July 10, 2009
Nosaj Thing–”Drift”
(© Alpha Pup Records)
Los Angeles’ infatuation with instrumental hip-hop has evolved into a full-on love affair, and Nosaj Thing, a.k.a. Jason Chung, is claiming his spot at the center of the movement. Closely affiliated with fellow IDM maestros Free the Robots and Flying Lotus, Chung emulates his peers while simultaneously honing his own craft. Splashing his tracks with ambient synth effects, FlyLo-esque breakbeats, and choir samples, Chung has established that the Nosaj Thing sound is at once accessible and avant-garde. And “Drift” is nothing if not accessible–the whole of L.A., from the club urchins to the hip-hop gurus, seems to be feeling this record. The record doesn’t suffer from lack of variety, either–it contains sinuous chillouts (“IOIO”), pastiches of abstract samples that complement each other sublimely (“1685/Bach”, “Coat of Arms”), among others, and ends with the startlingly luminescent “Lords,” a track that uses Chung’s apparent affinity for choir vocals to its superb finest. Although Chung’s sound draws immediate comparisons to Flying Lotus, there’s something else that really resonates on “Drift”–sort of a perfect 75/25 mixture of light and darkness. In all honesty, one of the best records I’ve heard this year. 8.5
July 9, 2009
Discovery–”LP”
(© XL Recordings)
This, if for some reason you didn’t know by now, is the side project of Vampire Weekend keyboardist Rostam Batmanglij and Ra Ra Riot’s Wes Miles. Surprisingly, their debut drips not with the Afro-pop rumble or new-wave sheen of their respective day jobs, but with classic R&B injected with synths reminiscent of the dancefloors of Studio 64 or Paradise Garage (see also: “It’s Blitz!” by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs). While 2009 is shaping up to be a banner year for disco revival, Discovery are certainly doing their part to keep things fresh. Make no mistake, “LP” showcases the duo’s talent for cultivating a distinctly retro feel as well (you had to have caught the “Electric Slide” reference on “So Insane”). But where Discovery truly hit their stride is their sublime innovation of electro-rock cliches. Rest assured, you’ve never heard handclaps and Auto-Tune paired quite as strongly as on the Ezra Koenig-featuring “Carby.” The duo don’t stop there, reaching out to ’90s hip-hop (“Orange Shirt”), 8-bit pinball glory (“Osaka Loop Line”), and morning-after glitch-drone (“Slang Tang”). Angel Deradoorian of the Dirty Projectors joins in the fray on “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend,” resulting in a glorious combination of En Vogue and Aphex Twin. And then, inevitably, the record starts to lag. An overproduced, way-too-Auto-Tuned rendition of the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” does all but sink the entire album, and the obsessive clap-and-snap routine on “It’s Not My Fault (It’s My Fault)” grows too close to mainstream R&B to be taken seriously. All told, a solid pop record, and the full stream of the album on their website is also very nice. 7
