky film fetish gets full play on The Director's Cut, a collection of disruptive, mildly faithful movie-score covers by his art-metal side project, the Fantômas. Music and dialogue from The Godfather and The Omen are given shrieking thrash-guitar makeovers and saucy vocals. The Rosemary's Baby theme, spooky in its original incarnation, is even more sinister with Patton's grisly falsetto cooing on the melody.
Björk
Vespertine (Elektra)
Part lullaby, part afternoon delight, Vespertine sets the stage for a head-in-the-clouds day spent in bed. "Cocoon" reveals Björk lazing "half awake, half asleep" over a subdued piano and a record-needle-grazing-lint beat. On this self-produced creation, Björk is joined by an army of collaborators, including Harmony Korine of Kids (who co-wrote the slowly swelling "Harm of Will") and San Francisco's Matmos (check out the sweeping-broom swooshes and chimes of "Aurora"). Mainly forgoing the fanfare of past hits like "It's Oh So Quiet" and "Bachelorette," Björk finds meditation without an overdose of New Age.
Prefuse 73
Vocal Studies & Uprock Narratives (Warp)
A lot of electronic music production finds its foundation in loops, but Scott Herren (aka Prefuse 73) sees his compositions as mosaics of fleeting sounds. Fragmented guitar licks, aborted snare patches, and fractured MC verbiage crystallize into sanguine songs that evoke the spirit of Autechre as much as Pete Rock. When working with vocalists - like Freestyle Fellowship's Mikah 9 or the Sea and Cake's Sam Prekop - he manipulates the spaces between the words so their voices spill over the melodies. Herren has emerged as the first discernable indie hip hop producer in years.
Greg Osby
Symbols of Light (A Solution) (Blue Note)
Saxophonist Greg Osby's progressive groove ignites when he performs in quartet configuration, matching wits with pianist Jason Moran. There's plenty of that vibe here, best exemplified by "Social Order" and "This Is Bliss." Osby adds strings to several tracks, including "Repay in Kind" and "The Keep," via some very lucid arrangements, demonstrating once again that a little lateral thinking puts the jazz back in jazz.
Thalia Zedek
Been Here and Gone (Matador)
As a member of indie fave Come, Thalia Zedek has long been leveling fans with gut-wrenching accounts of love and loss. On her first solo effort, Been Here and Gone, those sentiments remain the same, but they're backed by her gritty take on the blues. Numbers like "Manha de Carnaval" scar with a longing reminiscent of Nina Simone. This is for times when all you can muster is the strength to marvel at your own misfortune.
Orbital
Altogether (FFrr/London-Sire)
Orbital has played sold-out festivals for the past 15 years, yet it consistently resists the pull of mainstream opportunity. The English duo's sixth release has an early UK acid-house feel, laden with layered breakbeats and subtle synth lines. On the opener, "Tension," grunge-inflected surf-rock samples (courtesy of the Cramps) are stuttered over a ruthlessly distorted guitar and a faintly humming didgeridoo; in contrast, "Funny Break," one of the act's more emotional tunes, features budding vocalist Naomi Bedford. The CD comes with a corresponding DVD, which lets you re-create the audio-video experience Orbital is known for onstage.
Ray Wylie Hubbard
Eternal and Lowdown (Philo)
It's been more than a decade since Ray Wylie Hubbard gave up the bottle, but his Texas drawl still gives us a glimpse of the wild life. "Three Days Straight," "The Sleep of the Just," and "Mississippi Flush" (the expected odes to drinkin', gamblin', and hell-raisin') are driven by a sharp, kick-ass band and Hubbard's trademark irony. Yet by the time he eases into "Didn't Have a Prayer," a slow Memphis soul-burner accented by a Pentecostal organ, there's no denying the destructive nature of overindulgence. The story closes with "After All These Years," an understated plea for peace and forgiveness that's as powerful as Hubbard's whiskey-drenched visions of yesterday.
Matthew Jay
Draw (Food/Capitol)
His soft, sweet vocals and poetic lyrics call to mind Elliott Smith, David Gray, and a less somber Nick Drake, but Matthew Jay adds his own flavor to a tried-and-true recipe. Jay fills his ethereal tunes with unusual melodies, unorthodox tones, and jangly guitars. Not as much a Beatles copycat as many other Britpoppers, he does reveal definite influences; the wistful, bare-bones acoustic "A World Away" strongly evokes the Cute One's "Blackbird."
STREET CRED
Airplane Glue
VAIO Digital Studio PC PCV-RX490TV
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Wave/PC Interactive Audio System
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SpringPort Wireless Ethernet Module
ReadMe
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designobject
Information Arts: Intersections of Art, Science, and Technology, by Stephen Wilson
Toshiba Libretto L1
Just Outta Beta
Peerless
Big
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