Catching The Waves

Triple Word Score

*taps screen*

Still here? Life gets in the way, etc. Thank you for your patience.

I'm torn. I have in my hands an album and its remix. How to choose? What to do? There's only one way to settle it. In the immortal words of Harry Hill: FIGHT!

In the blue corner, weighing in at 11 tracks, 24 minutes and 16 seconds, is an instrumental hip-hop album, Scrabble by Cresh Frazy, released in 2005.

In the red corner, weighing in at 11 tracks and a much heavier 38 minutes and 41 seconds, is Scrabble: The Unauthorized Remix by Qu.one, released earlier this year. The remix packs a punch but the original has the reputation. Let's get rrrrrrrrready to reviewwwwww. Now, listen closely: no gouging, no low blows and break when I tell you to. Come out fighting. Scores at the end of each round.

Crayola - Listening to the original chime-laden slice of trip-hop is a cool way of spending three minutes; its remix maintains an hypnotic groove that makes my head go up and down. 0-1

Krillionix - There's an 80's fretless bass in here: feel the fear. Fortunately, there's some breakbeat, piano and flute to ease the pain. Qu.one gives Cresh Frazy's beat a steroid injection. It feels chunky. Your speakers will like it. 0-1

Piano Lessons - A piano riff reminiscent of John Carpenter's Halloween gets bashed about by an acid bass and hip-hop one-two. Qu.one's bass line benefits from a much punchier sound. Again, it's 0-1 and the crowd is baying for blood.

Pleasant (Interlude) - This is a snippet of dialogue from Pleasantville, a film about the contrast between today and the 1950s. The remix is bit-crushed and delayed to within an inch of its life. 0-0. The crowd boos, unappreciative of this lifeless round.

In Hindsight - The remix is twice as long as Cresh Frazy's chillout original. Despite lots of ambient crackles and a tempo that accelerates towards the end, Qu.one overextends himself and comes off worse. 1-0

The Nex - At just over a minute long, this is a relaxing piece of breakbeat-ish electronica. Again, Qu.one beefs up the sound and the bit-crushing, but then slips in a little drum and bass to invigorate the track. 0-1

War - Two minutes of lightweight breakbeat. The remix slaps on an additional five, yes, five minutes, and a heavier kick and snare, but not much innovation. The judges wimp out: 1-1

Live @ The Latin Quarter - Ooh, latin jazz and breakbeat. The remix has nothing to do with such trifles, preferring a housey dance feel. 1-0. The crowd roars. Cresh Frazy is coming off the ropes!

Art Test (Interlude) - Almost a knockout from Cresh Frazy. Bruce Dern extols the virtues of an art course while sounding so bored that it's a wonder he stays conscious to the end of the advert. Qu.one's version, though containing more overtly funny lines, can't compete with the almost comatose Dern. 1-0

Visualeyes - Cresh Frazy mooches around an ambient intro, then wallows in a gentle guitar and trip-hop track; it's soothing and groovy. The remix does away with the noises off, ups the tempo and drops the hammer; it's energising and groovy. 1-1

Outriz - Breakbeat, vinyl crackles and jazzy guitar. I'm happy. The remix samples Thank You For The Music, a fitting end to Qu.one's tribute to Cresh Frazy's opus. He's also, you've guessed it, beefed up the bass and beats a bit. 1-1

So Qu.one slugs it out and wins 7-6 on points. Congratulations to the new kid on the block. Don King is waiting for you. Run away!

Qu.one's album doesn't remix Cresh Frazy's original so much as give it a wax and polish. There are no great compositional flourishes but it definitely sounds better - it's heavier, crisper and hence more immediate, though he's overfond of bit-crushing, IMHO. But the bulk of the credit must go to Cresh Frazy - they're his tunes. Let's say that the boxing board of control is referring the decision to arbitration.

Like a lot of people, I don't have the wherewithal to buy an album and its remix just for the fun of comparing them. Thanks to the netlabel scene, I've been able to contrast and compare these musicians' works and keep an eye out for them in the future. Why not visit their sites (and the good people at Sixteensteps netlabel) to boost the traffic of all concerned? I must stop ending these reviews with cheesy brochure-speak. There, did it.

By the way, Cresh Frazy owes me treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome. Try typing his moniker and see how many mistakes you make. And a special thank you to Typepad for its crappy picture editing.

Cresh Frazy - Scrabble (link to individual mp3s)

Cresh Frazy's MySpace

Qu.one - Scrabble: The Unauthorized Remix (link to individual mp3s and zipped album)

Qu.one's MySpace

Sixteensteps netlabel

 

Let's Do The Time Warp Again

Netmusic enthusiasts are rushing to hear French musician Degiheugi's latest release, Only After The Show, because they've already heard the subject of today's egregiously late recommendation of an album that was released a whole three years ago. (Yep, Catching The Waves might as well be called Behind The Times.) Anyway, though Degiheugi's current work is fine and upstanding, it's his 2005 opus, Aquilon, that gets CTW shaking its finely toned and not-at-all-sagging booty.

Aquilon is a pretty seamless whole; tracks bleed into each other in a manner reminiscent of a concept album. No, don't run away. You'd be missing out. It's chock-full of samples, though I've no idea what is entirely original, what's been chopped up or what's been lifted wholesale. The album is ostensibly an instrumental hiphop workout but it's actually a finely detailed piece of experimental electronica. It's like buying a second-hand car from a back-street garage, only to find that you've acquired Herbie.

First off is Comme un enfant sans mère, which starts off with a crushing drum beat, calls in some dubby elements and then quotes from Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child, a well-known Negro spiritual. (Please note that I use the word "Negro" in its historical context only. Don't hit me.) It's a head-nodder.

The second track, Intro: Aquilon, (yes, intros should come at the start - don't blame me) makes good use of doom-laden strings, ambient drones and record scratches to place the listener in a comfortable armchair and a glass of something special, warm with the knowledge that a good album is underway.

There's some witty sampling in Un jour de printemps, featuring a sample from Greenfields by The Brothers Four. Degiheugi raises the pitch of "Once there were green fields..." so that it sounds like the Munchkin Massed Choir, slots it into a trip-hop rhythm, and then cuts it to just the first syllable, punning on the basic funk rule of emphasising the "one", the first beat of four. He also throws in some Spanish guitar, some gently mewling trumpets, and all of a sudden a track that could have been irritating becomes delightful, getting deeper and more reflective as it progresses, notwithstanding, and here my cup doth overflow, a breakbeat workout near the end.

My Rickety Piano is like something Michael Nyman or John Adams might have pounded out on their Steinways late one night in a who-can-use-fewer-notes contest. (A Steinway is not a euphemism. Get your minds out of the gutter.) A two-note piano riff gets chopped up and sampled until it sounds, well, rickety. It's a confident piece of music.

Mild-mannered hiphop is a feature of Ami, tu veux devenir poete until it rips its suit off to reveal a Superman drum 'n' bass costume, turning an atmospheric piece of maudlin Franco-jazz into something more invigorating.

My baby don't cares the shows [sic] introduces Nina Simone to glitchy beats and a thudding distorted bass. I'm not sure if this track is entirely successful. It's followed by Soldier In The Sky, an unusual mix of dub and electro with contributions from Virus and DJ Oscan.

Hot Girl (trip hop with naughty female noises), Entr'track 1 (lo-fi pop) and Plus de Souvenir are each just over a minute long, cleansing the listener's aural palate before serving meatier fare. Plus de souvenir is a dusty jazz loop with a trip-hop beat. CTW is defenceless against that sort of thing.

Baby Boom is helpfully self-descriptive, as you'll discover on hearing a baby gurgle delightedly through a breakbeat romp. For Organe au Gramme, Degiheugi produces a laid-back electronica piece reminiscent of Moby's Play. A thumbs up, in case you're wondering.

The album ends with Le Pince Oreilles, which is over ten minutes long. Hey, it's a netlabel release; no kow-towing to corporate record companies here. If Degiheugi wants to slap a Pink Floyd-ish cinematic/prog rock/trance/trip-hop epic on the end of the album, good for him. If you've bought into Degiheugi's ethos by now, you'll be a little annoyed that it's so short; it might even be the best thing on the album.

Aquilon is available from the mellifluously named Electrobel label and Degiheugi's own site, where you can also pick up the previously mentioned Only After The Show. If you're hungry for music, visit both sites, have a rummage, download Degiheugi's stuff and then leave a donation at your preferred site. Or both of them. Or neither, if you must.

I'm so reasonable. Sickening, isn't it?

Aquilon on Electrobel netlabel (Zipped album only. Sorry.)

Degiheugi's home page

Degiheugi's MySpace

Electrobel netlabel

 

Hit It Again, Sam

You know how sometimes you're walking along the street and you suddenly become Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca, pondering how to merge jazz, hiphop, the Middle East and 20th century music into a pleasing, full-bodied cup of coffee? You get that too? See, I knew it wasn't just me. Tell me if this sounds familiar:

You're strolling down the shadowy alleys of a souk when a gold-toothed chap stands in your way and tries to interest you in a double bass, some reverberating middle-easterny woodwind, a cheeky saxophone and his shop's finest hand-made dusty beat. You agree to his offer, providing he throws in a completely new riff right at the end of the track. You shake hands and walk off with La Mousse des Femmes.

Life is good. Looking up at the roofline, you Applaudir Les Oiseaux and the backing they give to the chime-laden drum beat that serenades you along the streets. However, one whiff of the uncompromising, rather monotonous next rhythm and you hurry past the hunched figure who offers to show you Sous Les Cotes. Brrr. Salvation awaits as you pop into a cool, calm bar, and listen to Eol et Leo tinkle the ivories, crush some drums and waft soothing strings over the clientele.

How much more of this do you need?

All too soon, the song is over and you must face the sultry streets once more. Ah, Etre Un Papillon, you think, and float away on a jazz piano and drum loop...

There, see, I knew you'd understand. Either we're crazed or we've been listening to Impressions, a five-track sampler EP by ThoTho, available from...

*busts a move*

...Dusted Wax Kingdom netlabel, Bulgarian purveyor of lo-fi, crackly, dusty hiphop to the gentry, and the rest of the world if it asks nicely. ThoTho, a lover of Stravinsky and DJ Krush (that's the kind of talk that CTW likes to hear) comes from Dijon (goodness, the French are so funky nowadays) and has released Impressions in the hope that it will encourage you out there to buy the full album. If you do, you'll find an iTunes link at ThoTho's MySpace. Failing that, send a donation to the very huggable and kissable Dusted Wax Kingdom, where you'll find a few pearls of lo-fi hiphop and triphop.

If you download ThoTho's EP, not only will you have a few head-nodders on your hard drive, you'll also be able to peruse the Lovecraftian album cover in all its sepulchral glory. Why not make a poster out of it and scare yourself silly?

ThoTho - Impressions EP (link to individual mp3s and zipped album)

ThoTho's MySpace

Dusted Wax Kingdom

P.S. Marvin of the marvellous Free Albums Galore took my little jest about his site's acronym in good heart. Phew.

By the way, the French weren't always quite so funky...

Eyedrops and cigarettes and absinthe are all a Tribble needs

It's the internet - you have to expect Star Trek jokes.

I dread to think how many man-hours BitBasic put into making the eighteen minutes of music that constitutes Grating Rainbows, but I'm glad they did: it shows.

The first track, Soap, is schizophrenic. Its first minute is soothing trip-hop; the second is jumpy, glitchy funk. It's followed by Left Here, a 60-second jazz-funk workout with lots of stretched vocal glitches and a chiptune-ish quality to the hip-hop beat, if that makes sense.

Emaze is more "traditional" breakbeat and drum 'n' bass with skittering beats, a hoovering bass, a seductive female vocal (no lyrics, just "aaahs") and mellow synths jazzing away quite happily.

Next up is Shroom. Yes, you're right: it's fungus-inspired hallucinogenic drum and bass that starts off tunefully and then descends into frenzied smash-cuts and edits.

Amen Break Steals The Show begins with a slow rock beat and a jittery sampled guitar but the pressure tells; eventually it has to give the world's most famous drum break a good seeing-to, but does so between juicy organ chords, which leavens the mangling and gives the drums something to bounce off.

Any track that can use creaking doors as an instrument gets my vote. Grating Rainbows, the funky and melodic title track, does all this and more before unearthing a wonderful organ riff that struts all over the accompanying glitches then departs the scene to allow breakbeat mayhem to commence.

Watch Less TV is good advice and is also the seventh track here. It's stuffed with countless cheesy audio snippets from British television that may or may not tell the story of a torrid affair. (These things lend themselves to adding your own narrative.) Is there anything more bathetic than snooker commentary? "Enter the king of the nineties" is my phrase of the week.

The album ends with Rest, which I am forced to call experimental electronica because it jumps from one style to another - breakbeat, nu-jazz, hip-hop, glitch, etc. - before settling for chill-out. A slowed-down and stretched vocal bids us goodbye and says "take care". Health and Safety would approve.

Perhaps the mix is slightly muddy here and there, but that may just be my cheap headphones and personal preferences. The sheer weight of effects, synths, samples, and the plethora of editing and arranging on Grating Rainbows is certainly impressive, but better still is the fact that the album is an enjoyable listen. Once the ear gets used to the melee of jump cuts and glitches, Grating Rainbows becomes a lot of fun.

BitBasic - Grating Rainbows (link to zipped album and individual mp3s)

BitBasic's website

BitBasic on MySpace

Monotonik netlabel

One and-a Two and-a Three and-a Seventeen

If you need something that will shorten the journey to work/school/college, and last just long enough for you to get dressed up for a night out or dance long enough to decide that you'd now quite like to sit down and sip a cold drink, here's something for you. It's hard to describe. It's something...something like...er...let me think...

It's Something Like Jazz by Foolk (formerly Foolcut), a Slovakian jazzy/glitchy wizard capable of dismantling a jazz tune and reassembling it into a chopped-up workout with hip-hop overtones. Listening to this three-track ep, you'll find yourself nodding your head and smiling, thus freaking out all your fellow commuters with the fear that you might be concealing some C4 explosive in your delighted mp3 player. Hey, at least one person on the dawn train to work will be happy. Progress, non?

By the way, the image at the start of today's article is the result of not having an album cover to post, and of taking the only suitable image on Foolk's website and enlarging it until it looks all pixelly and suddenly finding out that there actually were other images and eventually replacing my shoddy replica of Foolk's logo with a moody photo of the man himself and - ta-dah! - the pristine logo itself. As regular readers know, CTW is allergic to jpegs and electronic images in general. Sigh. My apologies to Foolk and Slovakians everywhere (for future reference only, because I have now redeemed the situation with the above photo. You never know when you might need a Slovakian get-out-out-of-jail-free card.) and the general public. And I love that buzzsaw/halo thing.

Still with me?

The title track is two minutes of saxophonic chopped-up jazz that bounces off a busy double bass, an organ and a piano. The drums are jazzy, edging towards funk and breakbeat. The whole tune has a terrific stop-start feel to it, which continues until the whole things slurs to a halt and you wonder how two minutes went by so quickly.

Glue Me features more double bass, funky drums, a staccato organ riff and a one-word lyric. It's strange how enjoyable it is to hear someone say "alright" between riffs and drum breaks. Foolk brandishes his electronica credentials mid-song by dropping a looped trumpet riff that pans from side to side and pitches up and down like a mad thing. Delicioso.

Push The Square pushes all the right buttons. It sounds as though a DJ invented a time machine and gatecrashed a 1950s trad jazz band's evening session at a club. The usual culprits appear - piano, double bass and wacky trumpet - but they get their groove on.

Foolk's style is subtle - his music is sort-of jazz, but with funky drums and a lovely chopped, jerky feel to it, with extraneous noises, a little light bit-crushing and mangled pitch and tempi to satisfy those of us who live in the early twenty-first century. The good news is that there are three other three-track albums on his website and they're all free to download. While you're there, follow the links and contemplate buying some of his stuff and/or going to one of his gigs. You'd be a foolk not to.

Oh, come on. I've been dying to say that.

Foolk - Something Like Jazz EP (link to individual mp3s at archive.org)

Foolk

Foolk on MySpace

Zoots You, Sir

CTW has fought Christmas, illness, the New Year, more illness and extreme laziness to bring you today's recommendation, Kurz und Klein, so stop complaining at the back there. Yes, you.

This five-track e.p. on Broque.de netlabel should appeal to jazz, swing, funk, big-beat and electronica lovers. The proof: a quick early morning blast of Kurz und Klein transformed CTW from a drooling, stained-underpant-wearing, bed-head victim into a zoot-suited, fedora-snapping hipster on his way to booty town with the funking ladies from across the street. Whether I changed my underpants I shall leave to your imagination.

The person responsible for my transformation, Nils Hoffmann, comes from Hamburg, and is a music teacher, concertmaster, chamber music composer, rock band member, a lover of all kinds of music and, all in all, is perilously close to being a Renaissance man. He is talented. I therefore hate him and love his music.

Sweet Man Like Me is a remix of St James Infirmary, a Dixie-blues standard made famous by Louis Armstrong, which Mr Hoffmann introduces to the 21st century with a shuffling beat and sampled chops and cuts. Is that Satchmo's trumpet slipping in and out? He would have loved this, I'm sure.

Next up is Goodbye Glamour, a superb remix of Candy Shop by Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire. It swings, it jazzes, it combines violin solos with scat vocals, it stops, it starts, it's ridiculously catchy...am I getting through?

Track 3 is the over-promoted Texan in the foreign policy committee. Popmusik is a minimalist pseudo-Kraftwerk dance number that has absolutely nothing in common with the other tracks save for a joy in the making of music. The deadpan vocal is a winner. I like it.

Cry Swing makes me cry for mama. The first time you hear it you realise you are briefly the centre of global cool. Many different minimalist elements weave around a so-idiotic-it's-genius jazz guitar riff, to which Herr Hoffmann adds synth stabs, chopped vocals and ingenious bridges that will make electronica fans throw their fedoras in the air. Distorted background strings and a bit-crushed synth sweep add to the fun. Halfway through, we're hit with a bassline that will be familiar to MGM pith-helmeted explorers hacking their way through the jungles and ruins of dastardly Johnny Foreigner circa 1935. But what makes the track is the timing - the whole e.p. is hypnotically rhythmic, but Cry Swing is syncopation in excelsis.

Old joke: An explorer, his guide and various luggage-carriers are lumbering through the jungle. They refuse to be unnerved by the tribal drums that have beat unceasingly for the past three days. Suddenly, there is silence and everyone but the explorer and his guide run away in terror.

"Whatever's the matter?" asks the explorer.

"It's the bass solo next," replies the guide.

(At this point I should insert a Paypal icon so I can reap some reward for the ripple of uncontrollable laughter I've sent around the globe. But I'm too nice.)

Why Don't You Do Disco is a moody, clever piece that slowly reveals itself to be a reworking of Peggy Lee's jazz/blues standard Why Don't You Do Right. Her voice and a jangly piano spookily emerge amongst a driving rhythm and countless electronica clicks and cuts, as though a ghost has successfully wormed its way through your electronica collection. Excellent.

No, I'm not sure about the cover either. You can't have everything, can you?

Nils Hoffmann - Kurz und Klein e.p. (link to zipped album and individual mp3s.)

If you get addicted to Kurz und Klein and you simply must have more Hoffmann musical heroin then visit Nils Hoffmann's own website and bask in his talent.

P.S. I don't really hate him, you know. It's called humour.