KWCW

Sharing a spot on the loaded Anticon roster, Telephone Jim Jesus (a.k.a. George Chadwick) sounds a lot like some of his contemporaries. This is not a bad thing. He makes dense, experimental hip-hop, brimming with crunchy drums and synthesized atmospherics. On “Anywhere Out of the Everything,” TJJ has succeeded in creating a dark and brooding collection of songs that reflect his displacement from home and lonely travels of the world. On the song “Dice Raw,” he enlists the lyrical bombast of Pedestrian and Why? that makes you wonder what other collaborative magic he’s capable of. At times straightforward and at others, avant-garde, “Anywhere Out of the Everything” manages to stay fresh start to finish.
Grade: B+
-Kyle Gilkeson

Give me an ensemble as dedicated to exploring and pushing the boundaries of percussion as So Percussion (”So” derived from the Japanese verb “to play”) and I get excited. Tell me that they use anything they can get their hands on (duct tape, broken ethernet port, etc) to supplement their collection of global percussion instruments and I start to sweat. Then if I find out that they reinterpreted a Steve Reich composition using only percussion, and are currently on tour with electro-avant big shots Matmos, and I might just be unable to hold it in anymore. Amid the Noise was such an exciting concept: let several percussionists who love experimental compositions loose and see what happens. I was so geared up to love it, and then I heard the album. Don’t get me wrong, it is a very nice collection of songs, generally ranging from meditative to Eno-esque ambientism. The music seems to just waft into the background, serving as the soundtrack to your thoughts. And that, is exactly the problem. The use of electronics on the album overshadows the intricate drumming that is taking place. In addition to the domination, in terms of volume and presence in the sound, the use of electronics cheapens or casts doubt upon the percussive elements. In other words, it made them feel less exciting because you started to think that they were actually digitally generated as well. To be perfectly honest, I would not have said that So Percussion was a percussion troupe had I not read a quick bio on their website. In short, the talent is there, and so is the dedication. However, what could have been a wildly exciting romp into experimental percussion was cut short by the emphasis on electronics. Sadly, this seemed to push the boundaries of percussion less than it seemed to co-opt the sound into the generally digital realm of ambient composition.

I give this album 3.5/5 ambient drones, 4/5 meditations, and 1.5/5 percussive reinvention with a sad frown of potential unattained.

RIYL: Brian Eno, Tortoise, Aphex Twins, ambientism

- Alan Blickenstaff

Returning with an EP several albums after the release of their instrumental masterpiece Spine and Sensory, San Diego outfit Tristeza hasn’t lost its knack for creepily introspective rock. On Bromas, a short EP out on Better Looking Records, the sort of experimental jazz and pseudo-electronic vibe we’ve come to expect from the band is tighter and considerably less repetitive than earlier works. However, there’s a slight sense that venturing into smooth jazz territory is not always out of the question, and the only element that prevents me from calling ‘Metheny!’ on the EP’s title track is the ominous minor-key structure of the song. It’s certainly been a while since I’ve heard evil easy listening.

“Pingle Language”, the second track, is an ever quieter brooding composed of electronic snare rolls and icy pings in the high register, featuring most notably the absence of jangly guitar that was the signature of their brand of instrumental rock. “Enveloped” mutates this brooding vibe into an ambient shuffle, a sort of unnoticed and hushed prelude into the extended mix of the title track (which doesn’t sound all that different from the original).

Bromas is certainly a mysterious EP in the fact that, at three new tracks, it may only be a single. Even more confounding to the listener is the band’s seeming abandonment of guitar as the centerpiece in the two middle songs of the album. The title track is certainly worth a listen, and the album could be considered a success on that merit alone, however, the additional guitar-less tracks keep me guessing when the guitar is going to come in, and probably intentionally so.