Blockhead
Insomniac Olympics…must get through review without mentioning DJ Shadow, RJD2 or Nightmares On Wax…
Aesop rock collaborator Blockhead provides a foretaste of his album Music By Cavelight, due out in a month or two, on this extended player, a surefire soundtrack for red-eyed after-antics. The title track's sleepy instrumental decathlon showcases his love of variety (also evidenced in the contrast between this and his Def Jux work) as a range of sounds solo in turn over the beat: trumpets, strings, a memorable piano sample, guitar, and so on. Blockhead is not tempted to overdo anything, and his economy is the ideal counterpoint to his creativity.
Carnivores Unite, on the other hand, is driven, like a stoned Ghostwriter, by an infectious drum break and funky bass. A little brass makes it the perfect accompaniment for triumphant marches to 24hr garages. The most obvious sample here comes on A New Day, which steers well clear of upsetting fans of the late Ms Simone (everybody, then), with a quite deliberately delicate and beautiful reworking of the vocal from Feeling Good.
If you haven't already, you should probably get this now, before everyone falls in love with the LP. The only problems with Insomniac Olympics are that it’s a nuisance having to peel yourself off the sofa to turn the record over after each couple of tracks, and more annoying that after the second side, that’s it until the album comes out. There. And no mention of DJ Shadow. Not even once.
Aesop rock collaborator Blockhead provides a foretaste of his album Music By Cavelight, due out in a month or two, on this extended player, a surefire soundtrack for red-eyed after-antics. The title track's sleepy instrumental decathlon showcases his love of variety (also evidenced in the contrast between this and his Def Jux work) as a range of sounds solo in turn over the beat: trumpets, strings, a memorable piano sample, guitar, and so on. Blockhead is not tempted to overdo anything, and his economy is the ideal counterpoint to his creativity.
Carnivores Unite, on the other hand, is driven, like a stoned Ghostwriter, by an infectious drum break and funky bass. A little brass makes it the perfect accompaniment for triumphant marches to 24hr garages. The most obvious sample here comes on A New Day, which steers well clear of upsetting fans of the late Ms Simone (everybody, then), with a quite deliberately delicate and beautiful reworking of the vocal from Feeling Good.
If you haven't already, you should probably get this now, before everyone falls in love with the LP. The only problems with Insomniac Olympics are that it’s a nuisance having to peel yourself off the sofa to turn the record over after each couple of tracks, and more annoying that after the second side, that’s it until the album comes out. There. And no mention of DJ Shadow. Not even once.
